Library Journal articles from July 2006

Library Journal archives from July 2006

Opportunity knocks: library organizations must collaborate for any summit to work.(Editorial)
July 1, 2006... THE LATEST REPORT ON PUBLIC LIBRARIES INDICATES that they are "financially vulnerable." Yet, the media across the country don't give a damn. The study was conducted by the highly regarded research institute Public Agenda in collaboration with...

More missions are better: our slogan: "the public library, something for everyone".(blatant berry)
July 1, 2006... THERE IS WIDESPREAD AGREEMENT THAT THE public library mission must include several roles and kinds of service. This convergence reflects the profession's reluctant recognition that a public library must offer "something for everyone" or at...

When the book Manga: 60 Years of Japanese Comics was pulled from the San Bernardino County Library, CA.(front desk)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Caption: When the book Manga: 60 Years of Japanese Comics was pulled from the San Bernardino County Library, CA, shelves by county supervisor Bill Postmus (see News, LJ 5/15/06, p. 14), the Barstow Community...

It's about the content.(weblogs)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... "Why would you go into librarianship to be famous? I don't get those people who say, 'I need to post to my blog every day to keep my name out there.'" --Jenna Freedman, Barnard College librarian and 2003 LJ Mover & Shaker, speaking to a...

Three questions for a librarian who writes.(front desk)(James R. Benn )(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... This September, Soho Press will publish Billy Boyle: A World War II Mystery (see review, p. 55) as its lead title. Currently coordinator of information technology for the West Hartford Public Schools, CT, author James R. Benn was one of...

Heard.(public library)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... "The tendency of digitization is to convert public libraries into retail stores for vendors of digital works. The choice to distribute information in a secret format--information designed to evaporate and become unreadable--is the antithesis...

Stat watch.(front desk)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... Not only has Google gained, but MySpace is in sixth place, after the Time Warner network and the Ask network. TOTAL INTERNET APRIL APRIL SEARCHES 2005 2006 Google Sites 36.5% 43.1% Yahoo! Sites 30.7%...

In new board's cross hairs, Gwinnett PL's Pinder fired: after controversy, Berkeley's Griffin resigns in settlement.(Jo Ann Pinder)(Gwinnett County Public Library)(Jackie Griffin)
July 1, 2006... Jo Ann Pinder, for 15 years director of the Gwinnett County Public Library (GCPL), Lawrenceville, GA, was dismissed at a contentious board meeting June 12. While her supporters turned out in force, wearing red, they were unable to get the...

Library bond fails in CA.(California public libraries)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... After years of support for library construction, voters in California on June 6 narrowly defeated Proposition 81, a $600 million construction bond to help California public libraries. The vote was 46.9 percent in favor to 53.1 percent...

Medway, MA, gets part-time library.(lj news)
July 1, 2006... City will lose state certification, book budget, staffers With their library threatened with closing by June 30 (see News, LJ 6/15/06, p. 22), residents of Medway, MA, voted June 12 at their Town Meeting to keep the Medway Public Library...

Two CA libraries face fiscal strain.(lj news)
July 1, 2006... One considers LSSI, the other hopes for boost in April. Officials in the city of Redding and Shasta County, CA, are considering outsourcing their library to Library Systems & Services, LLC (LSSI) in the wake of a tight budget and a...

Bardales named editor of Criticas.(Aida Bardales )(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... Aida Bardales has been named editor of the online newsletter and magazine Criticas (www.criticasmagazine.com), Previously, she was an editor for HarperCollins's Rayo imprint, working on the development and growth of its nonfiction...

ALCTS continues criticism of LC: says consultation needed about bibliographic changes.(Association for Library Collections and Technical Services)(Library of Congress)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... Following criticism by the American Library Association Executive Board about a Library of Congress (LC) decision to stop performing series authority work for the bibliographic records it creates, the Association for Library Collections &...

"Net neutrality" setback in House: Republicans follow telecomm industry, reject coalition with ALA.(American Library Association)
July 1, 2006... Despite the efforts of Internet companies like Google and a coalition including the American Library Association (ALA), the U.S. House of Representatives on June 8 dealt a major blow to "Net neutrality," voting 269-152 against an amendment...

Librarian of the year nominees.(Public notice)
July 1, 2006... LJ is seeking nominations for the 18th annual Library Journal Librarian of the Year Award to honor a professional librarian for outstanding achievement and accomplishments reflecting the loftiest service goals of the library profession. ...

