Library Journal articles from July 2008

Library Journal archives from July 2008

The word on street lit: a new online column.(ON THE WEB)(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... "Verdict: Set in Virginia Beach, Swinson's inventive, saucy romp about a love triangle among a parole officer, her parolee, and the parolee's ride-or-die chick is sure to please die-hard street lit fans, especially those who love the author's...

Student affairs: library student blog.(ON THE WEB)(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] "I don't think that librarians and the library world are in any more peril than any other employment sector these days. I don't think that a librarian who pays $30K for her education (some do pay $60K-$70K) can...

BookExpo America: watch our videos.(ON THE WEB)(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] LJ's editors were in the center of the action at the Los Angeles Convention Center, interviewing the likes of Ray Bradbury, Neil Gaiman, Slash (pictured), and Michael Connolly. Go to www.libraryjournal.com and...

Beyond the Kindle: Ebooks and downloadable delivery are just more library services.(Editorial)
July 1, 2008... I'M AN INVETERATE SNEAK READER, CRANING MY neck to decipher the fine print in a book the person sitting next to me is reading, or glancing at the title of a book upside down on the subway. So, when I found myself reading over the shoulder of...

The impossible job: there is no formula for successful management.(blatant berry)
July 1, 2008... THE PROFESSIONAL RUMOR MILLS WORK OVER-time these days, delivering a disconcerting array of gossip and reports of library directors in trouble. While official announcements rarely say so with such candor, library directors have been fired or...

Correction.(feedback)(Correction notice)
July 1, 2008... In the Spring 2008 Library by Design supplement to Library Journal, the affiliation attributed to Kevin F. Huse in our "Expert Opinion" section (p. 42) was incorrect. He is an architect with Woollen, Molzan & Partners, Inc., of Indianapolis....

Does Amazon's Kindle have a future?(front desk)(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... Roy Tennant, LJ's Digital Libraries blogger, thinks Amazon. corn's new ebook reader, the Kindle, will go down in flames: "I know plenty of early adopters, and none have confessed to having popped for something that simultaneously looks dorky...

He walked into a library to escape the heat.(front desk)(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... "HE WALKED INTO A LIBRARY TO ESCAPE THE HEAT I'm a writer now because of a librarian giving me To Kill a Mockingbird back in 1968." --Author Michael Connelly at BookExpo America. See video (and links to more LJ videos) at...

YouTubers love LJ's slash moment.(STAT WATCH)(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... 60% Percentage of YouTube visits to LJ interviews that went to the former Guns & Roses guitarist over ten days in June; see www.youtube.com/user/Library Journal

Law & Order embraces librarians.(LAW & ORDER)(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... If you watch the TV series Law & Order--and its offshoots--you'll see how it has paid tribute through the years to libraries and set numerous scenes in New York City libraries, writes LJ's Raya Kuzyk. That L&O executive producer Rene...

Read.(front desk)(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... "Publishing has only two indispensable participants: authors and readers, As with music, any technology that brings these two groups closer makes the whole industry more efficient--but hurts those who benefit from the distance between them."...

BookExpo America comes to L.A.: fewer librarians this year, but lots of lively discussion about books, audio.(lj news)(Conference news)
July 1, 2008... The West Coast location of BookExpo America May 29-June 1 meant fewer attendees overall this year (28,494), but that didn't dim the enthusiasm of the estimated 1800 or so librarians (down from last year's whopping 3,832 librarians) who...

ProQuest says it will acquire dialog.(lj news)(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... ProQuest on June 12 announced that it has signed an agreement to acquire Dialog from Thomson Reuters. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. ProQuest said that it would update Dialog's platforms, renovate existing products,...

At LJ's Day of Dialog, RA and audio progress unveiled.(lj news)(Conference news)
July 1, 2008... Nearly 250 attendees gathered at Los Angeles Public Library's (LAPL) Central Library on May 29 for LJ's Day of Dialog, a pre-BookExpo confab bringing librarians together with publishers, vendors, and authors. The 11th annual event mixed...

Microsoft gives up scan plan.(NEWS)(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... Open Content Alliance says it needs more help in public domain efforts Microsoft announced that it will pull the plug on its book and scholarly article scan plans, Live Search Books and Live Search Academic, taking down both sites. "We...

