Library Journal articles from June 2006

Library Journal archives from June 2006

Mission not impossible: we're heading to New Orleans, and we're rebuilding.(editorial)(Editorial)
June 1, 2006... WE'RE HEADING TO NEW ORLEANS LATER THIS month at a critical time for the city's public library system. New Orleans Public Library (NOPL) is in the midst of a massive national fundraising campaign and has been crashing through several rebuilding...

I'm glad I'm not a director: those jobs just don't seem to be much fun!(blatant berry)
June 1, 2006... I USED TO THINK I'D LIKE TO BE THE DIRECTOR of a public library. Not any more. From coast to coast and border to border, library directors are under the gun. It has been that way for a decade now. If they aren't under attack from some...

Stolen words.(Letter to the editor)
June 1, 2006... I don't think any librarian could have missed the recent news of authors Megan McCafferty, Meg Cabot, and Sophie Kinsella being named as victims of a crime. Their words were stolen by an aspiring writer. Little, Brown withdrew the book from...

Memo to Michael.(feedback)(Letter to the editor)
June 1, 2006... Michael, you forgot to mention the 15-minute lecture on the coffee club collection and the three-hour "mentoring" by the bitter librarian who kept the place running all by herself while everyone else was in charge (Michael Schott, "Memo: New...

Vital libraries.(Letter to the editor)
June 1, 2006... Many thanks for Francine Fialkoff's very kind words of praise for The Engaged Library ("The 'State' of Libraries," Editorial, LJ 5/1/06, p. 8) and the stories it tells. What a thrill it was to read that editorial. I am so delighted that she...

Why not the F word?(Letter to the editor)
June 1, 2006... Let's see, the great First Amendment advocate, Library Journal, cannot print the F word (see Front Desk, LJ 4/15/06, p. 13)? Just exactly who heard musician Wyclef Jean say f***in'? How is that pronounced? And why the f**k is LJ against...

Green: still not easy.(Letter to the editor)
June 1, 2006... I adhere to the "as long as they spell your name right" attitude toward book reviews, but I have to scratch my head publicly over a comment in the review by Karen Ellis of Building Green: A Complete How-To Guide to Alternative Building...

Cooper leaves Brooklyn for DC.(Brief article)
June 1, 2006... Brooklyn Public Library director Ginnie Cooper has had a few local political tussles lately (see News, LJ 4/15/06, p. 18), but it looks like she remains an in-demand change agent. In an email May 15 to her staff, she announced she had "decided...

Big Read boosts libraries.(front desk)(Brief article)
June 1, 2006... A $1 million grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) makes IMLS a lead partner in the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) project, The Big Read, a national effort to foster the one-book, one-community reading initiative...

Heard.(front desk)(Letter to the editor)
June 1, 2006... "But the more I've thought about the subject and the more research I've done, the more I've realized that the print-vs.-online debate has become as much an outdated cliche as the old Ginger-vs.-Mary Ann barroom argument. Why choose? This is...

RLG to become part of OCLC: RLIN would be migrated into WorldCat.(Online Computer Library Center, Online Computer Library Center)
June 1, 2006... It's a blockbuster move but not quite a merger of equals. While the headline on the press release read, "RLG to combine with OCLC," it sounds more like an absorption into OCLC (Online Computer Library Center), since the latter's revenues of...

Roy wins ALA presidency.(American Library Association )(Brief article)
June 1, 2006... The third online election conducted by the American Library Association (ALA) finally began to fulfill its promise: 14,690 individuals cast ballots. Loriene Roy, professor at the University of Texas at Austin's School of Information, was...

Baker & Taylor sold again: Castle Harlan buys book jobber from firm that bought it in 2003.(lj news)(Brief article)
June 1, 2006... Private equity investment firm Castle Harlan May 11 announced an agreement to acquire Baker & Taylor (B&T) for $455 million--seemingly a good return for its current owners. The Goliath book jobber has changed hands several times in the last 14...

Will CIPA be expanded? Some in Congress want to block MySpace, more.(lj news)(Children's Internet Protection Act )(Brief article)
June 1, 2006... Either they fear predators who meet teens on MySpace, or perhaps it's merely a political move, but some Republicans in Congress want to expand the Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA), which requires schools and libraries receiving federal...