FL governor vetoes library aid.(Jeb Bush)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... Florida governor Jeb Bush, as part of $448.7 million in line item vetoes, on May 25 said no to a $2.2 million supplemental library appropriation for Florida public libraries. Because state funding has decreased by $1.6 million in the past few...

RLG board approves OCLC move.(Research Libraries Group)(OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc.)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... Member institutions of RLG in June provided the required two-thirds approval to combine operations with OCLC (see News, LJ 6/1/06, p. 16ff.), expected to have begun July 1. RLG's online products and services are being integrated with OCLC's,...

Elsevier tries open access option.(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... Elsevier, the world's leading STM publisher, announced last month that it will allow authors to make their articles freely available if they pay a fee to the publisher. Six journals in physics will offer the option, including Nuclear Physics...

New orphan works bill in Congress.(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... After months of negotiation, Congress is addressing a bill to deal with orphan works, those items still in copyright but whose owners cannot be located. The bill was introduced by Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX) and was scheduled to be reviewed by...

Calendar.(LJ NEWS)(Calendar)
July 1, 2006... AUGUST 9-12--Pacific Northwest Library Assn., Eugene, OR www pnla.org 15-19--Nevada Library Assn., N. Las Vegas www.nevadalibraries.org SEPTEMBER 17-19--Maine Library Assn., Augusta mainelibraries.org 20-22--Georgia...

Onslow County Public Library System.(Philip Cherry appointed)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... Philip Cherry is the new Director of the Onslow County Public Library System, Jacksonville, NC. Cherry previously was Director of the Durham County Library, NC.

National Commission on Libraries and Information Science.(Trudi Bellardo Hahn )(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... Trudi Bellardo Hahn has resigned as Executive Director of NCLIS (National Commission on Libraries and Information Science). Prior to her appointment in 2004, which she began as Interim Executive Director, Hahn was Manager of Library User...

Jackson-George Regional Library System.(Michael Hamlett appointed)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... Michael Hamlett is the new Director of the Jackson-George Regional Library System, Pascagoula, MS, effective June 1. He most recently was Director of the Miles City Public Library, MT.

Robyn Hammer-Clarey has joined the Whitehall Public Library, Pittsburgh, as Director.(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... Robyn Hammer-Clarey has joined the Whitehall Public Library, Pittsburgh, as Director. She comes from the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, where she was Manager of Teen Services. She replaces Suzanna Krispli, who has become Director of the...

OCLC CAPCON.(Irene Hoffman)(OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc.)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... Irene Hoffman is now Executive Director, OCLC CAPCON, an OCLC service center located in Washington, DC. She comes from Georgetown University Library, Washington, DC, where she was Associate University Librarian for Personnel Planning and...

Colorado State Library.(Kris Johnson appointed)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... Kris Johnson became the AskColorado Coordinator at the Colorado State Library, effective June 28. Johnson previously served as Information Literacy/ Instruction Librarian at California State University, Chico.

Keokuk Public Library.(Emma Lee Lahmeyer)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... Emma Lee Lahmeyer, Director of the Keokuk Public Library, IA, retired on June 30. She had been with the library for 32 years and held the position of Director since 1998. She is replaced by Emily Rohlfs, who was Director of the Fort Madison...

Maryland State Department of Education.(Daria Parry appointed)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... Daria Parry is now Branch Chief for the Division of Library Development Services, Maryland State Department of Education in Baltimore. She formerly was Agency Manager with Montgomery County Library, Rockville, MD.

Obituary.(Byung Moo "Ben" Lee)(Obituary)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... Byung Moo "Ben" Lee, Dean of Library Services, Armstrong Atlantic State University (AASU), Savannah, GA, died on May 20 at the age of 68. Lee served AASU for 25 years, first as Head of Technical Services and then as Library Director in 1991....

Copyright Clearance Center debuts Rightsphere tool: periodicals advisory aid gives quick legal answers.(infotech)
July 1, 2006... The Copyright Clearance Center (CCC) has launched a rights advisory and management tool for corporations that takes the guesswork out of what they can and cannot do with the published information they license. Dubbed Rightsphere, the product...

Ask price, not jeeves.(INFOTECH)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... Librarian Gary Price, who joined Ask.com in March (see "LJ Talks to Gary Price" at www.libraryjournal.com), has been even more ubiquitous at library conferences than previously, appearing for his new employer at the SLA conference June 12 and...