Flooding hits Iowa libraries.(NEWS)
July 1, 2008... Flooding in mid-June in Iowa caused serious damage to three libraries, including the Cedar Rapids Public Library (CRPL). Floodwaters destroyed CRPL's entire ground floor adult collection, according to a library spokeswoman; the children's...

Wayne State to take over PL.(NEWS)(Macomb County Library )(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... The Macomb County Library (MCL) in suburban Detroit, which supplies reference and other services to communities in the county, has been struggling in the face of budget pressures. Detroit-based Wayne State University (WSU), which has been...

New EPA library plan criticized.(NEWS)(Environmental Protection Agency )(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... Congress has ordered the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to reopen its shuttered libraries, but watchdog group PEER (Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility) says the agency is "grudgingly allocating only minimal space...

Britannica explores user-created text.(NEWS)(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... With the popularity of Wikipedia portending change for the encyclopedia in the digital age, the venerable Encyclopaedia Britannica has announced a plan to embrace user-generated content cautiously. But on its blog, Britannica editors said...

NJ systems begin mail delivery.(NEWS)(New Jersey )
July 1, 2008... Can the rising price of gas lead to more libraries entering the delivery business? Two public library systems in New Jersey are using $50,000 grants from the South Jersey Regional Library Cooperative (SJRLC) to launch free delivery (though...

New Mexico univ. library recovers.(NEWS)(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... At the University of New Mexico (UNM), Albuquerque, the Zimmerman Library has at last completely reopened two years after a serious fire on April 30, 2006, ripped through the building, consuming several thousand bound journals in the basement...

LAPL's Fontayne Holmes to retire.(News)(Los Angeles Public Library )(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... Fontayne Holmes, city librarian for the City of Los Angeles, announced her retirement from the Los Angeles Public Library (LAPL) this August after a 30-year career. She had just negotiated restoration of the $2 million to be cut from the book...

Court dismisses digitization lawsuit.(NEWS)(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... A federal judge in June dismissed a lawsuit filed by Cornell University graduate Kevin Vanginderen, who claimed a recently digitized Cornell Chronicle from 1983 contained an article that libeled him (see News, LJ 3/1/08, p. 17ff.). In...

Riverside PL "suspends" PTers.(NEWS)(Riverside Public Library )(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... Riverside Public Library (RPL), CA, was to lay off 30 part-timers as of July 1, the majority of them pages. RPL director Barbara Custen defined the employees as "suspended, as some could come back." RPL was asked, as were most city...

Calendar.(NEWS)(Calendar)
July 1, 2008... AUGUST 6-9--Pacific Northwest Library Assn., Post Falls, ID www.pnla.org 14-16--Nevada Library Assn., Santa Fe www.nevadalibraries.org SEPTEMBER 9-11--Arkansas Library Assn., Hot Springs www.arlib.org 23-26--Illinois...

Elbert County Library District.(people)(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... Kari Baumann is the new Director of the Elbert County Library District, Elizabeth, CO. She was Branch Manager, Farr Regional Library, Weld County Library District, Greeley, CO.

Ocean County Library.(people)(Valerie Bell )(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... Valerie Bell has been promoted to Assistant Director of Public Services, Ocean County Library (OCL), Toms River, NJ. She was Chief Librarian of Branch Services for OCL. Bell was a 2006 LJ Mover & Shaker.

Institute of Museum and Library Services.(people)(Laurie Brooks )(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... Laurie Brooks has been named Associate Deputy Director, Office of Library Services, Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). She was Senior Library Grant Program Officer, State Programs Division, for IMLS and replaces the retiring...

Atlas Systems.(people)(Christian Dupont )(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... Christian Dupont has joined Atlas Systems as Program Director for Aeon, a circulation and request management system. He was Director of Special Collections, University of Virginia, Charlottesville.

Institute of Museum and Library Services.(people)(Carlos Manjarrez)(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... Carlos Manjarrez has been named Associate Deputy Director for Research and Statistics, Office of Policy, Planning, Research, and Communications at the Institute of Museum and Library Services. He was a Principal Investigator at the Urban...

Georgia State University.(people)(Nancy Seamans )(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... Nancy Seamans has been appointed Dean of Libraries, Georgia State University, Atlanta. She was Associate University Librarian at the University of Iowa, Iowa City.

