Library Journal articles from December 2004

Library Journal archives from December 2004

What users want: real, live librarians are still central to our customers.(editorial)(Editorial)
December 1, 2004... IN A TOWN OF JUST 1800 PEOPLE, A WHOPPING TEN percent volunteer at the public library. What wellspring of goodwill does the library draw on to enlist so many people to give it their precious personal time? Three of the volunteers, juniors in...

New blood needed: I don't vote for experience on ALA's Council.(blatant berry)
December 1, 2004... OLD-TIMERS HAVE TURNED DEFENSIVE ABOUT their long service on the Council of the American Library Association (ALA). Holding forth endlessly on the ALACOUN discussion list, they leave the impression that to serve on the Council is terribly...

Cover the middle.(feedback)(Letter to the Editor)
December 1, 2004... Your excellent update covers jobs and salaries for each graduating class [Stephanie Maatta, "Jobs! (Eventually)," LJ 10/15/04, p. 28-35], and the NextGen column tells of dissatisfaction with job prospects by entering librarians (p. 46). Laments...

LSSI improves service.(feedback)(Letter to the Editor)
December 1, 2004... One understated piece of Norman Oder's article is that "When LSSI Comes to Town" (L/10/1/04, p. 36-40), library service improves. Those of us who have worked for LSSI as onsite managers or interim directors can attest to that fact. We came to...

LSSI an ideological choice.(feedback)(Letter to the Editor)
December 1, 2004... Regarding the Jersey City Public Library (JCPL) contract referenced in Norman Oder's "When LSSI Comes to Town" (LJ 10/1/04, p. 36-40): the chair of the library board, Morale Meinga, is quoted as saying, "they let us out of the contract early,"...

Lighter side of sleaze.(feedback)(Letter to the Editor)
December 1, 2004... With our records waiting to be subpoenaed by the FBI or other federal agencies, as Francine Fialkoff said ["Porn Star(s) in the Library," Editorial, LJ 10/1/04, p. 8], people shouldn't worry about their library reading habits being accessed!...

Heard.(front desk)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... "[San Francisco] City Librarian is a wonderful position; maybe not for ten years but great for three of four." --CALIFORNIA STATE LIBRARIAN SUSAN HILDRETH, FORMER CITY LIBRARIAN OF SAN FRANCISCO, AT THE CALIFORNIA LIBRARY ASSOCIATION...

Goodbye, Orlando, for 2010; conference to move.(front desk)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... The complaints about logistical difficulties at the American Library Association (ALA) Annual Conference in Orlando last June hit home, so the ALA Executive Board in October decided to cancel plans to hold the 2010 meeting in Orlando and...

Browsing with your handheld.(front desk)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... "[Vinod Chachra of VTLS] envisions a day when libraries completely do away with the time-tested Dewey decimal classification system, opting instead for a sort of organized chaos governed by the vigilant and unblinking eye of RFID."

The Basra story becomes a book.(front desk)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... It's a heartwarming story from a harsh zone: The Librarian of Basra, a new children's book by Jeanette Winter, presents the story of Alia Muhammad Baker, who was able to save 30,000 books from Iraq's Central Library of Basra--70% of the...

Stat watch.(front desk)(Brief Article)(Illustration)
December 1, 2004... STAT WATCH The most popular languages on the Internet, by percent of total users English 35.3 Chinese 13.0 Japanese 8.2 Spanish 6.9 German 6.7 Internet World Stats, October 2004

Election wins in ME, NM, & FL: several successes, some losses elsewhere; Salinas may shut libraries.(LJ news)
December 1, 2004... Election Day provided good news for library advocates in several states but also sobering news in a number of jurisdictions. Notably, Maine voters solidly defeated A "Proposition 13"-like one percent property tax cap (see News, LJ 9/15/04, p....

New York PL gets $30m in gifts.( New York Public Library )(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... The New York Public Library (NYPL) has received two grants totaling $30 million--$25 million from financier Robert W. Wilson and $5 million from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Wilson's donation, the largest single gift ever received by the...