ProQuest's dose of daily news.(INFOTECH)(Company overview)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... ProQuest has put a new spin on its newspaper offerings with the debut of ND Press, a service that gives librarians the power to print a large number of domestic and international daily newspapers inside their facilities. ND Press, actually a...

Horizon: Durham and down under.(INFOTECH)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... SirsiDynix has lured two more libraries--one foreign, one domestic--to step up to its Horizon system. On U.S. shores, the Durham County Library, NC, is upgrading to Horizon, along with Web Reporter, Debt Collect, and EnvisionWare PC/Print...

AquaBrowser for Prince George's.(INFOTECH)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... Prince George's County Memorial Library System, Hyattsville, MD, is adding The Library Corporation's (TLC) AquaBrowser visual search tool to its Geac Plus system. Prince George's includes 18 community libraries, whose combined patrons...

It's Vubis for Lewis & Clark.(contracts with Vubis System )(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... The Lewis & Clark Library, Helena, MT, has selected Extensity's (formerly Geac) Vubis System to manage its 115,000-item collection. The library, a Geac customer for more than a decade, has been pleased by the vendor's support and the system's...

A masterpiece in the making.
July 1, 2006... ARE HIGH GAS PRICES keeping patrons home these days? Give them A Virtual Tour of the United Nations from the comfort of your library using Spinning Eye's new CD-ROM (ISBN 0-9552460-0-8. $29.90). It offers over 150 interactive panoramas,...

Evolving the resolving.(DIGITAL LIBRARIES)
July 1, 2006... IN THE UBIQUITOUS WEB ERA, IT seems strange that linking well can be such a problem for libraries. But it is. The same content can be licensed from different vendors, so it's key to get the user from search results to the licensed article....

Thinking about linking.(ONLINE DATABASES)
July 1, 2006... LINKING TO FULL TEXT THROUGH link resolver technology and the OpenURL standard has made electronic journals a cornerstone of library collections. Users expect that full text will always be a click or two away and it brings the library...

Shoestring digital library: if existing digital library software doesn't suit your needs, create your own.(INFOTECH FEATURE)
July 1, 2006... Creating a digital library might seem like a task best left to a large research collection with a vast staff and generous budget. However, tools for successfully creating digital libraries are getting easier to use all the time. If your...

The book club exploded: buffed, blended, and hooked up to other media, today's book club looks nothing like yesterday's modest tea party.(Cover story)
July 1, 2006... One leader, 12 readers, and a few well-thumbed copies of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. That's all a book club once required. No more. The runaway popularity of book clubs has brought with it a whole new set of possibilities. Thematic...

Serving the niche: viewing libraries through Chris Anderson's "Long Tail" lens.
July 1, 2006... The increasingly famous "Long Tail" IS essentially a modernized version of the 80/20 rule, something with which most of us have at least a passing familiarity. The rule (credited to Vilfredo Pareto, a 19th-century philosopher) hypothesized,...

Streetwise urban fiction.(Collection Development / Urban Fiction)
July 1, 2006... One of the hottest literary phenomena of recent years has been the explosion of what has been variously termed hip-hop, street, or urban fiction. Especially popular with younger African Americans, books in this genre are reaching an...

Stop the war on metadata.(BACKTALK)
July 1, 2006... FOR DECADES, METADATA HAS been at the core of librarianship. In recent years, however, there has been a growing revolt that threatens metadata-enabled searches in favor of full-text searching. If the revolt succeeds, full-text searching will...

Phones are "everyware".(NEXTGEN)
July 1, 2006... FOR SUCH CUTE LITTLE INFOTOYS, cell phones cause much hand-wringing in libraries these days. They ring so often, and often so loudly, I'm actually getting bored of 50 Cent's "In Da Club" ring tone. Worse, the din gets even louder when their...

Prepub alert.(Bibliography)
July 1, 2006... FICTION Allende, Isabel. Inez. HarperCollins. Nov. 2006. 320p. ISBN 0-06-116153-5. $25.95. Only Allende could bring to life the mighty conquistadora who helped capture the area that is now Chile for Spain. Andrews, Mary Kay....

Mystery.(To Thine Own Self Be True)(The Bee's Kiss: A Detective Joe Sandilands Mystery)(A Killing on Church Grounds. Five Star)(Tubby Meets Katrina)(Dead Cat Bounce)(Dead Wrong)(One Man and His Bomb)(Book review)
July 1, 2006... SMALL IS BEAUTIFUL Much to the delight of struggling authors trying to break into a competitive market and to insatiable mystery readers, the number of small presses releasing mysteries continues to increase every year. The success of...