Bridging the centuries.(lj news)(Morgan Library is reopened)(Brief article)
June 1, 2006... BRIDGING THE CENTURIES: The Morgan Library & um reopened May 29 after a three-year, $106 on renovation. The stunning new steel and glass sure connects the Morgan's two existing buildings. risible is the evolution from J.P. Morgan's original...

NARA unveils new safeguards; unclassified items removed secretly by CIA, USAF after 9/11.(LJ NEWS)(National Archives and Records Administration)(Brief article)
June 1, 2006... It looks like government intelligence and security agencies have been a little too eager to remove declassified documents from public access areas. Archivist of the United States Allen Weinstein says an audit found that at least 25,315 publicly...

BioMed Central draws complaints.(LJ NEWS)(The Cornyn-Lieberman bill )
June 1, 2006... Debate over bill that would mandate more access Some editors at open access pioneer BioMed Central's (BMC) 93 independent journals are unhappy with the publisher, according to an article published May 1 in the BMC-owned mag The Scientist....

Avram, MARC pioneer, dies at 86.(machine readable cataloging)(Obituary)(Brief article)
June 1, 2006... Henriette Avram, credited with the development of the MARC (machine readable cataloging) standard in 1968, which fostered electronic catalog access and interlibrary loan, died April 22 at the age of 86. Though Avram was a systems analyst by...

Amore to head Denver PL: Sarasota official to succeed Ashton, who served 20 years.(Denver Public Library )(Brief article)
June 1, 2006... The Denver Public Library (DPL) Commission announced that Shirley C. Amore, currently the executive director of community services for Sarasota County, FL, will become Denver's new city librarian this summer, succeeding Rick J. Ashton, who...

Fear of protests shuts Rockford library.(Rockford Public Library)(Brief article)
June 1, 2006... Rockford Public Library (RPL), IL, closed the doors of its main library on Saturday, May 6, concerned about a counterprotest to the presence of a group opposing illegal immigration. However, as the Rockford Register Star reported, there were...

Illinois PL cancels fingertip scan plan.(Naperville Public Library)(Brief article)
June 1, 2006... The Naperville Public Library (NPL), IL, has suspended plans to employ fingertip scans to identify patrons using library computers. NPL made the decision because of "a compatibility issue with existing software," according to an NPL statement....

ALA-APA gets a less formal name.(American Library Association - Allied Professional Association)(Brief article)
June 1, 2006... Just call it ALA-APA: The Organization for the Advancement of Library Employees, even if it will formally remain the American Library Association--Allied Professional Association (ALA-APA). Because the name has always been a mouthful, the...

Calendar.(Calendar)
June 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...

University of Montana--Missoula.(appointment of Bonnie Allen)(Brief article)
June 1, 2006... Bonnie Allen has been named Dean of the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library at the University of Montana-Missoula. She is currently Associate University Librarian at Oregon State University in Corvallis.

Durham County Library.(appointment of Hampton Auld)(Brief article)
June 1, 2006... Hampton "Skip" Auld is the new Director at Durham County Library, NC. Most recently, he was assistant director at the Chesterfield County Public Library, VA. He also worked at Carroll County Public Library, Westminster, MD, and Public Library...

Nancy Davenport.(Brief article)
June 1, 2006... Nancy Davenport will step down as President of the Council on Library and Information Resources at the end of her current term, June 30, 2006. Before her appointment in 2004, Davenport served more than 25 years at the Library of Congress,...

Akron-Summit County Public Library.(appointment of Pamela Hickson-Stevenson)(Brief article)
June 1, 2006... Pamela Hickson-Stevenson has been named Assistant Director of the Akron-Summit County Public Library. She succeeds former Assistant Director David Jennings, who was named Director last August. Most recently, Hickson-Stevenson was Director of...

Saint Paul Public Library.(appointment of Melanie Huggins)(Brief article)
June 1, 2006... Melanie Huggins will be the next Director of the Saint Paul Public Library, effective June 5. She currently serves as Director of Youth and Outreach Services for the Public Library of Charlotte & Mecklenburg County, NC.