Flood cripple university of Hawaii Library.(LJ news)
December 1, 2004... The University of Hawaii (UH) at Manoa sustained major damage after an October 30 flood. Some priceless collections at the Hamilton Library were destroyed, and much of the library's computing capability was knocked out temporarily. A wall of...

Dual publication exposed at Emerald: trail leads to 409 examples of duplicated articles.(LJ news)
December 1, 2004... In the hottest story to come out of the 24th annual Charleston Conference, held November 3-6 in Charleston, SC, Cornell University librarian Phil Davis presented a bombshell paper that detailed a pattern of republishing content without...

Gorman: LIS reform needed: calls for accreditation tied to national standards, practitioners.(LJ news)
December 1, 2004... At a panel titled "The Future of Library Information Education" on November 5, American Library Association (ALA) president-elect Michael Gorman, who has taken LIS education as the theme of his presidency, reviewed the state of LIS programs in...

Paraprofessional of the Year sought.(LJ news)
December 1, 2004... Library Journal seeks to honor its sixth annual Paraprofessional of the Year. The award, acknowledged in the March 1, 2005 issue, recognizes the essential role of paraprofessionals, now the largest constituency of library workers, in providing...

E-rate funding mostly stalled: ALA warns that delays may persist next year, lobbies Congress.(LJ news)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... After a three-month hiatus (see News, LJ 11/1/04, p. 16ft.), the Schools and Libraries Division of the Universal Service Administrative Company, which runs the E-rate program, in November resumed mailing funding commitment decision letters, but...

UK STM report: govt. cautious: open access might be more costly for the UK, response says.(LJ news)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... If it was somewhat of a surprise that the UK's Parliament's Science and Technology Committee report on STM publishing called for free access to all government-funded research (see News, LJ 8/04,p. 16ff.), there was no surprise about the...

National library funding rises a bit.(LJ news)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... Congressional funding for library programs for FY05, which began in October, will be $207,760,000, an increase of $9.5 million over FY04, but that was $12.7M below the President's request and $15.8M less than what the Senate approved. Congress...

SLA faces budget crunch: leaves CNI; still, Global Online University moves ahead.(LJ news)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... SLA (the Special Libraries Association) has set next year's priorities, and professional development is in the forefront. It slashed $1 million during its 2005 budget planning process while allocating funds for an ambitious online continuing...

Houston's Gubbin heads for Jacksonville.(LJ news)(Barbara Gubbin appointed at Jacksonville Public Library, Florida)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... Barbara Gubbin, director of the Houston Public Library since 1995, was appointed director of the Jacksonville Public Library, FL. Gubbin, who earned $107,000 in Houston, will be paid $125,000 annually; her start date next year hasn't been...

Burger, Hage to vie for ALA job.(LJ news)(Leslie Burger and Christine Lind Hage has been nominated American Library Association)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... Leslie Burger, director of the Princeton Public Library, NJ, and Christine Lind Hage, director of the Clinton-Macomb Public Library, Clinton Township, MI, have been nominated as candidates for the 2006-07 presidency of the American Library...

Spokane Valley says no to LSSI.(LJ news)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... Rebuffing a lower-cost bid from outsourced library provider LSSI, the city of Spokane Valley, WA, chose to stay with the Spokane County Library District (SCLD), but the contract remained unresolved. Though the county system had operated the...

UK sets ten new standards for PLs.(LJ news)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... The UK's Museums, Archives, and Library Authority (MALA) has released its latest service standards for public libraries. The standards recommend that libraries buy 216 new items (books, CDs, DVDs, and other materials) per thousand people they...

Physicist to head FSU info school.(LJ news)(Jane B. Robbins retires from Florida State University )(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... Florida State University (FSU), Tallahassee, has announced that Jane B. Robbins, who is retiring from the School of Information Studies, would be succeeded this month by Lawrence C. Dennis. The appointment of Dennis, a physicist, continues a...