Q&A: Marcia Muller & Bill Pronzini.(MYSTERY)(Interview)
July 1, 2006... Marcia Muller earned a master's degree in journalism after being told by a creative writing teacher that she had nothing to say. Vanishing Point (LJ 6/1/06), her 24th Sharon McCone mystery, is published this month. Best known as the creator...

Prepub mystery.(Bibliography)
July 1, 2006... Barbieri, Maggie. Murder 101: A Mystery. Minotaur: St. Martin's. Nov. 2006. 272p. ISBN 0-312-35537-8. $23.95. English professor Alison Bergeron gets a lesson in murder from handsome NYPD detective Bobby Crawford when one of her students...

Graphic novels.(Bibliography)
July 1, 2006... Want to be a comics character? Numerous comics creators depict their own lives; the memoir comic is an established tradition, and not merely within literary genres. One of the oldest known autobiographical comics is Henry Yoshitaka Kiyama's...

Aboulela, Leila. The Translator.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 1, 2006... Aboulela, Leila. The Translator. Black Cat: Grove. Oct. 2006. c.208p. ISBN 0-8021-70269 [ISBN 978-0-8021-7026-2]. pap. $13. F Sammar is a devout Muslim widow from Sudan who works as an Arabic translator at a university in Aberdeen,...

Baingana, Doreen. Tropical Fish: Tales from Entebbe.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 1, 2006... Baingana, Doreen. Tropical Fish: Tales from Entebbe. Harlem Moon: Broadway. Sept. 2006. c.208p. ISBN 0-7679-2510-6 [ISBN 978-0-7679-2510-5]. pap. $10.95. F Patti, Rosa, and Christine Mugisha live in Uganda during and after Idi Amin's...

Barone, Sam. Dawn of Empire.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 1, 2006... Barone, Sam. Dawn of Empire. Morrow. Sept. 2006. c.496p. ISBN 0-06-089244-7. $25.95. F In the fertile land of Mesopotamia circa 3000 B.C.E., the first cities arose, threatening the existence of nomads who depended on raiding small,...

Berne, Suzanne. The Ghost at the Table.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 1, 2006... Berne, Suzanne. The Ghost at the Table. Algonquin. Oct. 2006. c.304p. ISBN 1-56512-334-4. $23.95. F Family dysfunction gets a much-needed makeover in this solid, satisfying novel from Orange Prize winner Berne (A Crime in the...

Bourne, Sam. The Righteous Men.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 1, 2006... Bourne, Sam. The Righteous Men. HarperCollins. Sept. 2006. c.320p. ISBN 0-06-113829-0 [ISBN 978-0-06-113829-4]. $24.95. F Will Monroe, a young and ambitious New York Times journalist investigating the seemingly unrelated deaths of men...

Brewer, Sonny. A Sound Like Thunder.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 1, 2006... Brewer, Sonny. A Sound Like Thunder. Ballantine. Aug. 2006. c.288p. ISBN 0-345-47633-6 [ISBN 978-0-345-47633-3]. $23.95. F For 16-year-old Rove MacNee, life in Fairhope, AL, in the winter of 1941 is idyllic, but things are about to...

Burana, Lily. Try.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 1, 2006... Burana, Lily. Try. St. Martin's. Jul. 2006. c.400p. ISBN 0-312-35505-X [ISBN 978-0312-35505-0]. $23.95. F Daryl Heatherly is a 23-year-old landscape and portrait artist. After breaking up with her Denver boyfriend, she returns home to the...

Carey, Lisa. Every Visible Thing.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 1, 2006... * Carey, Lisa. Every Visible Thing. Morrow. Aug. 2006. c.320p. ISBN 0-06-621289-8 [ISBN 978-0-06-621289-0]. $24.95. F Carey (The Mermaids Singing) offers a powerful closeup of the Furey family beginning in the 1980s. Hugh Furey, 15, was...

Clarke, Will. The Worthy: A Ghost's Story.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 1, 2006... Clarke, Will. The Worthy: A Ghost's Story. S. & S. Jul. 2006. c.256p. ISBN 0-7432-7315-X [ISBN 978-0-7432-7315-2]. $23. F Sirs: As president of the Louisiana State University chapter of Gamma Chi and a prelaw major, I feel it necessary to...

Cole, Emerson. GodSword.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 1, 2006... Cole, Emerson. GodSword. Severn House. Jul. 2006. 395p. ISBN 0-7278-6350-9. $28.95. F Our dashing hero will deftly extricate himself and his equally capable buddy from a seemingly endless series of scrapes as the two traverse the world...

