Library Journal articles from August 2008

Library Journal archives from August 2008

Pieces of the future: people in and out of libraries are the engines for future-proofing.(editorial)(Editorial)
August 1, 2008... MAYBE IT'S A LITTLE NAIVE, BUT I'M FEELING optimistic about libraries, despite the awful economic and other news that bombards us daily. Consider the latest OCLC report on funding, which Cathy De Rosa previewed at the recent American Library...

Ohio insights: National vision and local solutions at a small conference.(blatant berry)(Conference news)
August 1, 2008... "CALL 'EM MEMBERS," SAID JOAN FRYE WILLIAMS, the librarian, consultant, futurist, and provocateur who was the opening speaker at the 2008 Reference and Adult Services Conference of the Ohio Library Council. Held in Columbus on July 9-10, the...

Clarification.(feedback)(Correction notice)
August 1, 2008... The review of The Writing Code (Video Reviews, LJ 6/1/08) omitted the names of the "other" filmmakers, Suzanne Bauman and Norman C. Berns. Their collaborator, Gene Searchinger, has retired, but Bauman and Berns continue to promote the work...

NPR, CNBC expand book coverage.(front desk)(National Public Radio, Consumer News and Business Channel)(Brief article)
August 1, 2008... Though newspapers are cutting back or eliminating book reviews, National Public Radio is expanding book coverage on its web site, NPR.org, adding weekly reviews and hiring six new reviewers. Among the latter is John Freeman, the former...

As we read, libraries keep popping up.(front desk)(Brief article)
August 1, 2008... AS WE READ, LIBRARIES KEEP POPPING UP "I always carry a pistol when I go [to the New York Public Library]. Never did trust those stone lions." --Robert Bloch s Shooting Star (Hard Case Crime), cited in the "Library Lives In" series in...

"Member" or "patron"?(STAT WATCH)(Brief article)
August 1, 2008... So, are people who use libraries "patrons" or "customers"? Consultant Joan Frye Williams, speaking at the American Library Association annual conference in Anaheim, CA, said she asked "a bunch of civilians" how to describe library users, and...

In ebook race, iPod touch is a contender.(STAT WATCH)(Brief article)
August 1, 2008... The new 3G iPhone generated enormous buzz last month, but keep in mind that Apple's 2.0 software release applied to both the iPhone and iPod Touch. One significant if expected development, according to LJ Technology Editor Josh Hadro, was the...

How to kill a young librarian's love of librarianship (adapted).(Brief article)
August 1, 2008... 1 Award only those who maintain the status quo. 2 Call young librarians "cute" and ignore what they can really do. 3 Limit new librarians to only what is listed in their job description. 4 Maintain walls between departments. ...

More library support possible? OCLC report offers suggestions on how to motivate voters.(lj news)(Online Computer Library Center)
August 1, 2008... There's a lot of latent support for libraries in the United States, but several themes about the value of libraries must be stressed in order to increase it, according to From Awareness to Funding: A Study of Library Support in America, an...

BiblioCommons: a breakthrough?(lj news)(Brief article)
August 1, 2008... BilbioCommons, a new social discovery system for libraries that replaces all user-facing OPAC functionality, allowing for faceted searching and easier user commenting and tagging, has gone live n Oakville, ON, a city of 160,000 outside...

Reardon New Philadelphia head.(lj news)(Siobhan Reardon)
August 1, 2008... New hires, interims, in San Diego, Cleveland, Boston; Mason retires Siobhan Reardon, executive director of the Westchester Library System, NY, as of September will be the president and director of the Free Library of Philadelphia,...

Broward Library circs Sony Readers.(lj news)
August 1, 2008... Though libraries are often wary of circulating hardware devices and the Sony Reader is not yet optimized for libraries, the Broward County Library (BCL), Fort Lauderdale, FL, reports significant success--after some bumps in the road--in what...

IMLS: $20.3m for recruitment.(lj news)(Institute of Museum and Library Services )
August 1, 2008... "Grow your own" projects, leadership support, ROI study The federal Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) has awarded 31 grants totaling $20.3 million as part of the Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program, which since 2003...

Hartford workers OK pay rollbacks.(lj news)(Brief article)
August 1, 2008... Shortfall means two branches closed, but reopening discussed Employees of the Hartford Public Library (HPL), CT, voted "overwhelmingly" to roll back pay increases and hours they agreed to for FY08/09 in order to avoid further layoffs,...