California State Library.(People)(Tom Andersen appointed)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... Tom Andersen has been appointed Chief, Library Development Services Bureau, California State Library, Sacramento. He was Acting Bureau Chief since June 2004 and has 30 years of experience at the state library.

Susan Avery is now Instructional Services Librarian, Undergraduate Library, and Assistant Professor of Library Administration, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC).(People)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... Susan Avery is now Instructional Services Librarian, Undergraduate Library, and Assistant Professor of Library Administration, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). Chong-Hwey Fee is a Visiting Project Coordinator, Mortenson Center...

Franklin College.(People)(Susan Gilfert appointed as Director of Library Services)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... Susan Gilfert is now Director of Library Services, Franklin College, Lugano, Switzerland. She was Instructional Services Librarian, Fogehnan Library, New School University, New York, for five years as well as Acting Director at Fogelman for one...

Colorado Talking Book Library.(People)(Debbi MacLeod appointed )(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... Debbi MacLeod has joined the Colorado Talking Book Library, Denver, as the new Director. MacLeod has spent 15 years in the corporate world, in such firms as Polaroid Corp. and Hewlett Packard, with expertise in market, competitive, and trend...

University of Maryland.(People)(Jennifer J. Preece appointed)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... Jennifer J. Preece has been appointed Dean of the College of Information Studies, University of Maryland, College Park, effective January 1,2005. Preece is currently Professor of Information Systems, University of Maryland, Baltimore County,...

Obituaries.(Brief Article)(Obituary)
December 1, 2004... Charlotte Elizabeth Brown, Administrative Assistant and Cataloger, Portland State University Library, OR, for eight years, died on October 12 at the age of 43. Jim Nichols, retired Professor at the library school at the University of...

A decade of success: Endeavor celebrates its tenth anniversary: President Roland Dietz discusses the company's strategies and future.(infotech)
December 1, 2004... It was the ultimate revenge of the nerds. A handful of downsized and disgruntled library automation veterans from an era that saw several brand-name turnkey vendors either gobbled up or spit out banded together to found what proved to be the...

BPL wins NYC tech award: ABC cards/kiosks named best application serving the public.(infotech)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... Brooklyn Public Library's (BPL) Access Brooklyn Card (ABC) andABC Services Kiosks were awarded the 2004 Excellence in Technology Award for Best Application Serving the Public by New York City's Department of Information Technology and...

Alexander St. buys classical: press will integrate audio to text-and image-based collections.(Industry News)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... Alexander Street Press has acquired the music reference service Classical Music Library (CML), an increasingly popular resource for libraries. CML contains tens of thousands of licensed web-based recording tracks cross-referenced to a database...

OCLC and Yahoo! Partnership: cobranded toolbar will open consumer access to WorldCat.(Industry News)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... OCLC has embarked on a pilot program with Yahoo!, Inc., to collaborate on a cobranded toolbar (www.oclc.org/ toolbar) that will allow consumers to search two million of "the most popular" records in WorldCat. According to OCLC, "The toolbar...

Philadelphia gets checkpoint: renovated Walnut West St. Branch receives tech gift.(Installations)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... With the emphasis on "free" Philadelphia Free Library's revamped Walnut West Street branch was presented with an Intelligent Library System from Checkpoint Systems Inc. The 98-year-old branch reopened October 22 after a lengthy renovation....

Virginia schools contract with TLC: public school system to use OSA at 182 outlets.(Installations)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS),VA, has signed for The Library Corporation's (TLC) Online Selection & Acquisitions (OSA), a standalone acquisitions and fund management system. TLC said that FCPS has 182 schools and ranks 12th nationally by...

Susan Sterns joins Ex Libris: librarian named director of operations for North America.(Infotech People)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... Ex Libris has hired Susan Sterns as director of operations in its Information Services Division (ISD). Situated in Boston, she will be responsible for "all North American--based ISD implementation and support activities," the company said....

