Library Journal articles from February 2008

Library Journal archives from February 2008

Two NYPLs or one? Donnell sale highlights need for transparency in decision-making.(editorial)(New York Public Library and Donnell Library Center)(Column)
February 1, 2008... WHEN I WAS A KID, LONG BEFORE I KNEW THE distinction between the Research Libraries and the Branch Libraries of New York Public Library (NYPL), you could still go to the big Beaux Arts building on 42nd Street and Fifth Avenue to borrow books or...

Community web site.(feedback)(Letter to the editor)
February 1, 2008... I agree with Marylaine Block ("One with the Community," BackTalk, LJ 9/1/07, p. 52) that libraries are in an excellent position to assist people in their communities who are in need for various reasons. After the hurricanes (Katrina and Rita),...

Best book thanks.(feedback)(Letter to the editor)
February 1, 2008... I just wanted to write to thank you for your lovely mention of my novel, The Year of Fog, in Francine Fialkoff's editorial "Make 'Best Books' Matter" (LJ 12/07, p. 8). I've felt so fortunate that librarians have been so supportive of this book....

Local politics.(feedback)(Letter to the editor)
February 1, 2008... They don't teach people in library school how to deal with small-town politics either (John Berry, "Hopes and Fears for Boston," Blatant Berry, LJ 12/07, p. 10). Justan observation from the field. --Kathy Nixie, MLS, La Marque P.L., TX

Punk reservations.(feedback)(Letter to the editor)
February 1, 2008... While I do not consider myself an expert, I have been listening to punk music since the Seventies, and in only skimming the contents of "The Filth and the Fury 101" by Matthew Moyer (Collection Development, LJ 11/1/07, p. 34-37), I have several...

How gross!(feedback)(Letter to the editor)
February 1, 2008... The correct gross square footage of the new Germantown Library ("Going, Going, Green," LJ 12/07, p. 48) is 44,193, with a square foot cost of $249.41. Total square feet for all new public libraries (p. 56) is 2,262,423.

Twin cities most literate, but check out Cleveland.(frontdesk)(Central Connecticut State University's list of most literate cities)(Brief article)
February 1, 2008... The annual ranking of America's most literate cities (population 250,000 and above) issued by Central Connecticut State University (www.ccsu.edu/AM LCO7/overview.htm) shows that Minneapolis, which came in second behind Seattle in the two...

Stat watch.(frontdesk)(libraries)(Brief article)
February 1, 2008... $2.38 "Conservative and defensible" benefits per dollar spent on public libraries Source: The Economic Impact of Libraries in Indiana, prepared by Indiana Business Research Center; www.ibrc.indiana.edu/studies/...

Heard.(frontdesk)(Rachel Singer Gordon)(Brief article)
February 1, 2008... "Spending precious time and energy blaming your library school, the [American Library Association], or even me might feel good, but it's fairly unproductive. At a certain point you need to take responsibility for getting yourself unstuck, for...

Librarian doesn't fry as supreme Couch Potato.(frontdesk)(Stan Friedman)(Brief article)
February 1, 2008... How did Stan Friedman, senior research librarian, Conde Nast Publications, New York, sit in a recliner for more than 29 hours and watch endless sports on large-screen television to win the ESPN Zone Ultimate Couch Potato Competition January 2?...

Pew survey offers mixed message: many more say they plan to use the library than actually do so.(lj news)
February 1, 2008... To the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), the news was "Survey Challenges Belief That the Internet Reduces Library Use." To the American Library Association, it "supports our assertion that libraries are flourishing." To many in...

Consultant Dubberly joins LSSI.(lj news)(Ron Dubberly, Library Systems & Services)(Brief article)
February 1, 2008... Ron Dubberly, a longtime library consultant and advisor to controversial outsourcing company Library Systems & Services, LLC (LSSI), was to become LSSI's president of public library management operations, effective February 1. LSSI has recently...