SLA goes green, faces changes.(CONFERENCE REPORT)(School Library Association)(Conference news)
August 1, 2008... The SLA annual conference (June 13-18 in Seattle) attracted 5,011 attendees, including 845 first-timers, plus 464 booths representing 283 exhibitors, 50 of them SLA premieres--similar to numbers for the 2007 meeting--even as the organization...

Drastic consortium budget cut in SC.(NEWS)(South Carolina)(Brief article)
August 1, 2008... Academic libraries in South Carolina are scrambling as legislators have slashed state funding for PASCAL (Partnership Among South Carolina Academic Libraries), a consortium serving 58 colleges and universities statewide, from about $2 million...

Ga. state answers E-reserve lawsuit.(NEWS)(Brief article)
August 1, 2008... State attorneys in Georgia have answered a landmark lawsuit filed in April by publishers (see News, LJ 5/15/08, p. 16ff.), including two university presses and supported by the Association of American Publishers (AAP), filed against Georgia...

New round of gates state grants.(NEWS)(Brief article)
August 1, 2008... The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has announced $8.1 million in grants to help public libraries in 11 states upgrade their computer hardware. This is the second of three rounds of Opportunity Online grants; they require local matching...

Google Books signs first French library.(NEWS)(Brief article)
August 1, 2008... Google announced that it had signed its 29th library partner for Google Book Search and the project's first partner in France: the Lyon Municipal Library, France's second largest library after the national library in Paris. It will make more...

Architecture on parade.(NEWS)
August 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] If you have a building project (academic or public) completed between July 1, 2007 and June 30, 2008, make sure it is included in Library Journal's annual December Architectural Issue. Projects can be submitted...

Annalee Bundy, Executive Director, Ames Free Library, Easton, MA, has retired.(people)(Brief article)
August 1, 2008... Annalee Bundy, Executive Director, Ames Free Library, Easton, MA, has retired. Madeline Miele Holt has replaced her; she was Assistant Director. Urea Hiremath has taken over Holt's position; she was Assistant Director at Thayer Public...

West Virginia University's Health Science Center Library.(people)(Brief article)
August 1, 2008... Robert Cagna is the new Director of West Virginia University's Health Science Center Library, Charleston Division. He comes from the University of Pennsylvania's Biomedical Library, Philadelphia, where he was Department Head of Access and...

Essex Library Association.(people)(Brief article)
August 1, 2008... Richard Conroy is the new Executive Director of the Essex Library Association, CT. Conroy most recently was Director of Information Technology Services for the Stratford Library, CT.

Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh.(people)(Brief article)
August 1, 2008... Mary Frances Cooper is the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh's new Deputy Director. She was Deputy Director of Public Services at the Branch Libraries at New York Public Library.

La Grange Public Library.(people)(Brief article)
August 1, 2008... Jeannie Dilger-Hill has been appointed Director of the La Grange Public Library, IL. She replaces Steve Moskal, who retired after 34 years of service. Dilger-Hill was a library consultant for the Metropolitan Library System, Burr Ridge, IL.

Hancock County Public Library.(people)(Brief article)
August 1, 2008... Jason Fields has become Chief Operating Officer for the Hancock County Public Library, Greenfield, IN. He was previously a Reference Librarian for Ball State University, Muncie, IN.

District of Columbia Public Library.(people)(Maralita "Micki" Freeny)(Brief article)
August 1, 2008... Maralita "Micki" Freeny has left Prince George's County Memorial Library System, Hyattsville, MD, after a 37-year career; she had been director since 2001. Freeny has accepted a position as Children's Coordinator for the District of Columbia...

Joyce Latham.(people)(Onondaga County Public Library)(Brief article)
August 1, 2008... Joyce Latham, Executive Director of the Onondaga County Public Library, Syracuse, NY, will step down this fall. Latham has accepted a teaching position at an unnamed academic institution.

Monroe County Public Library, Bloomington.(people)(Sara Laughlin )(Brief article)
August 1, 2008... Sara Laughlin has been named Director of the Monroe County Public Library, Bloomington, IL. She has served as Interim Director since September 1, 2007.

School of Library and Information Studies.(people)(The University of Alabama, Jamie Campbell Naidoo)(Brief article)
August 1, 2008... Jamie Campbell Naidoo has been appointed Assistant Professor at the School of Library and Information Studies, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa. He was Assistant Professor at the School of Library and Information Science, University of South...

Historically Black Colleges and Universities.(people)(Brief article)
August 1, 2008... Sandra Phoenix has been named Director of the Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) Library Alliance. She formerly was Executive Services Librarian at SOLINET.