Starrett Kreissman.(retirement of Starrett Kreissman)(Brief article)
June 1, 2006... Starrett Kreissman is retiring as Director of the Ventura County Library, CA, citing illness. She has held her current position since 1999 and previously was Director at the Stanislaus County Free Library, Modesto, CA.

Vivian Pisano.(resignation of Vivian Pisano)(Brief article)
June 1, 2006... Vivian Pisano, Deputy Director, Berkeley Public Library, CA, since January 31, 2006, has submitted her resignation. She will return to the San Francisco Public Library May 30 as Director of Information Technology, her former position.

McMaster University.(appointment of Jeff Trzeciak )(Brief article)
June 1, 2006... Jeff Trzeciak is the new University Librarian at McMaster University in Hamilton, ON. He was Associate Dean of the library system at Wayne State University, Detroit, since 2004. Trzeciak was named a 2004 LJ Mover & Shaker.

Obituary.(Obituary)(Brief article)
June 1, 2006... Walter Ristow, who spent 32 years with the Geography and Map Division of the Library of Congress (LC), including 11 years as division chief, died April 3 at the age of 97. He retired in 1978. Before joining LC, he was head of the map divisions...

ProQuest still producing amid financial furor; millions lost and staff cut, but projects and releases flourishing.(infotech)
June 1, 2006... Under the dark shadow of a company-wide financial restatement that reveals a staggering drop in profits--perhaps as much as $45 million, according to company officials--ProQuest and its subsidiaries continue to release new products and services...

Serials Solutions goes public.(INFOTECH)
June 1, 2006... Serials Solutions, the electronic rights management (ERM) house that has become a favorite of many academic libraries, is trying its hand at the public library market and not in a small way: the ProQuest-owned company has cut a deal with...

Indiana Cooperative Library Services Authority (INCOLSA) is using a custom WebFeat Search Prism solution to power INSPIRE, the Indiana Virtual Library, which sports more than 2200 member facilities.(Brief article)
June 1, 2006... Indiana Cooperative Library Services Authority (INCOLSA) is using a custom WebFeat Search Prism solution to power INSPIRE, the Indiana Virtual Library, which sports more than 2200 member facilities. INSPIRE offers access to roughly 10,000...

Consortium of Academic and Research Libraries in Illinois.(Brief article)
June 1, 2006... The Consortium of Academic and Research Libraries in Illinois (CARLI) (www.carli.illinois.edu) is now offering its 180 members access to the Saskia (www.saskia.com) digital image archive contracted from Scholars Resource. According to CARLI,...

Auto-Graphics has partnered with iTeam Resources to provide its customers with access to iTeams turnkey cost-recovery tools for academic and public libraries.(iTeam Resources)(Brief article)
June 1, 2006... Auto-Graphics has partnered with iTeam Resources to provide its customers with access to iTeams turnkey cost-recovery tools for academic and public libraries. According to Auto-Graphics, the partnership links its AGent customers to iTeam's...

Ten for Polaris.(Polaris Library Systems )(Brief article)
June 1, 2006... Polaris Library Systems reports that it is off to a good start in 2006 installations: ten sales are a combination of new contracts with libraries moving from their current competitor solutions and migrations by existing customers from the...

Ex Libris in China.(Brief article)
June 1, 2006... Ex Libris is expanding its Asian presence with two contracts with Chinese academics. Beijing Foreign Studies University has signed for an ALEPH 500 ILS system with the MetaLib portal and SFX content-sensitive link server. Nanjing Normal...

"C" is for content.(E-VIEWS AND REVIEWS)(Jewish Data Online)(EBSCO's Teacher Reference Center)(AccessMyLibrary.com )(Website overview)
June 1, 2006... RESEARCHERS in Jewish history and genealogy should check out Jewish Data Online (www.jewishdata.com), an online resource of over 250,000 indexed records, including images of Declaration of Intention documents and Jewish tombstones from various...

C19: The Nineteenth Century Index.
June 1, 2006... C19: The Nineteenth Century Index ProOuest Information and Learning; proquest.com C19: The Nineteenth Century Index offers content from seven different ProQuest and Chadwyck-Healey electronic collections, including American Periodicals...

Moving history forward.(ONLINE DATABASES)
June 1, 2006... CURRENT EVENTS, CURRENT awareness, and faster news mean the immediate present often dominates our worldview. But for many researchers, history informs the latest hot topic. ABC-CLIO redesigns Last year, ABC-CLIO celebrated its 50th...

