Library Journal articles from January 2006

Library Journal archives from January 2006

What's so bad about books? If we're worried about literacy, we need to embrace the book brand, too.(editorial)(Editorial)
January 1, 2006... THE DATA IN THE LATEST OCLC REPORT IS ADDICTIVE. Released last month, the report reveals how libraries (and librarians) are perceived and how they rate with the public against other information resources. Lots of useful information is already...

Good riddance to 2005! Hope for library solutions from a problematic year.(blatant berry)
January 1, 2006... I'M GLAD 2005 IS OVER, BUT IT GAVE HOPE FOR 2006. It is almost as if each negative event, practice, or idea from 2005 created a positive possibility for 2006. Consider library education. While many of our LIS programs still struggle to...

Uneasy in the big easy.(Letter to the Editor)
January 1, 2006... The decision-makers of the American Library Association (ALA) are sticking to their agenda: holding the 2006 Annual Conference in New Orleans. Common sense and health issues like the "Katrina cough" should have us feeling uneasy about ALA in...

MLA is working on it.(feedback)(Letter to the Editor)
January 1, 2006... ... If Cheryl Banick ("Rx for Medical Libraries," LJ 11/15/05, p. 32-34) was a member of the Medical Library Association (MLA), she would know that the Association is proactive against the threats she lists in her article. For over ten...

AL librarian catches plagiarist.(Margaret Butler)(Tuscaloosa Public Library)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2006... In October, Margaret Butler, a librarian at the Tuscaloosa Public Library (TPL), AL, chose for her collection Brad Vice's short story volume The Bear Bryant Funeral Train (Univ. of Georgia Pr.), winner of its publisher's Flannery O'Connor Award...

The FBI: scared of ALA?(front desk)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2006... "While radical militant librarians kick us around, true terrorists benefit from [the Office of Intelligence Policy and Reviews's] failure to let us use the tools given to us." --an unidentified FBI official, in an email obtained by the...

Stat watch.(electronic information sources)(Brief Article)(Illustration)
January 1, 2006... STAT WATCH "Other than search engines, how do you learn about electronic information sources?" (For more on the study, see Digital Libraries, p. 38.) Friend 61% Links from web/digital sources ...

Heard.(James Neal, Columbia University librarian)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2006... "[Librarians] need to be not only knowledgeable about resources for our colleges and universities but also political and legislative workers, promoters or political coalitions, and educators in academe on important public policy issues." ...

Concerns remain about New Orleans for annual conference; meanwhile, Gulf region libraries still on recovery path.
January 1, 2006... It doesn't yet rival the concerns expressed in 2003 when the American Library Association (ALA) committed to a conference in SARS-shadowed Toronto, but gloomy news out of New Orleans has some members and exhibitors worried. While the French...

Patriot Act on hold.(Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2006... The Senate in mid-December stalled on an extension of the USA PATRIOT Act, after threatening a filibuster in response to the House of Representatives' 251-174 vote on December 14 to approve a compromise. Lawmakers now have more time to evaluate...

Google's library links: old books: HarperCollins to provide its own scans; Google gives $3M to LC.(Library of Congress)
January 1, 2006... HarperCollins to provide its own scans; Google gives $3M to LC Librarians and library users alike are starting to use Google Book Search (formerly Google Print) the way they use Google. But does Google Book Search let its users easily find a...

Allegory of a library.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2006... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Caption: ALLEGORY OF A LIBRARY: That's the name of one of two murals flanking the grand staircase at the new 300,000 square foot Jacksonville Public Library (JPL), FL, which opened November 12. The 18' painting by...

Calendar.(LJ NEWS)(Calendar)
January 1, 2006... FEBRUARY 2006 23-26--Alaska Library Assn., Anchorage www.akla.org MARCH 2006 29-31--Oklahoma Library Assn., Tulsa www.oklibs.org APRIL 2006 5-7--Oregon Library Assn., Salem www.olaweb.org 5-7--Tennessee Library Assn./...

IMLS awards go to three PLs: Johnson County, St. Paul, and Mathews Memorial honored.(Institute of Museum and Library Services)(public libraries)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2006... The 2005 recipients of the National Awards for Museum and Library Service, announced by the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), include libraries from Kansas, Minnesota, and Virginia. The Johnson County Library, Overland...

New SD library to cost $185m: shipping, construction materials cited for increase.(San Diego Public Library )
January 1, 2006... The increased cost of shipping and the high demand for construction materials mean that a new central building for the San Diego Public Library (SDPL), estimated at $149.5 million in 2002, would now cost $185 million, a 24 percent jump, says a...