University Heights Public Library.(people)(Stephen Wood)(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... Stephen Wood, Director of the Cleveland Heights-University Heights Public Library since 1988, will retire August 31. Wood joined the library staff in 1977.

Obituary.(people)(Obituary)(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... George Atiyeh, former Acting Chief of the Library of Congress's (LC) African and Middle East Division from 1991 to 1994, has died at the age of 84. He headed the Near East Section of LC for more than 25 years and retired in 1996. ...

PALINET focuses on cataloging: speakers weigh in on LC's "On the Record" report and reenvision the future of digital architecture.(infotech)
July 1, 2008... A capacity crowd of 170 catalogers, metadata librarians, archivists, library managers, and students convened at "The Future of Cataloging: A PALINET Symposium," held in Philadelphia on May 29, 2008. Keynote speaker Karen Calhoun, OCLC...

Ingram creates Lightning Group.(infotech)(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... Ingram announced June 5 the formation of the Ingram Lightning Group to coordinate its businesses serving publishers, librarians, booksellers, "and other creators and consumers of printed content throughout the industry." With Skip Prichard as...

Polaris/EnvisionWare extend partnership.(INFOTECH)(Polaris Library Systems )(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... On June 3, EnvisionWare and Polaris Library Systems announced the extension of their partnership to include integration into the Polaris ILS of RFID and materials sorting technology, known as automated materials handling, or AMH. New options...

CORE initiative from NISO.(INFOTECH)(National Information Standards Organization's Cost of Resource Exchange)(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... NISO, the National Information Standards Organization, announced on June 11 a new initiative known as CORE, or Cost of Resource Exchange. This new endeavor aims to use "defined XML data schemas" to streamline and "facilitate the exchange of...

Serials Solutions adds ebooks.(INFOTECH)(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... Serials Solutions announced on June 6 the addition of 500,000 ebooks to its KnowledgeWorks repository of e-resources. The titles come from more than 20 providers and publishers and will be made available through the company's 360 MARC Updates...

Scitopia expands with six partners.(INFOTECH)(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... Scitopia.org (www.scitopia.org), the federated search portal created by leading science and technology societies in 2007, has expanded its ranks with the addition of six new partners. Joining the group are the Royal Society, Royal Society...

Check your ego at the door.(THE TRANSPARENT LIBRARY)
July 1, 2008... EGOS CAN INSIDIOUSLY PREVENT us from doing what we could do best. Recently, in a late-night conversation, a few trusted librarian colleagues told us how much damage an inflated ego can do to a library's culture. One in that small circle...

The past catches up.(ONLINE DATABASES)
July 1, 2008... IF YOU WERE IN LIBRARY SCHOOL anytime during the last 40 years, you are probably familiar with F.W. Lancaster and his books on indexing, online searching, or paperless information systems. I recently reread the first online searching textbook...

The new digital awareness: the choices you make extend beyond delivering digital content.(INFOTECH FEATURE)
July 1, 2008... Envision your library zipping swiftly along in a flow of technological change like the bits and bytes traveling the electronic information superhighway, following those in front and keeping pace with those immediately around but totally...

The disconnected: who these 3.8 million people are, and why libraries need to help them.(Cover story)
July 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Blanca, 24, got pregnant in her sophomore year of high school and dropped out to care for her son because there was no support at her school for student parents. Blanca lives with her mother. She is trying to get...

Hot tickets: galleys that moved like hotcakes on the BEA floor.(Conference news)
July 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Never mind that the air was recycled, the lighting was fluorescent, and the food tasted as if it had been fried on the Hollywood pavement. This year's BookExpo America (BEA) attendees still relished their time on...

Knowledge is power: LJ talks to Gigi Sohn, president and cofounder of library ally Public Knowledge.(Q&A)(Interview)
July 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Imagine for a moment what the information landscape might look like if libraries had the lobbying resources and legal muscle of the entertainment and telecom industries. Now, snap out of it. It's never going to...

The beautiful game.(Collection Development: Soccer)(Bibliography)
July 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Soccer, or football as it is called in the rest of the world, is the most popular and fastest-growing global sport, with an estimated 240 million people regularly playing what Brazilian star Pele called "the...