Congress backs EPA funding: $3 million earmarked to restore services at technical, research libraries.(lj news)(United States Congress, Environmental Protection Agency)(Brief article)
February 1, 2008... Reversing a policy bitterly opposed by library advocates, many Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) employees, and the watchdog Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER), Congress in its omnibus appropriations bill passed at the...

Indiana PLs may consolidate: commission says 239 library districts could become 92.(lj news)(public libraries)(Brief article)
February 1, 2008... A commission comprised of nonpartisan current and former politicians, one of whom is a library trustee (Louis Mahern, former Indiana state senator and current Indianapolis--Marion County Public Library board chair), has recommended that...

Merged Hennepin Library debuts.(lj news)(Brief article)
February 1, 2008... The Minneapolis Public Library (MPL) has been consolidated into the suburban Hennepin County Library (HCL), and the grand opening was celebrated January 2 at the central library in Minneapolis. The city, which was the only one in the state to...

Science rejoins JSTOR: details scant, given confidentiality agreement, but victory for libraries.(NEWS)(Journal Storage)(Brief article)
February 1, 2008... Under pressure from libraries for its July 2007 decision to pull its flagship publication, Science, from JSTOR, the popular electronic journals database (see News, LJ 11/1/07, p. 18), the American Association for the Advancement of Science...

Public access mandate sparring: publishers complain NIH requirement undermines science.(NEWS)(National Institutes of Health)
February 1, 2008... The public access mandate for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) passed by Congress at the end of last year (see News, LJ 1/08, p. 19) drew harsh criticism from the Association of American Publishers (AAP). AAP said it "will urge NIH to...

Willis leaves B&T after four years.(INDUSTRY NEWS)(Baker & Taylor)(Brief article)
February 1, 2008... Richard Willis announced January 4 his resignation as Baker & Taylor (B&T) chair and CEO after four years at the helm, citing a desire to spend more time with his family. B&T board member Jack W. Eugster, the former CEO/prexy of Musicland...

Toy library expanded in OH: Cuyahoga system will lend toys from 28 locations.(NEWS)(Brief article)
February 1, 2008... Cuyahoga County Public Library (CCPL), Parma, OH, had been lending children's toys through its Brooklyn Branch for over 15 years. As of December 10, 2007, the Toy Library (CuyahogaToy. notlong.com) expanded to all 28 CCPL locations, thanks to a...

NYPL Union protests move: Queens will become home to tech services jobs now in Manhattan.(NEWS)(New York Public Library)(Brief article)
February 1, 2008... Tensions between the New York Public Library's (NYPL) union and management have flared up over the library's plans to move back-office staff from three locations in Manhattan to a new Library Services Center in Long Island City, which is in...

B&N store becomes Illinois Library.(NEWS)(Barnes & Noble)(Brief article)
February 1, 2008... The Rockford Public Library (RPL), IL, will move into a space vacated by Barnes & Noble--and it's planning to keep many of the elements that have made B&N so popular with readers. This month, RPL plans to start reworking a 23,000 square foot...

NC State book festival revived.(NEWS)(North Carolina)(Brief article)
February 1, 2008... There will be a next chapter for the biennial North Carolina Festival for the Book after all. Officials at the University of North Carolina (UNC), Chapel Hill, said that a recent commitment of support from UNC chancellor James Moeser will offer...

Anchorage PL given $840,000 by BP.(NEWS)(public library)(Brief article)
February 1, 2008... Anchorage Public Library, AK, received a major gift December 18 from BP Alaska. The $840,000 will be used to renovate and expand several buildings: $540,000 for a new 10,000 square foot library and learning center in Mountain View, which will...

Kanawha County PL, WV, gets $1 million.(NEWS)(public library, West Virginia)(Brief article)
February 1, 2008... The Maier Foundation and Verizon West Virginia have each donated $500,000 to the Kanawha County Public Library, Charleston, WV, for a planned new downtown library and six replacement, expanded, or renovated libraries elsewhere in the county....

Utah State University (USU).(people)(Brief article)
February 1, 2008... Rick Clement, Head of Special Collections at Kansas University (KU) libraries, Lawrence, has accepted the position of Dean of Libraries at Utah State University (USU), Logan. Susanne Clement, his wife and Head of Collection Development at the...