University of Toronto's Faculty of Information Studies.(people)(Seamus Ross)(Brief article)
August 1, 2008... Seamus Ross, Professor of Humanities Informatics and Digital Curation at the University of Glasgow, Scotland, has been named Dean, University of Toronto's Faculty of Information Studies, effective January 1, 2009, through December 31, 2016.

Equinox Software Inc.(people)(Brief article)
August 1, 2008... Karen G. Schneider has joined Equinox Software Inc. as Community Librarian. She most recently worked at the College Center for Library Automation, Tallahassee, FL. She is the author of the Free Range Librarian blog.

Richmond Public Library.(people)(Brief article)
August 1, 2008... Melissa Schutt has been appointed Collection Development Manager at the Richmond Public Library, VA, replacing the retired Beth Morelli. Schutt was Associate Librarian, Learning Resources Center, at Eastern Kentucky University, Richmond.

Johnson County Library.(people)(Brief article)
August 1, 2008... Tricia Suellentrop has been named Deputy County Librarian of the Johnson County Library, Shawnee Mission, KS; she most recently was Systemwide Services Manager. Suellentrop is a 2005 LJ Mover & Shaker.

Ex Libris Delivers "Open Platform": Aleph/Voyager vendor to host API development space; interfaces and digital collection tools from other vendors debut at ALA.(CONFERENCE REPORT)(American Library Association)(Conference news)
August 1, 2008... Just as the American Library Association (ALA) annual conference kicked off, Ex Libris announced June 29 the launch of its "Open Platform Strategy," already in testing at a handful of institutions, with a wide release expected later this...

SirsiDynix launches Enterprise faceted search.(CONFERENCE REPORT)(Brief article)
August 1, 2008... On the user experience front, also in time for ALA, SirsiDynix released Enterprise, a next-generation interface featuring faceted search and "industry-first fuzzy search technology," according to the company. These search enhancements allow...

EBSCO launches 2.0 interface.(infotech)(Brief article)
August 1, 2008... Taking cues for its redesigned interface from Internet giants like Google, Amazon, and Netflix, EBSCO has pared down the layout and design of its new start page, leaving little more than the basic search bar and button. Advanced features...

Polaris delivers fusion digital content manager.(infotech)(Polaris Library Systems)(Brief article)
August 1, 2008... Polaris Library Systems debuted a digital collection management system dubbed Polaris Fusion. The vendor said the new release "integrates digital content and the Polaris PowerPAC, enabling patrons to search for and retrieve digital materials...

III's Content Pro focuses on digital collections.(infotech)(Innovative Interfaces)(Brief article)
August 1, 2008... Innovative Interfaces has also announced the launch of a new digital collection product called Content Pro, focused on increasing discovery of digital collections, as well as simplifying the digitization process itself. Content Pro aims to...

VTLS adds archives management to virtua.(infotech)(Brief article)
August 1, 2008... Focusing on the classification of nondigital collections, VTLS has added physical archival cataloging support to versions 48 and 49 of its Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records (FRBR)--enabled Virtue ILS. The archives management...

LexisNexis enters PL Market.(DATABASE & CONTENT PROVIDERS)(Library Express)(Brief article)
August 1, 2008... Jumping into the public and school library markets, at ALA LexisNexis debuted Library Express, a scaled-down version of LN Academic that LN's Tim Fusco describes as "comparable" on the news and business (but not the legal) side, with 600...

New content from EBSCOhost.(DATABASE & CONTENT PROVIDERS)(Brief article)
August 1, 2008... Hot on the heels of the new EBSCOhost 2.0 (see box, p. 21), EBSCO announced the addition of a number of new products to its resource platform, marking a significant move for the company into the realm of content creation. The...

On the floor at ALA.(INFOTECH)(American Library Association)(Brief article)(Photograph)
August 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Caption: ON THE FLOOR AT ALA The exhibition floor in Anaheim was chock-full of technology vendors and publishers offering up a little something for everyone There was even a walking, talking, and occasionally...

ProQuest adds search alerts, deep indexing, GPO catalog.(DATABASE & CONTENT PROVIDERS)(Brief article)
August 1, 2008... Following ProQuest's recent acquisition of the Dialog business database (see News, LJ 7/08, p. 14), the resource provider has announced a number of other additions and enhancements to its platform. First, ProQuest has followed suit in terms...