Cox, Michael. The Meaning of Night: A Confession.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 1, 2006... * Cox, Michael. The Meaning of Night: A Confession. Norton. Sept. 2006. c.704p. ISBN 0-393-06203-1 [ISBN 978-0-39306203-8]. $26.95. F This stunning first novel by Cox (editor, The Oxford Book of English Ghost Stories) opens with a murder...

Da Chen. Brothers.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 1, 2006... Da Chen. Brothers. Shaye Areheart: Harmony. Sept. 2006. c.432p. ISBN 1-4000-9728-2 [ISBN 976-1-4000-9728-9]. $25. F Set during the Cultural Revolution, memoirist Chen's (Sounds of the River) first novel is an intriguing and ambitious tale...

Davey, Janet. First Aid.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 1, 2006... Davey, Janet. First Aid. Back Bay: Little, Brown. Aug. 2006. c.208p. ISBN 0-316-05997-8. pap. $13.99. F British writer Davey's (English Correspondence) second novel happens to be her American debut. It opens with a bleak scene on a...

Donovan, Gerard. Julius Winsome.( )(Brief article)(Book review)
July 1, 2006... Donovan, Gerard. Julius Winsome. Overlook, dist. by Penguin Group (USA). Oct. 2006. c,224p. ISBN 1-58567-849-X. $23.95. F Donovan's acclaimed first novel, Schopenhauer's Telescope, explored thorny ethical issues related to wartime...

Downey, Annie. Hot and Bothered.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 1, 2006... Downey, Annie. Hot and Bothered. Algonquin. Aug. 2006. c.304p. ISBN 1-56512-474-X. pap. $12.95. F Meek and passive, this book's unnamed-until-the-last-minute thirtysomething narrator juggles her acidic ex-husband, recalcitrant children,...

Felber, Adam. Schrodinger's Ball.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 1, 2006... Felber, Adam. Schrodinger's Ball. Random. Aug. 2006. c.256p. ISBN 0-8129-7442-5 [ISBN 978-0-8129-7442-3]. pap. $13.95. F To give you an idea of the delightfully intellectual zaniness at work in comedian and television writer Felber's...

Forsyth, Frederick. The Afghan.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 1, 2006... Forsyth, Frederick. The Afghan. Putnam. Aug. 2006. c.352p. ISBN 0-399-15394-2. $26.95. F American and British intelligence services discover that al Qaeda is planning something major and horrific that will likely occur somewhere in the...

Frost, Scott. Never Fear.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 1, 2006... Frost, Scott. Never Fear. Putnam. Jul. 2006. c.304p. ISBN 0-399-15340-3. $24.95. F Pasadena, CA, homicide cop Alex Delillo is the single mother of a college-age daughter who was terrorized by a serial killer/bomber in screenwriter...

George, Margaret. Helen of Troy.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 1, 2006... George, Margaret. Helen of Troy. Viking. Aug. 2006. c.611p. ISBN 0-670-03778-8. $27.95. F In her fifth novel, George (Mary, Called Magdalene) does for Helen of Troy what she's done for other women of greater legendary stature than...

Graham, Laurie. Gone with the Windsors.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 1, 2006... Graham, Laurie. Gone with the Windsors. HarperCollins. Aug. 2006. c.403p. ISBN 0-06-087271-3 [ISBN 978-0-06-087271-7]. $24.95. F Wealthy (and young) Baltimore widow Maybell Brumby travels to London in 1932 with plans to make her mark in...

Hamilton, Jane. When Madeline Was Young.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 1, 2006... Hamilton, Jane. When Madeline Was Young. Doubleday. Sept. 2006. c.288p. ISBN 0-385-51671-1 [ISBN 978-0-385-51671-6]. $22.95. F As in her previous novels (e.g., A Map of the World), Hamilton sets her latest work in her native Midwest....

Heller, Jane. Some Nerve.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 1, 2006... Heller, Jane. Some Nerve. Morrow. Sept. 2006. c.328p. ISBN 0-06-059927-8 [ISBN 978-0-06-059927-0]. $24.95. F Heller (An Ex To Grind) fuses the seemingly unrelated worlds of celebrity gossip magazines and volunteerism. Ann Roth is a...