I love libraries, and I'm blind.(BACKTALK)
July 1, 2008... I'M A RETIRED CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST, blind from birth. I'm also a proud patron of the National Library Service (NLS) for the blind and of several public libraries for over 50 years. When I was growing up in the 1950s in Kalamazoo, MI, the...

Prepub alert.(Bibliography)
July 1, 2008... FICTION Armstrong, Kelley. Living with the Dead. Spectra: Bantam. Nov. 2008. 384p. ISBN 978-0553-80664-9. $22. In their ninth outing, the women of the Underworld wrestle with a killer intent on spilling their secret. Baldacci,...

Mystery.(Bibliography)
July 1, 2008... SUMMER'S BOUNTY Mystery buffs are in for a treat this month with a plethora of excellent crime fiction. Let's begin with successful follow-ups to outstanding series launches by Linda Greenlaw (Fisherman's Bend), Susan Dunlap (Hungry Ghosts),...

Prepub mystery.(Bibliography)
July 1, 2008... Andrews, Donna. Six Geese A-Slaying: A Meg Langslow Mystery. Minotaur: St. Martin's. Nov. 2008. 272p. ISBN 978-0-31253610-7. $22.95. Meg Langslow must save the parade of "The Twelve Days of Christmas" when Santa winds up dead in...

Spiritual living.(Bibliography)
July 1, 2008... "High summer holds the earth," as James Agee said, along with blockbusters, sequels, comedies, Oscar hopefuls, and reruns. Our spiritual blockbusters this season include a sort of novel by Deepak Chopra, a dialog with the Dalai Lama, and...

Graphic novels.(Recommended readings)
July 1, 2008... FANGIRL TO WONDER WOMAN Gall Simone had had it with all those "women in refrigerators": superheroines and other female comics characters over the decades who ended up murdered, crippled, carved up, and even stuffed into the refrigerator--yes,...

Barclay, Linwood. Too Close to Home.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 1, 2008... Barclay, Linwood. Too Close to Home. Bantam. Sept. 2008. c.404p. ISBN 978-0-553-80556-7. $22. F How well do you really know the people in your life? That is the question addressed in Barclay's second stand-alone thriller after No Time...

Black, Lisa. Takeover: A Novel of Suspense.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 1, 2008... * Black, Lisa. Takeover: A Novel of Suspense. Morrow. Sept. 2008. c.352p. ISBN 978-0-06-154445-3. $24.95. F [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Make room for another gutsy forensic pathologist unwilling to stay put in her lab. Theresa MacLean is...

Bondurant, Matt. The Wettest County in the World.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 1, 2008... Bondurant, Matt. The Wettest County in the World. Scribner. Oct. 2008. c.320p. ISBN 978-1-4165-6139-2. $25. F A family story and some colorful legends combine in this classic American novel of crime, passion, revenge, and violence set in...

Buckley, Christopher. Supreme Courtship.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 1, 2008... Buckley, Christopher. Supreme Courtship. Twelve: Hachette. Sept. 2008. c.285p. ISBN 978-0-446-57982-7. $24.99. F Buckley's latest satire (after Boomsday and Thank You for Smoking) takes on the Supreme Court, reality television, and...

Burke, Alafair. Angel's Tip.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 1, 2008... Burke, Alafair. Angel's Tip. Harper: HarperCollins. Sept. 2008. c.352p. ISBN 978-0-06-156102-3. $23.95. F New York City rookie police detective Ellie Hatcher, first introduced in Dead Connection, is out on her morning run when she...

Candela, Margo. More Than This.(Young adult review)(Brief article)(Book review)
July 1, 2008... Candela, Marco. More Than This. Touchstone: S. & S. Aug. 2008. c.368p. ISBN 978-1-4165-7134-6. pap. $14. F Evelyn and Alexander are from completely different worlds, she from privilege and wealth with an elite social standing, he the son...

Canin, Ethan. America America.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 1, 2008... * Canin, Ethan. America America. Random. 2008. c.480p. ISBN 978-0-679-45680-3. $27. F Canin's new work about class, politics, money, and media in the Nixon era through the present day will resonate powerfully with readers in this...