Readex and CRL digitizing World News Archive.(DATABASE & CONTENT PROVIDERS)(Center for Research Libraries)(Brief article)
August 1, 2008... Readex (a division of NewsBank) has announced a partnership with the Center for Research Libraries (CRL) to create the World Newspaper Archive, which it describes as "the world's largest, fully searchable digital archive of international...

LibLime and University of Rochester have agreed to work together to provide full interoperability between Koha and the university's Mellon-funded eXtensible Catalog (XC) project.(TECH BRIEFS)(Brief article)
August 1, 2008... * LibLime and University of Rochester have agreed to work together to provide full interoperability between Koha and the university's Mellon-funded eXtensible Catalog (XC) project, enabling current and future users of Koha to take advantage...

Medialab's AquaBrowser.(TECH BRIEFS)(Brief article)
August 1, 2008... * Medialab's AquaBrowser search and discovery platform now allows users to create reviews and ratings and view personal tags. Individuals can see their AquaBrowser[R] rating and an averaged global community rating based on all user input...

FKI Logistex.(TECH BRIEFS)(Brief article)
August 1, 2008... * FKI Logistex has installed a fully automated book return system at the Redmond Regional Library, part of the King County Library System, Issaquah, WA. The library will be able to process an annual circulation of 1.1 million items at a rate...

Libramation.(TECH BRIEFS)(Brief article)
August 1, 2008... * Libramation is offering customers a new RFID chip from NPX, which, it says, offers a higher level of security. The ICODE SLI-SY chip, the first that is ISO 15693/ISO 18000-3 compliant, "prevents unauthorized access to sections of the...

Let's all lighten up.(THE TRANSPARENT LIBRARY)
August 1, 2008... SOMETIMES, IT'S SIMPLY NOT EASY. When life throws us $4-a-gallon gasoline, rising unemployment, a housing credit crunch, and tight local, state, and federal budgets, libraries feel the pinch. It's natural for work morale to suffer. Boards...

Digital discrimination: ten years after Section 508, libraries still fall short of addressing disabilities online.(INFOTECH FEATURE)
August 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATIONS OMITTED] In recent years, the Internet has become a digital commons of commerce and education. However, accessibility standards have often been overlooked online, and the digital equivalents to curb-cuts and other physical...

Future-proof your library: LJ's Movers & Shakers strategize about how to secure a vital future.
August 1, 2008... talent Any organization that has a goal of being "future-proof" needs to focus on its staff above all else. Plans, goals, and strategies are great--but who's going to implement those great strategies? If staff are not capable, the...

Amid the fantasy, doses of reality: time for library "imagineering" on creating new catalogs, engaging users, and navigating technology.(LJ REPORT: ANAHEIM ALA 2008)
August 1, 2008... If the resort city of Anaheim, CA, home of Disneyland and its "imagineers," marked a departure from the urban reality of the typical American Library Association (ALA) annual conference, it was impossible, at this 2008 meeting, to avoid...

Gale's Sommers & Barnes: Patrick Sommers, president of Gale, and executive VP John Barnes plot the future of the legacy reference publisher.(CORNER OFFICE)(Interview)
August 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] With this issue, LJ debuts a new feature: Corner Office. In it we talk to the leaders of companies that operate in the library field, develop products and services that libraries purchase, and interact with or...

Happy 40th Cinema Guild: the venerable film distributor sets the scene for a seamless splice into the digital age.
August 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] On May 10, 1968, the Cannes Film Festival shuddered to a stop when filmmakers including Jean-Luc Godard and Francois Truffaut rushed the stage at the Palais des Festivals to protest French New Waver Henri...

Decorating cents.(Collection Development: Budget Decorating)(Recommended readings)
August 1, 2008... Home decorating is a popular idea these days as seen in the rise of cable television channels like TLC and HGTV (Home & Garden Television) and TV shows like Trading Spaces, Take This House and Sell It, Divine Design, Design on a Dime,...

The stat factor.(BACKTALK)(statistics)
August 1, 2008... AS AN UNDERGRADUATE ARTS student, I frequently directed derision at the science students who were required to complete a compulsory statistics course. In turn, the science undergraduates, who shared this painful bonding experience, regularly...

Moonlighting.(NEXTGEN)(Column)
August 1, 2008... EARLIER THIS YEAR, I HAD LUNCH with a good friend who completed her dissertation in psychology around the time I was finishing my MLIS. Now a practicing psychologist, she also teaches psychology at her alma mater. Nothing, she said, has done...