Ballston Spa Public Library.(people)(Brief article)
February 1, 2008... Karen Deangelo is the new Director of the Ballston Spa Public Library, NY. She previously was Ballston Spa's Children's Librarian and before that worked at the Waterford Public Library, NY, and Schenectady Community College, NY.

Minerva Public Library.(people)(Brief article)
February 1, 2008... Tom Dillie is the new Executive Director of the Minerva Public Library, OH. He previously was Assistant Director of the Greene County Public Library, Xenia, OH. He replaces William Martino, who has become Executive Director of the Northeastern...

Harold Forbes has been appointed Director of the West Virginia Archives and History Commission on the heels of Fred Armstrong's controversial November 1 dismissal.(people)(Brief article)
February 1, 2008... Harold Forbes has been appointed Director of the West Virginia Archives and History Commission on the heels of Fred Armstrong's controversial November 1 dismissal. Forbes was Associate Curator of the West Virginia and Regional History...

Berkeley Public Library.(people)(Brief article)
February 1, 2008... Francisca Goldsmith, formerly Library Services Manager at Berkeley Public Library, CA, is now Director of Branches at Halifax Public Libraries, NS.

San Jose Public Library.(people)(Brief article)
February 1, 2008... Sarah Houghton-Jan fills the newly created position of Senior Librarian for Digital Futures at the San Jose Public Library, CA. She formerly was Information and Web Services Manager at San Mateo County Library, CA.

Beverly Hills Library.(people)(new city librarian Nancy Hunt-Coffey)(Brief article)
February 1, 2008... Nancy Hunt-Coffey has been appointed City Librarian of the Beverly Hills Library, CA. She replaces Beverly Simmons, who retired November 15. Hunt-Coffey was Director of the Glendale Public Library (GPL), CA, for three years and had been with...

Arlington Heights Memorial Library.(people)(Paula Moore )(Brief article)
February 1, 2008... Paula Moore has been appointed Executive Librarian at the Arlington Heights Memorial Library, IL. Moore has served as the library's Public Services Coordinator for 11 years and was named Acting Executive Librarian in September 2007.

Alexandria Library.(people)(Patrick O'Brien)(Brief article)
February 1, 2008... Patrick O'Brien, Director of Libraries for the Alexandria Library, VA, announced his retirement as of March 1, 2008; he relinquished duties on November 30. He held similar positions at the Dallas Public Library and Cuyahoga County Library,...

Cumberland County Public Library & Information Center.(people)(Jody Risacher)(Brief article)
February 1, 2008... Jody Risacher is the new Director of the Cumberland County Public Library & Information Center, Fayetteville, NC, replacing Jerry Thrasher, who retired after 28 years of service. Risacher was deputy director since 1998. Thrasher was the LJ 1999...

Queens College Libraries.(people)(Robert Shaddy)(Brief article)
February 1, 2008... Robert Shaddy has informed LJ that he has "withdrawn from the position" of Dean of Library Services at Wilkes University, Wilkes-Barre, PA (as reported in the December issue, p. 28). He remains Professor and Chief Librarian at Queens College...

International Digital Publishing Forum.(people)(Michael Smith )(Brief article)
February 1, 2008... Michael Smith is the new Executive Director of the International Digital Publishing Forum, a trade and standards organization for the digital publishing industry. Smith most recently managed ebook and book production for the North America, UK,...

Rangeview Library District.(people)(Pam Sandlian Smith )(Brief article)
February 1, 2008... Pam Sandlian Smith is the new Director of the Rangeview Library District, Northglenn, CO. Most recently, she was Director of the West Palm Beach Public Library, FL.

ILS vendors and librarians grapple with their relationship: Library 2 Gang holds lively debate over Tennant's "Library Software Manifesto".(infotech)
February 1, 2008... The self-proclaimed Library 2 Gang, a cadre of librarians and vendors consisting of John Blyberg, head of technology and digital initiatives at Darien Library, CT, and Care Affiliates president Carl Grant, who has had a long career at various...