Guadalajara draws librarians.(BOOK FAIR REPORT)(Feria Internacional del Libro )(Brief Article)
January 1, 2006... As the Latino publishing market expands, Guadalajara's Feria Internacional del Libro (FILL the Spanish-language world's most prominent book fair, is attracting an increasing number of U.S. book professionals. This year's show, held November...

Lucky catch at Illinois library: publicity about missing baseball volumes brings results at UIU-C.(University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign)(book thefts)
January 1, 2006... Libraries don't always like to reveal thefts of their treasures, but the library at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign lost two bound volumes of U.S. baseball history so rare that a public announcement December 5 was deemed...

RI Athenaeum books get wet; collection mostly unscathed, but fire nearby means soaking.(Redwood Library and Athenaeum)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2006... As many as 4000 books and historic treasures of the Redwood Library and Athenaeum, Newport, RI, were damaged by water while in storage as the library undergoes a renovation. The materials were temporarily housed at the Artex Fine Art Services...

Report: fair use now eroding; need for clearinghouse, legal support to stem tide.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2006... A sobering report by the Free Expression Policy Project (www.fepproject.org) of New York University's Brennan Center for Justice says that fair use is at risk. Acknowledging that fair use safeguards in copyright law are essential to maintaining...

Prov. Athenaeum sells Audubon.(Providence Athenaeum, John J. Audubon)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2006... On December 15, the Providence Athenaeum's copy of John J. Audubon's Birds of America fetched $5 million from an unidentified bidder at a Christie's auction. The proposed sale of the double-elephant folio edition of the work caused a furor in...

Report: special collections at risk.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2006... Libraries hold the bulk of valuable collections in the nation and are least prepared among the holding institutions to care for them, according to findings in the Heritage Health Index, a survey conducted by Heritage Preservation...

At auction, NYPL treasures miss goal.(New York Public Library)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2006... First, there was an outcry over the New York Public Library's (NYPL) planned sale of two Gilbert Stuart portraits of George Washington and other treasures from its collection at Sotheby's (see News, LJ 6/1/05, p. 26). On November 31, one of the...

University of Michigan.(Sherle Abramson Bluhn appointed)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2006... Sherle Abramson Bluhn is now Head, Monograph Acquisitions, University Library, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. She was College Librarian at the Rappahannock Community College Library, Glenns, VA.

Jennifer Green.(appointed as a numeric and spatial data librarian)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2006... Jennifer Green is Numeric and Spatial Data Librarian at the University Library, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. She was Public Services Librarian at Grinnell College, IA.

Alameda County Library.(Jean Hofacket apponited)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2006... Jean Hofacket has been appointed County Librarian at the Alameda County Library, Fremont, CA. She has served as Interim County Librarian since April 2003, when Linda Wood retired. Hofacket was hired as Deputy County Librarian in 2000 and...

Medical Library Association.(Linda Katz appointed)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2006... Linda Katz, Associate Director, Drexel University Health Sciences Libraries, Philadelphia, was recently appointed editor of the MLA News by the Board of Directors of the Medical Library Association (MLA). Katz, who edits the Chronicle, the...

Scott Martin is now Biological Sciences Librarian and Coordinator for Digital Initiatives in the Sciences at the University Library, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.(Scott Martin appointed)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2006... Scott Martin is now Biological Sciences Librarian and Coordinator for Digital Initiatives in the Sciences at the University Library, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. He recently earned an MSI from the University of Michigan's School of...

Queens Borough Public Library.(Dale McNeill appointed)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2006... Dale McNeill is now Director of Community Library Services at the Queens Borough Public Library, Jamaica, NY. He was Public Service Administrator at the Dallas Public Library, TX.

Harry T. Vaughn Library.(Barbara Oeffner appointed)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2006... Barbara Oeffner is the new Director of the Harry T. Vaughn Library, Clewiston, FL, effective November 21, 2005. She previously was the Reference Librarian for the Belle Glade Branch of the Palm Beach County Library System, West Palm Beach, FL.

Urban Libraries Council.(Veronda Pitchford appointed)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2006... Veronda Pitchford is now Program Officer at the Urban Libraries Council, Evanston, IL. A 2005 LJ Mover & Shaker, Pitchford was Assistant Director of the Metropolitan Library System, Chicago.