Prepub alert.(Recommended readings)
August 1, 2008... Berry, Steve. The Charlemagne Pursuit. Ballantine. Dec. 2008. 384p. ISBN 978-0-345-485793. $26. What a shock. Berry regular Cotton Malone always thought his father died when his sub sank in the North Atlantic, not on a secret mission...

Mystery.(Recommended readings)
August 1, 2008... HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF Historical mysteries, after a slight hiatus, have come back strong. Victorian thrillers and mysteries set at the turn of the 20th century are especially popular with writers, publishers, and readers. Jeanne M. Dams sets...

Prepub mystery.(Recommended readings)
August 1, 2008... Ardai, Charles. Fifty-to-One. Hard Case Crime. Dec. 2008. 336p. ISBN 978-0-84395968-0. pap. $7.99. A 1950s pulp-fiction publisher has a knack for deceptive business practices. la J.T. LeRoy, but the crime world gets too close for...

Romance.(Book review)
August 1, 2008... ROMANCE AMONG THE STARS Futuristics, another in the increasingly popular lineup of romances that spice up their stories with various paranormal, fantasy, and speculative elements, are romance's version of sf. Set in the near or distant...

Aslam, Nadeem. The Wasted Vigil.(Brief article)(Book review)
August 1, 2008... Aslam, Nadeem. The Wasted Vigil. Knopf. Sept. 2008. c.336p. ISBN 978-0-307-268428. $25. F English-born doctor James Marcus has made Afghanistan his home, having married an Afghan woman named Qatrina, also a doctor. Qatrina was stoned to...

Atkinson, Kate. When Will There Be Good News?(Brief article)(Book review)
August 1, 2008... Atkinson, Kate. When Will There Be Good News? Little, Brown. Sept. 2008. c.320p. ISBN 978-0-316-15485-7. $24.99. e Evocative, smart, literary, and funny, Atkinson's third novel featuring one-time police detective Jackson Brodie (after Case...

Barnes, Kim. A Country Called Home.(Brief article)(Book review)
August 1, 2008... Barnes, Kim. A Country Called Home. Knopf. Oct. 2008. c.288p. ISBN 978-0-30726995-2. $24. F Barnes's second novel (after Finding Caruso) radiates compassion for characters struggling against dreadful odds. Thomas Deracotte, a physician...

Bavaro, Mark. Rough & Tumble.(Brief article)(Book review)
August 1, 2008... Bavaro, Mark. Rough & Tumble. St. Martin's. Sept. 2008. c.336p. ISBN 978-0-312-375744. $24.95. F Former NFL star Bavaro's autobiographical debut novel thrusts readers into the brutal world of an aging professional athlete. Struggling to...

Bayard, Louis. The Black Tower.(Brief article)(Book review)
August 1, 2008... Bayard, Louis. The Black Tower. Morrow. Aug. 2008. c.352p. ISBN 978-0-06-1173509. $24.95. F Making his Morrow debut, Bayard (The Pale Blue Eye) sets his latest historical adventure in the streets of Paris as the blood lust of the...

Bell, Ted. Tsar.(Brief article)(Book review)
August 1, 2008... Bell, Ted. Tsar. Atria: S. & S. Sept. 2008. c.486p. ISBN 978-1-4165-5040-2. $26.95. F In Bell's fifth thriller starring Alexander Hawke, the British lord and spy has recovered from his last mission (Spy) and is relaxing on a Bermuda...

Birmajer, Marcelo. Three Musketeers.(Brief article)(Book review)
August 1, 2008... Birmajer, Marcelo. Three Musketeers. Toby. Oct. 2008. c.211p, tr. from Spanish by Sharon Wood. ISBN 978-1-59264-193-2. $24.95. F Despite his fear of becoming his newspaper's token Jewish affairs correspondent, apathetic reporter Javier...

Bolano, Roberto. 2666.(Brief article)(Book review)
August 1, 2008... Bolano, Roberto. 2666. Farrar. Nov. 2008. c.912p, tr. from Spanish by Natasha Wimmer. ISBN 978-0-374-10014-8. $30. F This sprawling, digressive, Jamesian "loose, baggy monster" reads like five independent but interrelated novels,...

Brink, Andre. Other Lives.(Brief article)(Book review)
August 1, 2008... Brink, Andre. Other Lives. Sourcebooks. Sept. 2008. c.304p. ISBN 978-1-4022-1391-5. $29.99. F Stylistically precise and emotionally evocative, this latest novel from prolific and much-lauded South African novelist, dramatist, and...