Nature releases second archive.(infotech)(Brief article)
February 1, 2008... Noted science weekly magazine Nature is now offering a second archive, this one containing the full contents from its first 80 years (1869-1949). According to the publication, the archive, which boasts more than 4000 issues and an estimated...

Historical deal for EOS.(infotech)(EOS International)(Brief article)
February 1, 2008... The Maryland, South Carolina, Colorado, and Georgia historical societies have contracted with EOS International "for cataloging and accessing materials owned, borrowed, and archived" by them. EOS said that each of the four "contains a diverse...

Fairfield goes with Encore.(infotech)(Fairfield University to use Innovative Interfaces' Encore discovery services)(Brief article)
February 1, 2008... Innovative Interfaces announced that Fairfield University, CT, "has selected the Encore discovery services platform and will implement it as a front-end to its Unicorn (SirsiDynix) library automation system." Fairfield is the first Unicorn user...

Dallas PL installing Polaris.(infotech)(Dallas Public Library and Polaris Integrated Library System )(Brief article)
February 1, 2008... The Dallas Public Library has selected the Polaris Integrated Library System (ILS) for the J. Erik Jonsson Central Library and 25 branches. The vendor said the new system "will provide patrons with 24/7 access to fulltext journal articles,...

Trio of products from ProQuest.(infotech)(Brief article)
February 1, 2008... ProQuest has a trio of new deals and offerings. The company has added a feature called Study Paths to its Nursing & Allied Health Source, which, said, "allows students to view quickly fulltext articles recommended by a board of experienced...

Ebooks arrive.(ONLINE DATABASES)
February 1, 2008... THE PROGRAMS AT TWO RECENT conferences (the Charleston Conference and London Online) confirm that ebooks have established themselves in libraries. While the trade and consumer book markets still struggle to find an affordable and compelling...

A Michigan model: Chelsea District Library.(BEST SMALL LIBRARY IN AMERICA 2008)(Organization overview)
February 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The aggressively responsive staff of the Chelsea District Library (CDL), MI, has created a model for small libraries all over America. There, careful research, proactive partnering, and innovative planning have built...

Best consumer health books of 2007.(CONSUMER HEALTH)(Book review)
February 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Strategies to fix America's ailing health-care system seemed to fly off the presses every month in 2007. Doctors, journalists, and policymakers clamored to have their say, as did supporters and opponents of the...

Take this job and love it: academic librarians are underpaid and overworked but mostly satisfied.(LJ SERIES: JOB SATISFACTION)
February 1, 2008... "You don't get rich," says one librarian from a large university in the Pacific Northwest about her work, "but you are rewarded in so many ways." Another, from the Northeast, says she enjoys "creating order out of chaos." Many say they are...

Sense & sustainability.(Collection Development: Sustainability)(Bibliography)
February 1, 2008... A 2006 Canadian opinion poll found that more than half of the respondents had never heard of the term sustainability; seven out often were incapable of defining it; once defined, however, more than 80 percent saw sustainability as a...

Interference.(CASE STUDY)
February 1, 2008... MARY ANNE "KAT" KATSOULAS, Margaret Newell, and Rhonda Samet rode along in Kat's Honda on their way back from a quick lunch. The trio were gabbing when the familiar guitar rift from a song of their youth spewed from the radio. "Well, she got...

Call cops and manager.(ANALYSIS I)
February 1, 2008... Samet and Newell are in a violent and potentially dangerous situation, not only for this child but also for themselves and their patrons. They need to understand that this is time for strong action. They have witnessed a spectrum of negative...

Intercede immediately.(ANALYSIS II)
February 1, 2008... What a nightmarish scene, not only for the boy but also for the library in dealing with possible public relations and legal issues as well as concern and sympathy for this child. Firstly, Newell or Samet needs to intercede immediately to stop...