Google your library's mission: what librarians can learn from Google's corporate philosophy.(INFOTECH FEATURE)
June 1, 2006... Librarians have mixed feelings about Google. Sometimes, we think the company should be given a medal because Google Print intends to make the books on our shelves full-text searchable. Sometimes we think libraries should sue Google because its...

"How'd you come out?" In New Orleans, the library serves despite struggles, and help emerges.(NEW ORLEANS ALA 2006)
June 1, 2006... The first thing you notice, even in less-devastated Jefferson Parish near the airport, is the blue roof tarp, the ubiquitous mark of wind damage. Enter Orleans Parish, which encompasses the city; under the highway, a graveyard of huddled...

Laissez les bons temps revenir! LJ's picks & pans for the American Library Association 2006 annual conference.(NEW ORLEANS ALA 2006)(Conference notes)
June 1, 2006... The program for the American Library Association (ALA) conference in New Orleans is loaded with something for every library specialty, service, and activity, including the second annual Conference Within a Conference for Support Staff, ALA's...

The Stacks-ALA Annual Conference Exhibition.(Calendar)
June 1, 2006... Sat., June 24-Mon., June 26, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. and Tues., June 27, 9 a.m.-1 p.m. They expect more than 1600 booths in the biggest show of library products and services in the world. Don't miss the exhibit halls in the Morial Convention Center.

In case of medical emergency ...
June 1, 2006... Perhaps not surprising, the state of medical care in New Orleans is still shy of optimal. Expect long lines, expect busy signals, expect to wait--that's the general feedback we're getting from those who have recently sought out medical...

Seeing it for yourself.
June 1, 2006... According to the AP, Katrina has destroyed 26 of Louisiana's libraries and damaged 39 more. Another 45 libraries have lost all or most of their collections. Within New Orleans, eight of 13 libraries are still closed. One way to get a sense of...

Authors & celebrities.(Calendar)
June 1, 2006... CONFERENCEWIDE EVENTS LIVE! @ your library Reading Stage PPO. Jun. 24-26, noon-4 p.m. In Aisle 3000 of the Exhibit Hall at Morial Convention Center. Enjoy readings from Susan Straight, Robert Pinsky, Tom Piazza, Gail Godwin, Lyn...

Constantly renewing: the "post-K" restaurant scene is hot.
June 1, 2006... New Orleans restaurants came back early and strong after Hurricane Katrina. Although a few of the grand establishments and otherwise popular places have yet to (or will not) reopen, many more have been busy serving locals-and a growing number...

Getting around New Orleans: central city/lower garden district/garden district.(Directory)(Brief article)
June 1, 2006... restaurants WAREHOUSE DISTRICT 1 Fire 2 La Cote Brasserie 3 Le Citron Bistro 4 RioMar 5 Seven on Fulton 6 Sun Ray Grill 7 Tommy's Cuisine 8 Wolfe's in the Warehouse District CENTRAL BUSINESS...

Fashion by design.(Collection Development / Clothing & Fashion)(following bibliography offers an introductory overview with core reference titles, histories and criticism and works that cover high and low fashion trends and the industry)(Bibliography)(Website list)
June 1, 2006... In the world of clothing, located somewhere between functional garments and extravagant costume lies the land of fashion. Part creative art, part construction technique, fashion involves a complex set of concepts that blend history, psychology,...

When in doubt, throw' em out?(CASE STUDY)(what to do with disruptive kids in library)
June 1, 2006... "HERE COME THE UNHOLY TRIO," Phyllis Korbel said to Olive Williams. The two were librarians at the Fubar Public Library. The three teen boys loudly shed their backpacks and all but crashed into chairs at a table in the rear of the facility's...

Move on.(ANALYSIS I)(library policy)
June 1, 2006... Hanging out at the mall is better than hanging out at the library? How did Cangaro get to her post with this kind of thinking? The library is a place of community, and let's face it--if teenagers love you (even in an "annoying" way), you're at...

Too many rules?(ANALYSIS II)(disruptive behavior in library)
June 1, 2006... Every librarian who has worked in public service can empathize with the two librarians in this scenario. The issues of intellectual freedom and censorship will not be addressed here, but it is clear that the library has some form of acceptable...