2008 Reviewer of the Year: Rebecca Vnuk, Head of Adult Services, Glen Ellyn Public Library, IL.(FICTION)(Brief article)
August 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Since 2004, Rebecca Vnuk has been LJ's resident expert on women's fiction and chick lit, writing lively, thoughtful reviews in a genre too often dismissed as trivial. The novels she recently reviewed were Lisa...

Bruen, Ken. Once Were Cops.(Brief article)(Book review)
August 1, 2008... Bruen, Ken. Once Were Cops. Minotaur: St. Martin's. Oct. 2008. c.224p. ISBN 978-0312-38440-1. $22.95. F He's so tough and cold you'd expect to see him on a platter at a greasy spoon. He prays he won't meet up with any beautiful women...

Buruma, Ian. The China Lover.(Brief article)(Book review)
August 1, 2008... Buruma, Ian. The China Lover. Penguin Pr: Penguin Group (USA). Sept. 2008. c.320p. ISBN 978-1-59420-194-3. $26.95. F Award-winning journalist Buruma (God's Dust) here turns to fiction, tracing the career of starlet Yamaguchi Yoshiko, a...

Cain, Chelsea. Sweetheart.(Brief article)(Book review)
August 1, 2008... Cain, Chelsea. Sweetheart. Minotaur: St. Martin's. Sept. 2008. c.328p. ISBN 978-0312-36947-0. $24.95. F Strung-out police detective Archie Sheridan, still haunted by serial killer Gretchen Lowell, returns in Cain's high-octane follow-up...

Capella, Anthony. The Various Flavors of Coffee.(Brief article)(Book review)
August 1, 2008... Capella, Anthony. The Various Flavors of Coffee. Bantam. Sept. 2008. c.550p. ISBN 978-0-553-80732-5. $22. F In 1893 London, Robert Wallis is an impoverished poet who takes occasional refuge from his debts at a coffeehouse. There, a coffee...

Cohen, Stuart Archer. The Army of the Republic.(Brief article)(Book review)
August 1, 2008... Cohen, Stuart Archer. The Army of the Republic. St. Martin's. Sept. 2008. c.432p. ISBN 9/8-0-312-38377-0. $24.95. F Cohen's (The Stone Angel) provocative new novel describes an America in the near future alarmingly like today's could...

Cook, Robin. Foreign Body.(Brief article)(Book review)
August 1, 2008... Cook, Robin. Foreign Body. Putnam. Aug. 2008. c.448p. ISBN 978-0-399-15502-4. $25.95. F When her beloved grandmother suddenly dies after routine hip surgery in India, UCLA medical student Jennifer Hernandez interrupts her studies and...

Doig, Ivan. The Eleventh Man.(Brief article)(Book review)
August 1, 2008... Doig, Ivan. The Eleventh Man. Harcourt. Oct. 2008. c.416p. ISBN 978-0-15-101243-5. $26. F This inspiring World War II novel features a large cast of skillfully drawn characters and celebrates the many sacrifices made by anonymous...

Donoghue, Emma. The Sealed Letter.(Brief article)(Book review)
August 1, 2008... Donoghue, Emma. The Sealed Letter. Harcourt. Sept. 2008. c.416p. ISBN 978-015-101549-8. $26. F In Victorian England, spinster Emily "Fido" Faithfull is earnestly engaged in the emerging women's movement. But her orderly life is disrupted...

Drayson, Nicholas. A Guide to the Birds of East Africa.(Brief article)(Book review)
August 1, 2008... Drayson, Nicholas. A Guide to the Birds of East Africa. Houghton. Sept. 2008. c.208p. ISBN 978-0-547-15258-5. $22. F In this delightful love story, author and naturalist Drayson (Confessing a Murder) introduces readers to the...

Edgerton, Clyde. The Bible Salesman.(Brief article)(Book review)
August 1, 2008... Edgerton, Clyde. The Bible Salesman. Little, Brown. Aug. 2008. c.256p. ISBN 978-0-31611751-7. $23.99. F Preston and Henry make an odd couple. Henry is an innocent, 20-year-old Bible salesman whom Preston picks up hitchhiking one day in...

Edwards, Selden. The Little Book.(Brief article)(Book review)
August 1, 2008... * Edwards, Selden. The Little Book. Dutton. Aug. 2008. c.416p. ISBN 978-0-525-950615. $25.95. e Thirty years in the making, this debut novel is a tale of time travel in which main character "Wheeler" Burden, a 1970s rock star, baseball...