Go green!(BACKTALK)
February 1, 2008... LIBRARIES, WITH THEIR COLLECTIVE mission of sharing books and other materials for use by communities of users, are the quintessential green organization. But we can implement additional "green" strategies and do even more good for the planet,...

Prepub alert.(Bibliography)
February 1, 2008... Abbott, Jeff. Collision. Dutton. Jun. 2008. 320p. ISBN 978-0-525-95028-8. $24.95. Two strangers find they've been set up--but by whom, and why? Film rights preempted by 20th Century Fox. With a national tour. Adams, Poppy. The Sister....

Mystery.(Book review)
February 1, 2008... GIRL POWER! The chick-lit mystery subgenre has been reinventing itself for a while. Outgrowing shoe fetishes and designer clothing obsessions, ditzy single female sleuths have now matured into responsible young women who still turn to friends...

Prepub mystery.(Bibliography)
February 1, 2008... Alexander, Tasha. A Fatal Waltz. Morrow. Jun. 2008. 304p. ISBN 978-0-06-117422-3. $23.95. Lady Emily Ashton must put her fiance in danger to exonerate her friend's husband of murder in her latest 19th-century investigation by Alexander,...

Christian fiction.(Book review)
February 1, 2008... HAPPY NEW YEAR Christian fiction starts 2008 with a number of strong entries. From Christy Award winner Lisa Samson comes a dynamic story about society's outcasts (Embrace Me), the resiliency of Southern women is the subject of Nicole Seitz's...

Andrews, Mary Kay. Deep Dish.(Brief article)(Book review)
February 1, 2008... * Andrews, Mary Kay. Deep Dish. Harper: HarperCollins. Mar. 2008. c.400p. ISBN 9780-08-083736-5. $24.95. F Atlanta TV cooking star Gina Foxton notices budgetary cuts around the meager set of her local PBS show in the form of substituted...

Barnes, Jonathan. The Somnambulist.(Brief article)(Book review)
February 1, 2008... Barnes, Jonathan. The Somnambulist. Morrow. Feb. 2008. c.368p. ISBN 978-0-06-137538-5. $23.95. F Who is the Somnambulist? The character (like the novel) is festooned with layer upon layer of oddities. Not only is he a mute giant who is...

Block, Francesca Lia. Quakeland.(Young adult review)(Brief article)(Book review)
February 1, 2008... Block, Francesca Lia. Quakeland. Manic D. Apr. 2008. c.224p. ISBN 978-1-933149-23-3. $22.95. F Well-known YA author Block's latest novel for adults (after Necklace of Kisses) is a solemn, sensual journey through the female interior...

Born, James O. Burn Zone.(Brief article)(Book review)
February 1, 2008... Born, James O. Burn Zone. Putnam. Feb. 2008. c.320p. ISBN 978-0-399-15454-6. $25.95. F Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) agent Alex Duarte, first introduced in Field of Fire, is taking his lumps both personally and...

Cleage, Pearl. Seen It All and Done the Rest.(Brief article)(Book review)
February 1, 2008... Cleage, Pearl. Seen It All and Done the Rest. One World: Ballantine. Mar. 2008. c.320p. ISBN 978-0-345-48112-2. $25. F Cleage's (Baby Brother's Blues) new novel gives us yet another glimpse into Atlanta's West End community and introduces...

Dragoman, Gyorgy. The White King.(Brief article)(Book review)
February 1, 2008... Dragoman, Gyorgy. The White King. Houghton. Apr. 2008. c.288p. tr. from Hungarian by Paul Olchvary. ISBN 978-0-618-94517-7. $24. F Three chapters into this work, young protagonist Djata is at practice for his junior soccer team, for which...

Epstein, Jennifer Cody. The Painter from Shanghai.(Brief article)(Book review)
February 1, 2008... * Epstein, Jennifer Cody. The Painter from Shanghai. Norton. Mar. 2008. c.416p. ISBN 978-0-393-06528-2. $24.95. F Journalist Epstein's first novel showcases two turbulent decades in Chinese history (1913-37) as experienced by...