The murky bucket syndrome.(Digital Libraries)
December 1, 2004... TWO RECENT, UNRELATED EVENTS put into stark focus the major challenges we have ahead of us if we want to serve our users as they expect and deserve. The first event arose when I innocently reported that two records for the same journal in...

Chat's positive side.(Online Databases)(Column)
December 1, 2004... "I HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO REGRETS about enhancing our reference services through chat." "It's been a smooth and successful expansion of our existing reference service." "It's so successful we've moved from being a pilot project to an ongoing...

Googlizers vs. resistors: library leaders debate our relationship with search engines.(Panel Discussion)
December 1, 2004... It is a Google world and librarians just live in it. Really? Certainly Google's famously simple interface, ease of use, and enormous popularity challenge librarians to think about their users' needs in very different ways. For starters,...

Spend billions ... and they will come: construction remains strong for 2004, with 203 public buildings and 36 academic projects.(Library Building 2004)
December 1, 2004... People look at one billion dollars in one of two ways: if it is the result of the long, hard effort of years of fundraising, they rejoice; if it signifies an astronomical budget deficit, they cringe. How, then, should we respond as a community...

Architects.(Library Buildings 2004)(Directory)
December 1, 2004... A Abraham & Associates [Loren Abraham], St. Paul; 651-480-2275 Acock Associates, Columbus, OH; 614-228-1586; www.acock.com Addington Partnership, Bakersfield, CA; 661-327-1690; www.addington.net Adalbert Albu, West Caldwell,...

It just keeps booming: thirty-four years of LJ data on public library construction yields a picture of healthy growth.(Library Buildings 2004)
December 1, 2004... If the pace of construction, the size of projects, and the money spent on public library buildings represents how well libraries are regarded in America, then libraries are prized. LJ has been compiling data on new and renovated buildings for...

Great libraries in the making: a new generation of innovative public libraries is on the boards.(Library Buildings 2004)
December 1, 2004... We are in an age of experimentation. From Cerritos, CA, to Salt Lake City to Seattle, library users are experiencing public libraries the likes of which they have never before seen. While the 1990s may be remembered as the era of the anchor...

Governance is fun: the ALA Midwinter Meeting, Boston, January 14-19, 2005.
December 1, 2004... One of librarianship s great mysteries is why anyone spends from $99 to $199 for each of several nights in a hotel, a few hundred more for airfare, $125-$140 to register, and who knows how much for food, drink, and local transportation in order...

Orchid fever.(Collection development: gardening)(Product/Service Evaluation)
December 1, 2004... Exotic, captivating, and seductive, orchids have long fascinated plant lovers. They first attracted the attention of Westerners in the 17th century, when explorers brought back samples from South America and Asia. By the mid-1800s, orchid...

Moving on out.(Nextgen)
December 1, 2004... SOME NEXTGENS FACE QUESTIONS about whether and when to move up into management (see NextGen, L/ 9/15/04). Others face the potentially more wrenching decision of whether and when to move out of their institutions. We need to take regular stock...

When wooden stakes aren't enough.(Backtalk)
December 1, 2004... A BLOOD-CURDLING SCREAM echoed through the small meeting room. Then silence. I looked around at the library's managers. Horrified eyes met mine. Apparently, I was the screamer. Dang. But I summoned from my deep and hard-won trove of...

Big brother is reading.(Case Study)(Column)
December 1, 2004... EILEEN CLYNE FELT AS IF SHE WERE being watched. She stopped typing and peered over the top of her terminal to see the eyes of Weber University Library dean William McCann glaring back at her. "I need to talk to you right now," McCann said...

There are limits ...(Analysis I)
December 1, 2004... AT FIRST BLUSH, this seems to be a simple problem of employees choosing to use a new style of soapbox to express themselves and not taking the time to weigh the consequences of their actions. However, the very fact that Clyne and Halchak felt...

A permanent record.(Analysis II)
December 1, 2004... WHY ARE CLYNE and Halchak so upset? A cynic might say it's because they got caught. They mistakenly assumed that their online rants were private and protected. Why didn't the author ask permission to use their names in the newsletter, they...