Carbin, Debbie. Thanks for Nothing, Nick Maxwell.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 1, 2008... Carbin, Debbie. Thanks for Nothing, Nick Maxwell. Griffin: St. Martin's. Aug. 2008. c.480p. ISBN 978-0-312-38368-8. pap. $14.95. F Debut author Carbin takes a chance with a main character who is largely unlikable for almost half of this...

Coelho, Paulo. Brida.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 1, 2008... Coelho, Paulo. Brida. Harper: HarperCollins. Jul. 2008. c.224p. tr. from Portuguese by Margaret Jull Costa. ISBN 978-0-06-157893-9. $24.95. F Masterful spiritual storyteller Coelho published Brida in 1990, two years following the...

Erickson, Carolly. The Tsarina's Daughter.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 1, 2008... Erickson, Carolly. The Tsarina's Daughter. St. Martin's. Oct. 2008. c.336p. ISBN 978-0-312-36738-1. $24.95. F Erickson (The Hidden Diary of Marie Antoinette; The Secret Life of Josephine) weaves historical details into this imaginative...

Gonzalez, Bea. The Bitter Taste of Time.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 1, 2008... Gonzalez, Bea. The Bitter Taste of Time. Thomas Dunne Bks: St. Martin's. Oct. 2008. c.258p. ISBN 978-0-312-38467-0. $24.95. F Gonzalez, whose second novel, The Mapmaker's Opera, appeared here in 2007, was born in Spain and moved to Canada...

Gray, Alexandra. The Yoga Teacher.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 1, 2008... Gray, Alexandra. The Yoga Teacher. Atlantic Monthly. Aug. 2008. c.256p. ISBN 978-0-8021-7055-2. $23. F Grace is a London-based pharmaceutical sales person by day and a yoga devotee by night. The loss of loved ones has left her reluctant...

Gregory, Philippa. The Other Queen.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 1, 2008... Gregory, Philippa. The Other Queen. Touchstone: S. & S. Sept. 2008. c.448p. ISBN 978-1-4165-4912-3. $25.95. F This is the story of a bold and clever queen living in Tudor England, but not Elizabeth I, her cousin Mary Queen of Scots....

Harrison, Jim. The English Major.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 1, 2008... Harrison, Jim. The English Major. Grove. Oct. 2008. c.304p. ISBN 978-0-8021-1863-9. $24. F In this entertaining road novel, Harrison (Returning to Earth) chronicles the travels of Cliff, a 60-year-old farmer and former high school...

Higgins, Jack. Rough Justice.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 1, 2008... Higgins, Jack. Rough Justice. Putnam. Aug. 2008. c.336p. ISBN 978-0-399-15513-0. $25.95. F While in Kosovo, Blake Johnson, an aide to the president of the United States, meets Harry Miller, a military agent for the British prime...

Huston, Nancy. Fault Lines.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 1, 2008... * Huston, Nancy. Fault Lines. Black Cat: Grove. Oct. 2008. c.288p. tr. from French by Nancy Huston. ISBN 978-0-8021-7051-4. pap. $14. F Huston (The Mark of an Angel), a Canadian by birth though she lives in Paris and writes in French, is...

Kent, Kathleen. The Heretic's Daughter.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 1, 2008... * Kent, Kathleen. The Heretic's Daughter. Little, Brown. Sept. 2008. c.336p. ISBN 978-0-316-02448-8. $24.99. F History is more than facts and figures; it's something that happens to all of us. That's the thought that may strike readers of...

Keyes, Marian. This Charming Man.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 1, 2008... Keyes, Marian. This Charming Man. Morrow. 2008. c.576p. ISBN 978-0-06-112402-0. $24.95. F Paddy de Courcy is a rising political star in Ireland, with all the good looks and charisma of a Kennedy. Unfortunately, en route to realizing his...

Kimmel, Haven. Iodine.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 1, 2008... * Kimmel, Haven. Iodine. Free Pr: S. & S. Aug. 2008. c.240p. ISBN 978-1-4165-7284-8. $24. F The delicate (and invisible) line between genius and madness is deftly explored in Kimmel's fourth novel (following The Used World). Part...

Kneale, Matthew. When We Were Romans.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 1, 2008... Kneale, Matthew. When We Were Romans. Nan A. Talese: Doubleday. Jul. 2008. c.240p. ISBN 978-0-385-52625-8. $23.95. F Something's not quite right with nine-year-old Lawrence's Mum, and he'll do anything within his power to keep her...