Etzioni-Halevy, Eva. The Triumph of Deborah.(Brief article)(Book review)
February 1, 2008... Etzioni-Halevy, Eva. The Triumph of Deborah. Plume: Penguin Group (USA). Feb. 2008. c.368p. ISBN 978-0-452-28906-2. pap. $14. F In her third novel depicting women of the Old Testament (after The Song of Hannah and The Garden of Ruth),...

Fairstein, Linda. Killer Heat.(Brief article)(Book review)
February 1, 2008... * Fairstein, Linda. Killer Heat. Doubleday. Mar. 2008. c.384p. ISBN 978-0-385-52397-4. $26. F In her tenth Alexandra Cooper thriller (after Bad Blood), Fairstein delivers a scorcher of a crime novel--her hottest yet. The assistant DA...

Falcones, Ildefonso. Cathedral of the Sea.(Brief article)(Book review)
February 1, 2008... Falcones, Ildefonso. Cathedral of the Sea. Dutton. May 2008. c.592p. tr. from Spanish by Nick Caistor. ISBN 978-0-525-95048-6. $25.95. F Centered on the life of Arnau, born to a peasant farmer in Catalonia, this weighty novel spans 55...

Ferraris, Zoe. Finding Nouf.(Brief article)(Book review)
February 1, 2008... Ferraris, Zoe. Finding Nouf. Houghton. Jun. 2008. c.320p. ISBN 978-0-618-87388-3. $24. F Sixteen-year-old Nouf ash-Shrawi, daughter of a wealthy Saudi Arabian family, mysteriously disappears and is eventually found drowned in the desert....

Ford, Jeffrey. The Shadow Year.(Brief article)(Book review)
February 1, 2008... Ford, Jeffrey. The Shadow Year. Morrow. Mar. 2008. C.304p. ISBN 978-0-06-123152-0. $25.95. F Strange things are happening in a small Long Island community--a child disappears, a large, white car no one recognizes is seen creeping around,...

Galan, Juan Eslava. The Mule.(Brief article)(Book review)
February 1, 2008... Galan, Juan Eslava. The Mule. Bantam. Feb. 2008. c.304p. tr. from Spanish by Lisa Dillman. ISBN 978-0-553-38508-3. pap. $12. F Juan Castro Perez, a mule driver in the Spanish civil war, finds and cares for a stray mule he hopes to bring...

Gessen, Keith. All the Sad Young Literary Men.(Brief article)(Book review)
February 1, 2008... Gessen, Keith. All the Sad Young Literary Men. Viking. Apr. 2008. c.242p. ISBN 978-0-670-01855-0. $24.95. F In his first novel, Russian-born Gessen (founder, n+1) continues many of the same themes of his excellent short story "Like...

Hall, Sarah. Daughters of the North.(Brief article)(Book review)
February 1, 2008... Hall, Sarah. Daughters of the North. Perennial: HarperCollins. Apr. 2008. c.256p. ISBN 978-0-06-143036-7. pap. $13.95. F In a flooded, postapocalyptic Britain, most of the country is wet and uninhabitable; what remains above ground is in...

Hareven, Gail. The Confessions of Noa Weber.(Brief article)(Book review)
February 1, 2008... Hareven, Gail. The Confessions of Noa Weber. Melville House. Feb. 2008. c.330p. tr. from Hebrew by Dalya Bilu. ISBN 978-1-933633-37-4. pap. $16.95. F Winner of Israel's prestigious Sapir Prize, this is Hareven's first book to be translated...

Hyde, Catherine Ryan. Chasing Windmills.(Brief article)(Book review)
February 1, 2008... Hyde, Catherine Ryan. Chasing Windmills. Flying Dolphin: Doubleday. Mar. 2008. c.262p. ISBN 978-0-385-52127-7. $22.95. F Seventeen-year-old Sebastian Mundt is homeschooled by his father in New York City. He hadn't seen his mother, now dead,...