Hunt, Laird. The Exquisite.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 1, 2006... Hunt, Laird. The Exquisite. Coffee House, dist. by Consortium. Sept. 2008. c.256p. ISBN 1-56689-187-6 [ISBN 978-1-56689-187-5]. pap. $14.95. F In Hunt's (Indiana, Indiana) latest, Henry is down on his luck when a new opportunity arises:...

Jackson, Shelley. Half Life.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 1, 2006... Jackson, Shelley. Half Life. HarperCollins. Jul. 2006. c.464p. ISBN 0-06-088235-2. $24.95. F Nora, one half of a conjoined twin, is creepy and cruelly compelling; she's cut from bad cloth and cut out for murder. Her intended victim?...

Kadish, Rachel. Tolstoy Lied: A Love Story.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 1, 2006... Kadish, Rachel. Tolstoy Lied: A Love Story. Houghton. Sept. 2006. c.336p. ISBN 0-618-54669-3. $24. F The generally accepted stereotype about great literature is that it is tragic to some degree. Tracy Farber disagrees with this notion and...

King, Stephen. Lisey's Story.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 1, 2006... * King, Stephen. Lisey's Story. Scribner. Oct. 2006. c.528p. ISBN 0-7432-8941-2. $28. F What legacy, besides $20 million and stacks of memorabilia, can a famous Maine writer of horror tales leave his widow after 25 years of marriage?...

Litzenburger, Liesel. The Widower.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 1, 2006... Litzenburger, Liesel. The Widower. Shaye Areheart: Harmony. Aug. 2006. c.288p. ISBN 0-307-33879-7 [ISBN 978-0-307-33879-2]. $23. F In a small Michigan town, twin tragedies shatter lives and impose a suffocating grief. Swan Robey's...

Lucarelli, Carlo. Carte Blanche.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 1, 2006... Lucarelli, Carlo. Carte Blanche. Europa, dist. by Consortium. Jul. 2006. c.120p. tr. from Italian by Michael Reynolds. ISBN 1-933372-15-X. pap. $14.95. F Lucarelli's (Almost Blue) hard-boiled police thriller takes place in the last few...

Maxted, Anna. A Tale of Two Sisters.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 1, 2006... * Maxted, Anna. A Tale of Two Sisters. Dutton. Aug. 2006. c.368p. ISBN 0-525-94973-9. $24.95. F Best-selling author Maxted (Being Committed) hits a home run with yet another delicious story about relationships, this time between sisters....

Mills, Kyle. The Second Horseman.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 1, 2006... Mills, Kyle. The Second Horseman. St. Martin's. Aug. 2006. c.304p. ISBN 0-312-33575-X [ISBN 978-0-312-33575-5]. $24.95. F The usually reliable Mills misfires with this unusual entry, his follow-up to Fade. Career thief Brandon Vale is...

Moers, Walter. Rumo and His Miraculous Adventures.( )(Brief article)(Book review)
July 1, 2006... Moers, Walter. Rumo & His Miraculous Adventures. Overlook, dist. by Penguin Group (USA). Sept. 2006. c.684p, tr. from German by John Brownjohn. illus. ISBN 1-58567-725-6. $25.95. F Just as charming and relentlessly whimsical as Moers's...

McGowan, Kathleen. The Expected One.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 1, 2006... * McGowan, Kathleen. The Expected One. Touchstone: S. & S. Aug. 2006. c.480p. ISBN 0-7432-9942-6 [ISBN 978-0-7432-9942-8]. $25.95. F Thanks to the movie adaptation of Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code, Mary Magdalene and her relationship to...

Malarkey, Tucker. Resurrection.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 1, 2006... Malarkey, Tucker. Resurrection. Riverhead: Putnam. Aug. 2006. c.352p. ISBN 1-59448-919-X. $24.95. F In her second novel (after An Obvious Enchantment), Tin House founding editor Malarkey offers an absorbing fictional account of the...

Moore, Lisa. Alligator.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 1, 2006... * Moore, Lisa. Alligator. Black Cat: Grove. Sept. 2006. c.320p. ISBN 0-8021-7025-0 [ISBN 978-0-8021-7025-5]. pap. $13. F Moore's outstanding first novel begins with a series of loosely connected, sharply focused chapters; as the novel...

Mullen, Thomas. The Last Town on Earth.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 1, 2006... * Mullen, Thomas. The Last Town on Earth. Random. Sept. 2006. c.400p. ISBN 1-4000-6520-8 [ISBN 978-1-4000-6520-2]. $23.95. F Set in 1918, with World War I raging in Europe and a deadly flu epidemic spreading to and through America, this...