Nancy Robertson.(appointments at Michigan State Library)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2006... Nancy Robertson is now Michigan State Librarian. She has been serving as Acting State Librarian since February 2005, after serving as Deputy State Librarian for Internal Operations and Curator and Rare Book Librarian.

Walter Slater is Slavic Cataloger at the University Library, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2006... Walter Slater is Slavic Cataloger at the University Library, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. He was Cataloger at the University Library, University of Wisconsin-Madison.

B&T cataloging with OCLC: will supply OCLC records for on-order items and full cataloging records upon shipment.(Baker and Taylor, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc.)
January 1, 2006... The Baker & Taylor (B&T) brand might immediately bring visions of warehouses teeming with books, but the company in recent years has been growing its roster of services and is poised to make yet another leap--this time via an agreement with...

Tina Creguer joins NAPC.(National Archive Publishing Company)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2006... Veteran communications and marketing expert Tina Creguer is bringing her skills to the recently formed National Archive Publishing Company (NAPC). Creguer, who served with ProQuest for 16 years, will be the Ann Arbor, MI-based publisher's...

Carlsbad PLs pick ITG's RFID.(Integrated Technology Group )(Brief Article)
January 1, 2006... Though RFID (radio frequency identification) seems to be a dirty "word" in some California cities, Carlsbad isn't one of them. In late November, Carlsbad announced that it is implementing RFID in its libraries. After a 12-month search for a...

SCOPUS Links to JSTOR full text.(website enhanced)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2006... On the heels of its integration with Ref-Works, the web-based management tool from Cambridge Scientific Abstracts (see InfoTech, LJ 9/1/05, p. 27ff.), SCOPUS again has beefed up its site. SCOPUS now sports links to "full-text articles in...

Ex Libris Partners with bepress.(Berkeley Electronic Press )(Brief Article)
January 1, 2006... Ex Libris and Berkeley Electronic Press (bepress) have collaborated for the integration of the vendor's MetaLib library portal with the publisher's ResearchNow database. Under the terms of the agreement, Ex Libris customers can search bepress's...

ProQuest Black Studies Center.(ProQuest Information and Learning Co.)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2006... ProQuest Information and Learning is now marketing the Black Studies Center (BSC), which the company describes as "a digital resource developed in conjunction with the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture... to record and illuminate...

Innovative adds WebPAC Pro.(Innovative Interfaces)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2006... Academic libraries take note: Innovative Interfaces is now offering a new suite of web-based tools called WebPac Pro, which the vendor says uses its "Right Result search technology and enhanced display functionality." Content and features are...

A bibliophile's heaven.(E-VIEWS AND REVIEWS)
January 1, 2006... HEAD-TO-HEAD Which to use: Encyclopaedia Britannica Online or Wikipedia? I decided to use one of yesterday's reference questions for the initial face-off: How many times did Eugene V. Debs run for President and was he in prison during any of...

The library brand.(DIGITAL LIBRARIES)
January 1, 2006... IT'S LIKELY THAT FEW PROFESSIONALS worry more about how their services are perceived than librarians. Lawyers may have more reason for concern, but many of them laugh all the way to the bank. We have little if not our reputation. So the new...

Making data work harder: OCLC shows how data mined from systems like WorldCat can add value for librarians and users.(Online Computer Library Catalog)
January 1, 2006... As more activities move into networked spaces, more areas of our lives are shedding data. This data is increasingly being mined for intelligence that drives services. A major attribute of Internet companies like Google and Amazon is how they...

Rivkah Sash risk taker, change agent, library true believer.(Omaha Public Library )(Cover Story)
January 1, 2006... They took a risk when they hired Rivkah Sass in 2003 to direct the Omaha Public Library (OPL). Sass had never been the director of a library. She took a risk, too. A half-dozen or more librarians have occupied the director's chair in Omaha...

Best books 2005.(Book Review)
January 1, 2006... Shakespeare and sharks. Mad guitarists and not-so-mad scientists. A history of post--World War II Europe and a novel-as-history of Europe before and during the war. Sound intriguing? The 28 books on LJ's best books list for 2005 cover all this...

Ripple effects: budgets grow modestly, but energy costs cloud the horizon.(BUDGET REPORT 2006)
January 1, 2006... Last year, we reported a "definite uptick in fiscal support" that was expected to continue ("Tipping Point," LJ, 1/05, p. 61-63). But that was before Hurricane Katrina and other factors sent energy costs skyrocketing. Those costs not only...