Abrahams, Peter. Oblivion.(Book Review)(Brief Review)
December 1, 2004... ABRAHAMS, PETER. Oblivion. Morrow. Apr. 2005. 352p. ISBN 0-06-072657-1. $24.95. When crack P.I. Nick Petrov comes to in the hospital with certain gaps in his memory, he hunts for what's missing--with scary results.

Alarcon, Daniel. War by Candleight.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
December 1, 2004... ALARCON, DANIEL. War by Candelight. HarperCollins. Apr. 2005. 208p. ISBN 0-06-059478-0. $23.95. If you liked "City, of Clowns," featured in the 2003 New Yorker Fiction Debut issue, then you'll love these nine stories from Peruvian-born...

Balogh, Mary. Simply Unforgettable.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
December 1, 2004... BALOGH, MARY. Simply Unforgettable. Delacorte. Apr. 2005. 352p. ISBN 0-385-33822-8. $22. There are consequences when Frances Allard, a teacher at Miss Martin's School for Girls, spends a few passionate nights with the charming gentleman...

Baron, Michael. The Mourning Sexton. Doubleday.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
December 1, 2004... BARON, MICHAEL. The Mourning Sexton. Doubleday. Apr. 2005. 400p. ISBN 0-385-51326-7. $23.95. Struggling to rebuild his law practice after serving time for embezzlement, David Hirsch runs into murder when asked to take on a product...

Beard, Philip. Dear Zoe.(Book Review)(Brief Review)
December 1, 2004... BEARD, PHILIP. Dear Zoe. Viking. Apr. 2005. 240p. ISBN 0-670-03401-0. $21.95. Cassette/CD: HighBridge Audio. Beard came close to self-publishing this debut, written as a series of letters by teenaged Tess to her dead sister. With a...

Berg, Elizabeth. The Year of Pleasures.(Book Review)(Brief Review)
December 1, 2004... BERG, ELIZABETH. The Year of Pleasures. Random. Apr. 2005. 240p. ISBN 1-4000-6160-1. $24.95. Cassette/CD: Brilliance Audio. Fulfilling a promise she made to her dying husband, Betta starts over by moving to a new town. With a 12-city tour.

Briscoe, Connie. Can't Get Enough.(Book Review)(Brief Review)
December 1, 2004... BRISCOE, CONNIE. Can't Get Enough. Doubleday. Apr. 2005. 304p. ISBN 0-385-50162-5. $19.95. For readers who couldn't get enough of the author's celebrated P.G. County.

Chiaverini, Jennifer. The Sugar Camp Quilt.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
December 1, 2004... CHIAVERINI, JENNIFER. The Sugar Camp Quilt. S. & S. Apr. 2005. 320p. ISBN 0-7432-6017-1. $22. Young Dorothy Granger finds that designs for the quilt her deceased uncle had asked her to make give clues to the Underground Railroad. Seventh...

Clark, Mary Higgins. No Place Like Home.(Brief Article)(Audiobook Review)
December 1, 2004... CLARK, MARY HIGGINS. No Place Like Home. S. & S. Apr. 2005. 384p. ISBN 0-7432-6489-4. $25.95. Cassette/CD: S. & S. Audio. Pity poor Celia. As a gift, her husband has presented her with the very house where, as little Liza Barclay, she...

Ellis, David. In the Company of Liars.(Book Review)(Brief Review)
December 1, 2004... ELLIS, DAVID. In the Company of Liars. Putnam. Apr. 2005. 352p. ISBN 0-399-15247-4. $24.95. This Edgar Award winner works backward from Allison Pagone's execution to show why so many people wanted her convicted of murder.

Erian, Alicia. Towelhead.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
December 1, 2004... ERIAN, ALICIA. Towelhead. S. & S. Apr. 2005. 288p. ISBN 0-7432-4494-X. $22. Sent to the United States by her mother when Saddam Hussein invades Kuwait, Jasira must cope with her strict father and the realization that she is an Arab. This...