Prepub alert.
June 1, 2006... FICTION Bernhard, Thomas. Frost. Knopf. Oct. 2006. 352p. ISBN 1-4000-4066-3 [ISBN 978-1-4000-4066-7]. $25.95. At the behest of his mentor, a young medical student surreptitiously observes an artist gone mad. The 1963 debut of a stellar...

Mystery.(The Mortician's Daughter)(Disco for the Departed)(When the Devil Holds the Candle)(Book review)
June 1, 2006... Police procedurals, a staple of American and British crime fiction, are now crossing national borders. Karin Fossum details Norwegian police work, while Alicia Gimenez-Bartlett profiles investigators in Barcelona. And Colin Cotterill follows...

Mystery anthologies.(MYSTERY)(Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine Presents Fifty Years of Crime and Suspense)(Baltimore Noir)(Twin Cities Noir)(Book review)
June 1, 2006... Short stories can pack a wallop disproportionate to their length, and the following anthologies serve up a feast for fans of crime and suspense fiction. Tried and true work by such masters as Ed McBain and Lawrence Block is gathered in Alfred...

Prepub mystery.
June 1, 2006... Benjamin, Carol Lea. The Hard Way. Morrow. Oct. 2006. 304p. ISBN 0-06-053903-8. $23.95. New York becomes a darker, unpredictable city as P.I. Rachel Alexander and her faithful pit bull, Dashiell, investigate the death of a business mogul...

Christian fiction.(The Measure of a Lady)(Adelaide Piper)(Waking Lazarus)(Book review)
June 1, 2006... SUMMER READING PLEASURES This year's crop of spring and summer titles from leading Christian fiction publishers represents a variety of subjects, themes, and subgenres. There are compelling contemporary novels by best-selling veteran...

Abulhawa, Susan. The Scar of David.(Brief article)(Book review)
June 1, 2006... * Abulhawa, Susan. The Scar of David. NewSouth. Sept. 2006. c.320p. ISBN 1-58838-198-6. $27.95. F Every now and again a literary work changes the way people think. Abulhawa, 2003 winner of the Edna Andrade Fiction and Creative Nonfiction...

Andrews, Lori B. Sequence.(Brief article)(Book review)
June 1, 2006... Andrews, Lori. Sequence. Minotaur: St. Martin's. Jun. 2006. c.288p. ISBN 0-312-35270-0 [ISBN 978-0-312-35270-7]. $23.95. F In her first attempt at fiction, biotechnologies and genetics expert Andrews writes about what she knows. Geneticist...

Bagshawe, Tilly. Showdown.(Brief article)(Book review)
June 1, 2006... Bagshawe, Tilly. Showdown. Warner. Jun. 2006. c.472p. ISBN 0-446-57689-1. $24.95. F In this follow-up to Adored, Bagshawe takes readers into the worlds of horseracing, horse breeding, and ranching. British teenager Milly Lockwood Groves...

Ballantine, Poe. Decline of the Lawrence Welk Empire.(Brief article)(Book review)
June 1, 2006... Ballantine, Poe. Decline of the Lawrence Welk Empire. Hawthorne. Jul. 2006. c.376p. ISBN 0-9766311-1-3. pap. $15.95. F This second novel from Ballantine (after God Clobbers All) initially conjures images of Lord of the Flies, but then you...

Behrens, Peter. The Law of Dreams.(Brief article)(Book review)
June 1, 2006... Behrens, Peter. The Law of Dreams. Steerforth, dist. by Random. Sept. 2006. c.400p. ISBN 1-58642-117-4. $26.95. F In this novel, which is based on his own family history, screenplay and short story writer Behrens (Night Driving) has...

Bigsby, Christopher. Beautiful Dreamer.(Brief article)(Book review)
June 1, 2006... * Bigsby, Christopher. Beautiful Dreamer. Thomas Dunne Bks: St. Martin's. Aug. 2006. c.192p. ISBN 0-312-35583-1. $21.95. F Harrowing and convincingly written, this tale of racism and murder in backwoods Tennessee in the early 1900s seems...