Taking men's health public.(Collection Development / Men's Health)(Book Review)
January 1, 2006... Men have typically avoided seeking medical care and information, often leaving the responsibility to the women in their lives. Yet since the first version of this article was published ten years ago (see James Swanton's "An Rx for Men's Health...

Happily (mostly) ever after.(NEXTGEN)(my predominantly positive experience of the library profession)
January 1, 2006... I'VE BEEN A FAITHFUL NEXTGEN reader for some time now, and while perusing one of the recent NextGen columns, I realized what it was that had been nagging me about the column for several months: its negativity. Again and again, I come across...

No problem with problem patrons.(BACKTALK)
January 1, 2006... MY EARLIEST MEMORY OF A VERY odd library patron goes back to when I was a teenager visiting the downtown branch of the Gary Public Library, IN. One of the regulars was a man who always sat at the same table in the reference room, playing chess...

Prepub alert.(upcoming book releases)
January 1, 2006... FICTION Anderson, Scott. Moonlight Hotel. Doubleday. May 2006. 384p. ISBN 0-385-51556-1. $24.95. There's trouble in the hills near Laradan, capital of a tiny, inconsequential Middle Eastern country named Kutar, and when America...

Mystery.(Book Review)
January 1, 2006... REMEMBRANCE OF THINGS PAST The past often is a significant element in many mysteries, sometimes just stemming from earlier events or arising out of a historical setting. In Pat MacEnulty's noir debut, old crimes haunt the present, while the...

Graphic novels.(Book Review)
January 1, 2006... The presence below of two favorites from the 1980s--Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons and Nexus by Mike Baron and Steve Rude--leads me to muse about golden periods in comic book history. The "Golden Age of Comics" is dated roughly by fans...

Abdolah, Kader. My Father's Notebook.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
January 1, 2006... Abdolah, Kader. My Father's Notebook. HarperCollins. Mar. 2006. c.336p. tr. from Dutch by Susan Massotty. ISBN 0-06-059871-6. $24.95. F No ordinary father-and-son tale, this beautiful and poetic work interweaves the stories of Aga Akbar, a...

Abidi, Azhar. Passarola Rising.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
January 1, 2006... Abidi, Azhar. Passarola Rising. Viking. Jan. 2006. c.244p. ISBN 0-670-03465-7. $21.95. F Set in mid-18th-century Portugal, Abidi's delightful debut novel tells of the flying expeditions of Bartolomeu (whose character is based on the...

Alexander, Robert. Rasputin's Daughter.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
January 1, 2006... Alexander, Robert. Rasputin's Daughter. Viking. Jan. 2006. c.304p. ISBN 0-670-03468-1. $23.95. F In this follow-up to his popular debut The Kitchen Boy, Alexander again mines the considerable lore of the Russian imperial family. Rasputin,...

Alvarez, Julia. Saving the World.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
January 1, 2006... * Alvarez, Julia. Saving the World. Algonquin. Apr. 2006. c.384p. ISBN 1-56512510-X. $24.95. F A successful Latina novelist, 50-year-old Alma lives in rural Vermont with husband Richard, a manager for development projects in Third World...

Babcock, Joe. The Boys and the Bees.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
January 1, 2006... Babcock, Joe. The Boys and the Bees. Carroll & Graf. Feb. 2006. c.144p. ISBN 0-78671647-9 [ISBN 978-0-7867-1647-0]. pap. $12.95. F Andy is an outsider, one of those kids always being picked on by others. At 12, he is so low on the school...

Baker, Kevin. Strivers Row.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
January 1, 2006... Baker, Kevin. Strivers Row. HarperCollins. Feb. 2006. c.560p. ISBN 0-06-019583-5 [ISBN 978-0-06-019583-0]. $26.95. F Baker completes his New York trilogy (Dreamland; Paradise Alley) with a penetrating look at World War II-era Harlem. The...

Bartlett, Beverly. Princess Izzy and the E Street Shuffle.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
January 1, 2006... Bartlett, Beverly. Princess Izzy and the E Street Shuffle. 5 Spot: Warner. Mar. 2006. c.244p. ISBN 0-446-69559-9. pap. $12.95. F Isabella is happily married to the Prince of Gallagher, heir to the small, fictional European monarchy of...

Barton, Emily. Brookland.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
January 1, 2006... * Barton, Emily. Brookland. Farrar. Mar. 2006. c.512p. ISBN 0-374-11690-3. $25. F In this magnificent epic from Barton (The Testament of Yves Gundron), Prudence Winship is a late 18th-century visionary plagued by a lifetime of early...