Feist, Raymond E. Exile's Return: Conclave of Shadows, Bk. 3.(Book Review)(Brief Review)
December 1, 2004... FEIST, RAYMOND E. Exile's Return: Conclave of Shadows, Bk. 3. Eos: HarperCollins. Apr. 2005. 384p. ISBN 0-380-97710-9. $25.95. The tyrannous Kaspar, Duke of Olasko, has been banished from Midkemia--but he might be able to get even.

Feldman, Ellen. The Boy Who Loved Anne Frank.(Book Review)(Brief Review)
December 1, 2004... FELDMAN, ELLEN. The Boy Who Loved Anne Frank. Norton. Apr. 2005. 288p. ISBN 0-393-05944-8. $23.95. What if Peter van Pels, the boy hiding with Anne Frank, had survived the Holocaust? With a five-city tour.

Finder, Joseph. Company Man.(Audiobook Review)(Brief Review)
December 1, 2004... FINDER, JOSEPH. Company Man. St. Martin's. ISBN 0-312-31916-9. $24.95. Cassette/CD: Sound Library: BBC Audiobooks America. Did Nick Conover, a CEO vilified for massive layoffs, do in the stalker who threatened his children?

Foer, Jonathan Safran. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
December 1, 2004... FOER, JONATHAN SAFRAN. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. Houghton. Apr. 2005. 368p, ISBN 0-618-32970-6. $24.95. The title must suggest the sound of the Twin Towers Palling, which killed the father of nine-year-old prodigy Oskar Schell....

Frey, Stephen. The Chairman.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
December 1, 2004... FREY, STEPHEN. The Chairman. Ballantine. Apr. 2005. 304p. ISBN 0-345-45760-9. $21.95. Cassette/CD: Random Audio; Books on Tape. Yet another threatened CEO--this time young Christian Gillette, who gets his first hint of trouble when his car...

Hoffman, Alice. The Ice Queen.(Audiobook Review)(Brief Review)
December 1, 2004... HOFFMAN, ALICE. The Ice Queen. Little, Brown. Apr. 2005. 304p, ISBN 0-316-05859-9. $24.95. Cassette/CD: Time Warner Audio. When she is struck by lightning, the ice queen (a small-town librarian, ahem) finds her life transformed. With a...

Johansen, Iris. Countdown.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
December 1, 2004... JOHANSEN, IRIS. Countdown. Doubleday. Apr. 2005. 352p. ISBN 0-553-80342-5. $25; lrg. prnt Random. ISBN 0-375-43443-7. $27. Cassette/CD: Random Audio. Does the death of Jane's friend Mike have anything to do with her past life on the...

Karasyov, Carrie & Jill Kargman. Wolves in Chic Clothing.(Brief Article)(Audiobook Review)
December 1, 2004... KARASYOV, CARRIE & JILL KARGMAN. Wolves in Chic Clothing. Broadway. Apr. 2005. 300p, ISBN 0-7879-1780-4. $21.95. Cassette/CD: Random Audio. When downtown salesgirl Julia delivers a necklace to bride-to-be heiress Loll, she gets made...

Kidd, Sue Monk. The Mermaid Chair.(Brief Article)(Audiobook Review)
December 1, 2004... KIDD, SUE MONK. The Mermaid Chair. Viking. Apr. 2005. 320p. ISBN 0-670-03394-4. $24.95. Cassette/CD: Penguin Audio; Books on Tape. The fancifully carved "mermaid chair" belongs to a Benedictine monastery on the island where Jessie has gone...

Kurlansky, Mark. Boogaloo on 2nd Avenue: a Novel of Pastry, Guilt, and Music.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
December 1, 2004... KURLANSKY, MARK. Boogaloo on 2nd Avenue: A Novel of Pastry, Guilt, and Music. Baltantine. Apr. 2005.352p. ISBN 0-345-44818-9. $24.95. In his fiction debut, Kurlansky leaves behind Cod for Lower East Side schmaltz as Nathan regrets his...