Komarnicki, Todd. War.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 1, 2008... Komarnicki, Todd. War. Arcade, dist. by Little, Brown. Jul. 2008. c.240p. ISBN 978-1-55970-866-1. $24.95. F A nameless and alienated young man is forcibly conscripted into the military and sent to fight a war being waged in an unknown...

Lansdale, Joe R. Leather Maiden.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 1, 2008... Lansdale, Joe R. Leather Maiden. Knopf. Aug. 2008. c.320p. ISBN 978-0-375-41452-7. $25. F The only reason to go to Camp Rapture, in the heart of Lansdale's (Sunset and Sawdust) well-plowed patch of east Texas, is if you have to, and...

LaZebnik, Claire. The Smart One and the Pretty One.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 1, 2008... LaZebnik, Claire. The Smart One and the Pretty One. 5 Spot: Warner. Sept. 2008. c.288p. ISBN 978-0-446-58206-3. pap. $13.99. F LaZebnik (Knitting Under the Influence; Same As It Never Was) has written another alluring tale of two...

Lewis, Stewart. Relative Stranger.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 1, 2008... Lewis, Stewart. Relative Stranger. Alyson, dist. by Consortium. Jul. 2008. c.296p. ISBN 978-1-59350-068-9. pap. $14.95. F Garret Millwood, a successful theater producer, should be happy--he's rich, handsome, and has plenty of lovers. But...

Lott, Bret. Ancient Highway.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 1, 2008... Lott, Bret. Ancient Highway. Random. Jul. 2008. c.256p. ISBN 978-1-4000-6374-1. $25. F Recent Fulbright scholar and celebrated author Lott (e.g., Jewel) here shows how one man's aspirations to become a famous Hollywood actor reverberate...

McGraw, Erin. The Seamstress of Hollywood Boulevard.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 1, 2008... McGraw, Erin. The Seamstress of Hollywood Boulevard. Houghton. Aug. 2008. c.384p. ISBN 978-0-618-38628-4. $24. F Although Nell Plat is only 17, she has two daughters to her name. In rural Mercer County, KS, circa 1900, Nell is known for...

Citizen of the world: LJ talks to an up-and-coming Europe writer.(Sasa Stanisic)(Interview)
July 1, 2008... He came to the LJ offices one Thursday morning in May for an interview with an editor who, as chance would have it, hailed from the same region and spoke the same language. I was that editor, and he was Sasa Stanisic, a 30-year-old writer who...

Martin, Charles. Where the River Ends.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 1, 2008... Martin, Charles. Where the River Ends. Broadway. Jul. 2008. c.384p. ISBN 978-0-7679-2698-0. $19.95. F A Southern writer who has been compared to Nicholas Sparks, Martin wrote his sixth novel after hearing of a man divorcing a wife dying...

Meister, Ellen. The Smart One.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 1, 2008... Meister, Ellen. The Smart One. Avon. Aug. 2008. c.384p. ISBN 978-0-06-112962-9. pap. $13.95. F In this character-driven novel, the relationship of a trio of sisters is pushed to the brink by long-simmering jealousies and grievances...

Mura, David. Famous Suicides of the Japanese Empire.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 1, 2008... Mura, David. Famous Suicides of the Japanese Empire. Coffee House, dist. by Consortium. Sept. 2008. c.280p. ISBN 978-1-56689-215-5. pap. $14.95. F This debut novel by a recognized nonfiction author and poet is presented as the memoir of...

Pelecanos, George. The Turnaround.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 1, 2008... * Pelecanos, George. The Turnaround. Little, Brown. Aug. 2008. c.304p. ISBN 978-0-316-15647-9. $24.99. F In 1972, three white teenagers drive into a solidly African American neighborhood bent on "rais[ing] a little hell." What follows is...

Prose, Francine. Goldengrove.(Young adult review)(Brief article)(Book review)
July 1, 2008... * Prose, Francine. Goldengrove. Harper: HarperCollins. Sept. 2008. c.288p. ISBN 978-0-06-621411-5. $24.95. F Reading groups should gravitate to prolific writer Prose, who's never been one to eschew controversial subjects: a born-again...