Collins, Jackie. Lovers and Players.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
January 1, 2006... Collins, Jackie. Lovers & Players. St. Martin's. Feb. 2006. c.498p. ISBN 0-312-34177-6 [ISBN 978-0-312-34177-0]. $24.95. F This novel marks the St. Martin's debut of best-selling author Collins (Hollywood Divorces), but her fans will be...

Cornwell, Bernard. The Pale Horseman.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
January 1, 2006... Cornwell, Bernard. The Pale Horseman. HarperCollins. Jan. 2006. c.368p. ISBN 0-06-078712-0 [ISBN 978-0-06-078712-7]. $25.95. F In this successful sequel to The Last Kingdom, Uhtred--the dispossessed Northumbrian nobleman who had been raised...

Crais, Robert. The Two Minute Rule.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
January 1, 2006... * Crais, Robert. The Two Minute Rule. S. & S. Mar. 2006. c.336p. ISBN 0-74328161-6 [ISBN 978-0-7432-8161-4]. $24.95. F The author of the wonderful Elvis Cole series pens another standalone after Hostage (also a film with Bruce Willis) and...

Donn, Linda. The Little Balloonist.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
January 1, 2006... Donn, Linda. The Little Balloonist. Dutton. Jan. 2006. c.208p. ISBN 0-525-94928-3. $21.95. F Sophie Armant was a child of wind, sea, and wide open spaces who delighted in running along the sandy shore near La Rochelle gathering mussels for...

Dunant, Sarah. In the Company of the Courtesan.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
January 1, 2006... * Dunant, Sarah. In the Company of the Courtesan. Random. Feb. 2006. c.385p. ISBN 1-4000-6381-7. $23.95. F From the first page of Dunant's (The Birth of Venus) latest offering, there is no time to catch our breath. We are plunged into the...

Foster, Sesshu. Atomik Aztex.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
January 1, 2006... Foster, Sesshu. Atomik Aztex. City Lights, dist. by Consortium. 2005. c.210p. ISBN 0-87286-440-5. pap. $15.95. F Foster's (City Terrace Field Manual) satire on war and commercialism depicts a modern world ruled by the Aztecs, who rose to...

Gaude, Laurent. The House of Scorta.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
January 1, 2006... Gaude, Laurent. The House of Scorta. MacAdam/Cage. Jan. 2006. c.250p. tr. from French by Stephen Sartarelli & Sophie Hawkes. ISBN 1-59692-159-5. $23. F Last year, Gaude (The Death of King Tsongor) was awarded France's highest literary...

Gavin, William F. The Ernesto "Che" Guevara School for Wayward Girls.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
January 1, 2006... Gavin, William F. The Ernesto "Che" Guevara School for Wayward Girls. Thomas Dunne Bks: St. Martin's. Jan. 2006. c.304p. ISBN 0-312-33889-9 [ISBN 978-0-312-33889-3]. $24.95. F Having been recently fired from the Democratic president's...

Gibb, Camilla. Sweetness in the Belly.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
January 1, 2006... Gibb, Camilla. Sweetness in the Belly. Penguin Pr. Mar. 2006. c.338p. ISBN 1-59420-084-X. $23.95. F Called farenji--foreigner--in Ethiopia and subsequently nurse at London's Lambeth Hospital, Lilly is a devout white Muslim woman who...

Goodman, Allegra. Intuition.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
January 1, 2006... Goodman, Allegra. Intuition. Dial: Random. Mar. 2006. c.406p. ISBN 0-385-33612-8. $25. F Readers yearning for enjoyable novels of academic manners can add another to the especially fine crop published recently. While National Book Award...

Gore, Ariel. The Traveling Death and Resurrection Show.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
January 1, 2006... Gore, Ariel. The Traveling Death and Resurrection Show. HarperSanFrancisco: HarperCollins. May 2006. c.217p. ISBN 0-06-085428-6. pap. $13.95. F Frances Catherine, a.k.a. Frankka, is a child when she discovers that she has a bizarre...

Gunning, Sally. The Widow's War.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
January 1, 2006... * Gunning, Sally. The Widow's War. Morrow. Feb. 2006. c.320p. ISBN 0-06-079157-8 [ISBN 978-0-06-079157-5]. $24.95. F In 1761, Massachusetts-born attorney James Otis challenged the British government's right to impose legal writs on the...