McCann, Richard. Mother of Sorrows.(Brief Article)(Book Review)(Brief Review)
December 1, 2004... McCANN, RICHARD. Mother of Sorrows. Pantheon. Apr. 2005. 192p. ISBN 0-679-41176-3. $20. With his father dead, an 11-year-old boy in sunny post--World War II America turns to his "mother of sorrows." Pantheon's big April push.

McEwan, Ian. Saturday.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
December 1, 2004... McEWAN, IAN. Saturday. Nan A. Talese: Doubleday. Apr. 2005. 304p. ISBN 0-385-51180-9. $26; lrg. prnt. ISBN 0-375-43532-8. $28. His mood somewhat dampened by the impending war in Iraq, a London neurosurgeon heads out to play squash--and ends...

Miller, Andrew. The Optimists.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
December 1, 2004... MILLER, ANDREW. The Optimists. Harcourt. Apr. 2005. 320p. ISBN 0-15-100727-6. $24. A photojournalist stunned into inaction after witnessing genocide in Africa finds redemption by caring for his mentally ill sister. From an International...

Miller, Sue. Lost in the Forest.(Brief Article)(Book Review)(Brief Review)
December 1, 2004... MILLER, SUE. Lost in the Forest. Knopf. Apr. 2005. 256p. ISBN 1-4000-4226-7. $24.95. When her stepfather dies, Daisy spins out of control--and into sexuality dangerous territory. With an 11-city tour.

Mitchard, Jacquelyn. The Breakdown Lane.(Brief Article)(Audiobook Review)
December 1, 2004... MITCHARD, JACQUELYN. The Breakdown Lane. HarperCollins. Apr. 2005. 400p. ISBN 0-060-58724-5. $25.95, CD: HarperAudio. Voluble advice columnist Julianne has nothing to say when her husband of 20 years suddenly splits, but after she falls...

Pears, Iain. The Portraitist.(Brief Article)(Book Review)(Brief Review)
December 1, 2004... PEARS, IAIN. The Portraitist. Riverhead: Putnam. Apr. 2005. 192p. ISBN 1-57322-298-4. $19.95. A London critic who has made the career of his curmudgeonly artist friend is suddenly in that friend's power while sitting for a portrait.

Pouncey, Peter. The Rules for Old Men Waiting.(Brief Article)(Book Review)(Brief Review)
December 1, 2004... POUNCEY, PETER. The Rules for Old Men Waiting. Random. Apr. 2005. 224p, ISBN 1-4000-6370-1. $21.95. No longer waiting to write his first novel, the president emeritus of Amherst College offers a protagonist who looks back over his life.

Ross, Ann B. Miss Julia's School of Beauty.(Brief Article)(Book Review)(Brief Review)
December 1, 2004... ROSS, ANN B. Miss Julia's School of Beauty. Viking. Apr. 2005. 320p. ISBN 0-670-03388-X. $24.95. Miss Julia finally marries Sam! With an eight-city tour.

Smith, Haywood. The Red Hats Ride Again.(Brief Article)(Audiobook Review)
December 1, 2004... SMITH, HAYWOOD. The Red Hats Ride Again. St. Martin's. Apr. 2005. 336p. ISBN 0-312-31691-7. [ISBN 978-0-31231691-4]. $24.95. Cassette/CD: Sound Library: BBC Audiobooks America. This time 'round, the Red Hats must save friend Pru--and end...

Sparks, Nicholas. True Believer.(Brief Article)(Audiobook Review)
December 1, 2004... SPARKS, NICHOLAS. True Believer. Warner. Apr. 2005. 224p. ISBN 0-446-53243-6. $24.95; lrg. prnt. ISBN 0-446-57829-0. Cassette/CD: Time Warner Audio; Books on Tape. Science journalist Jeremy Marsh may have fallen for the daughter of a...