Kakar, Sudhir. The Seeker.(Brief article)(Book review)
February 1, 2008... Kakar, Sudhir. The Seeker. Trumpeter: Shambhala, dist. by Random. 2008. c.275p. ISBN 978-1-59030-525-6. pap. $14. F Novelist and psychoanalyst Kakar (Ecstasy) successfully employs letters, diaries, and autobiographical accounts to craft...

Kelton, Elmer. Hard Trail To Fellow.(Brief article)(Book review)
February 1, 2008... Kelton, Elmer. Hard Trail To Fellow. Forge: Tor. Feb. 2008. c.288p. ISBN 978-0-7653-1522-9. $24.95. F We've seen, heard, and read it all before--the relentless lawman on a long, hard trail to bring a killer to justice. Bank robber Luther...

Khoury, Elias. Yalo.(Brief article)(Book review)
February 1, 2008... Khoury, Elias. Yalo. Archipelago. 2008. c.260p. tr. from Arabic by Peter Theroux. ISBN 978-0-9793330-4-0. $25. F Khoury (Middle Eastern & Islamic studies), author of the critically acclaimed Gate of the Sun, among other works, here...

Kinsella, Sophie. Remember Me?(Brief article)(Book review)
February 1, 2008... Kinsella, Sophie. Remember Me? Dial: Random. Mar. 2008. c.389p. ISBN 978-0-385-33872-1. $25. F In the same tradition of Kinsella's other stand-alone works, Can You Keep a Secret? and The Undomestic Goddess, this light novel will entice...

Marcom, Micheline Aharonian. Draining the Sea.(Brief article)(Book review)
February 1, 2008... Marcom, Micheline Aharonian. Draining the Sea. Riverhead: Penguin Group (USA). Mar. 2008. c.352p. ISDN 978-1-59448-973-0. $26.95. F Marcom's third novel, after the award-winning Three Apples Fell from Heaven and The Daydreaming Boy, proves...

Martin, Lee. River of Heaven.(Brief article)(Book review)
February 1, 2008... Martin, Lee. River of Heaven. Shaye Areheart: Harmony. Apr. 2008. c.288p. ISBN 978-0-307-38124-8. $24. F Sam Brady has led a quiet, isolated life for most of his 65 years. A closeted gay man in a small Illinois town in the 1950s, he has...

Miller, Karen E. Quinones. Passin'.(Brief article)(Book review)
February 1, 2008... Miller, Karen E. Quinones. Passin'. Grand Central. Feb. 2008. c.291p. ISBN 978-0-446-69605-0. pap. $13.99. F The drama never heats up in this tepid seventh novel by Essence best-selling author Miller (Satin Nights), whose fans might not...

Morrow, James. The Philosopher's Apprentice.(Brief article)(Book review)
February 1, 2008... * Morrow, James. The Philosopher's Apprentice. Morrow. Mar. 2008. c.464p. ISBN 978-0-06-135144-0. $25.95. F Aristotle is referred to so often in this brilliant comedy of manners as to seem to be alive. Also present are Plato, Lawrence...

Morton, Kate. The House at Riverton.(Brief article)(Book review)
February 1, 2008... Morton, Kate. The House at Riverton. Atria: S. & S. Apr. 2008. c.473p. ISBN 978-1-4165-5051-8. $24.95. F For decades, Grace Reeves has kept secret the truth of a poet's violent death by the lake at Riverton House in Oxfordshire. Now at the...

Mosse, Kate. Sepulchre.(Brief article)(Book review)
February 1, 2008... Mosse, Kate. Sepulchre. Putnam. Apr. 2008. c.560p. ISBN 978-0-399-15467-6. $25.95. F Mosse's latest novel about love and obsession smoothly alternates between historical viewpoints. First off is 1891 Paris, where young Leonie Vernier...

Park, David. The Truth Commissioner.(Brief article)(Book review)
February 1, 2008... Park, David. The Truth Commissioner. Bloomsbury, dist. by Macmillan. Mar. 2008. c.384p. ISBN 978-1-59691-456-8. $24.95. F Ireland is no country for old men--or so it seems in this novel of bleak landscapes and middle-aged characters hiding...