Double Carroll.(Spin Doctor)(Brief Article)(Book Review)
January 1, 2006... * Carroll, Leslie. Spin Doctor. Avon. Feb. 2006. c.336p. ISBN 0-06-059613-9 [ISBN 978-0-06-059613-2]. pap. $12.95. F Psychiatrist Susan Lederer questions her ability to help her probono clients--she holds sessions with her neighbors in...

Elyot, Amanda. By a Lady.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
January 1, 2006... Elyot, Amanda. By a Lady. Three Rivers: Crown. Mar. 2006. c.384p. ISBN 1-4000-9799-1. pap. $14.95. F Cassandra Jane Welles, a contemporary American actress, unwittingly steps through a stage door/time portal into Bath, England circa 1801....

Gutfreund, Amir. Our Holocaust.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
January 1, 2006... Gutfreund, Amir. Our Holocaust. Toby. Mar. 2006. c.427p. tr. from Hebrew by Jessica Cohen. ISBN 1-59264-139-3. $24.95. F Israeli author Gutfreund's work is now available to English-speaking readers in this thinly veiled autobiographical...

Hamamura, John. Color of the Sea.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
January 1, 2006... Hamamura, John. Color of the Sea. Thomas Dunne Bks: St. Martin's. Apr. 2006. c.320p. ISBN 0-312-34073-7 [ISBN 978-0-312-34073-5]. $24.95. F Presented through a series of short chapters and divided into five major sections, this...

Keenan, Joe. My Lucky Star.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
January 1, 2006... Keenan, Joe. My Lucky Star. Little, Brown. Jan. 2006. c.352p. ISBN 0-316-06019-4. $24.95. F In this Hollywood spoof, a trio of writers gets a chance at the brass nipple ring on the strength of a reprise of a movie you and I have seen...

Kellerman, Jesse. Sunstroke.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
January 1, 2006... Kellerman, Jesse. Sunstroke. Putnam. Jan. 2006. c.384p. ISBN 0-399-15330-6. $24.95. F An early morning earthquake in Los Angeles is ordinary enough, but after the trembling stops, 36-year-old Gloria Mendez finds her life anything but on...

Kessler, Brad. Birds in Fall.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
January 1, 2006... Kessler, Brad. Birds in Fall. Scribner. Apr. 2006. c.256p. ISBN 0-7432-8738-X [ISBN 978-0-7432-8738-8]. $24. F While the notion of one door opening as another closes may be something of a cliche, the question of who it is that finally walks...

Khoury, Raymond. The Last Templar.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
January 1, 2006... Khoury, Raymond. The Last Templar. Dutton. Feb. 2006. c.400p. ISBN 0-525-94941-0. $24.95. F With "Templar" in the title, this debut novel will inevitably draw comparisons to Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code. Set in post-9/11 New York City,...

Kittle, Katrina. The Kindness of Strangers.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
January 1, 2006... Kirtle, Katrina. The Kindness of Strangers. Morrow. Jan. 2006. c.400p. ISBN 0-06-056474-1 [ISBN 978-0-06-056474-2]. $24.95. F In this slice of contemporary life, Kittle (Traveling Light) introduces Sarah Laden, the recently widowed mother...

Laird, Nick. Utterly Monkey.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
January 1, 2006... Laird, Nick. Utterly Monkey. Perennial: HarperCollins. Jan. 2006. c.368p. ISBN 0-06-082836-6 [ISBN 978-0-06-082836-3]. pap. $13.95. F This is an utterly engaging modern social satire with an unpredictable, violent edge. Danny Williams is a...

Lawrence, Starling. The Lightning Keeper.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
January 1, 2006... * Lawrence, Starling. The Lightning Keeper. HarperCollins. Apr. 2006. c.432p. ISBN 0-06-082524-3 [ISBN 978-0-06-082524-9]. $26.95. F In a small Connecticut town in early 20th-century America, at a time when electricity is still a newfangled...

Lovric, Michelle. The Remedy: A Novel of London and Venice.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
January 1, 2006... Lovric, Michelle. The Remedy: A Novel of London & Venice. ReganBks: HarperCollins. Feb. 2006. c.448p. ISBN 0-06-083703-9 [ISBN 978-0-06-083703-7]. $25.95. F Lovric's (The Floating Book) second novel is a complex narrative set in...

McMahon, Katharine. The Alchemist's Daughter.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
January 1, 2006... McMahon, Katharine. The Alchemist's Daughter. Crown. Feb. 2006. c.352p. ISBN 0-307-23851-2. $23.95. F Because incredibly intelligent Emilie Selden performs scientific experiments under her possessive father's tutelage and assists him in...