Binelli, Mark. Sacco and Vanzetti Must Die!(Brief article)(Book review)
June 1, 2006... * Binelli, Mark. Sacco and Vanzetti Must Die! Dalkey Archive. Jul. 2006. c.353p. ISBN 1-56478-445-2. pap. $14.95. F This book opens with a few pages about the historic Sacco and Vanzetti, and brief passages about them and their trial are...

Bonilla, Juan. The Nubian Prince.(Brief article)(Book review)
June 1, 2006... Bonilla, Juan. The Nubian Prince. Metropolitan: Holt. Jul. 2006. c.258p. tr. by Esther Allen. ISBN 0-8050-7781-2 [ISBN 9780-8050-7781-0]. $24. F The author of three novels, four story collections, a children's book, and countless articles...

Burke, James Lee. Pegasus Descending.(Brief article)(Book review)
June 1, 2006... * Burke, James Lee. Pegasus Descending: A Dave Robicheaux Novel. S. & S. Jul. 2006. c.368p. ISBN 0-7432-7772-4 [ISBN 978-07432-7772-3]. $26. F Robicheaux is still going strong and sober in his 15th adventure (after Crusader's Cross), only...

Conti, Tom. The Doctor.(Brief article)(Book review)
June 1, 2006... Conti, Tom. The Doctor. Robson, dist. by Trafalgar Square. Jul. 2006. c.281p. ISBN 1-86105-841-1. pap. $13.95. F In his fiction debut, Tony Award--winning British actor Conti (Whose Life Is It Anyway?) narrates the adventures of Hal...

Drury, Tom. The Driftless Area.(Brief article)(Book review)
June 1, 2006... Drury, Tom. The Driftless Area. Atlantic Monthly. Aug. 2006. c.224p. ISBN 0-87113-943-X [ISBN 978-0-87113-943-6]. $23. F In this latest from the author of End of Vandalism, 24-year-old Pierre Hunter leads a rather aimless life in the small...

Hardie, Kerry. The Bird Woman.(Brief article)(Book review)
June 1, 2006... * Hardie, Kerry. The Bird Woman. Little, Brown. Aug. 2006. c.384p. ISBN 0-316-07623-6 [ISBN 978-0-316-07623-4]. $24.99. F A Protestant from Northern Ireland, Ellen McKinnon has enough pressures on her for 20 people to shoulder. Married too...

Holleran, Andrew. Grief.(Brief article)(Book review)
June 1, 2006... Holleran, Andrew. Grief. Hyperion. Jun. 2006. c.160p. ISBN 1-4013-0250-5. $19.95. F Since the 1978 publication of The Dancer and the Dance, Holleran has been recognized as one of the most prominent voices in gay literature, in his latest...

Kalfus, Ken. A Disorder Peculiar to the Country.(Brief article)(Book review)
June 1, 2006... Kalfus, Ken. A Disorder Peculiar to the Country. Ecco: HarperCollins. Jul. 2006. c.256p. ISBN 0-06-050140-2. $24.95. F Even with the horror of the planes crashing into the World Trade Center, Joyce, thinking her husband dead, experiences a...

Lee, Andrea. Lost Hearts in Italy.(Brief article)(Book review)
June 1, 2006... Lee, Andrea. Lost Hearts in Italy. Random. Jun. 2006. c.256p. ISBN 1-4000-6169-5. $23.95. F Two handsome young Americans marry, move to Rome, and pursue interesting careers while having a daughter. The wife, Mira, also pursues an enigmatic...

Lee, Rebecca. The City Is a Rising Tide.(Brief article)(Book review)
June 1, 2006... Lee, Rebecca. The City Is a Rising Tide. S. & S. Jul. 2006. c.208p. ISBN 0-7432-7665-5 [ISBN 978-0-7432-7665-8]. $21. F This debut novel involves the privileged life of Justin Laxness, a woman in her late thirties who fives in New York and...

Martin, James Conroyd. Against a Crimson Sky.(Brief article)(Book review)
June 1, 2006... Martin, James Conroyd. Against a Crimson Sky. Thomas Dunne Bks: St. Martin's. Aug. 2006. c.400p. ISBN 0-312-32682-3 [ISBN 978-0-312-32682-1]. $24.95. F Martin takes up the story of Jan Stelnicki, Anna Maria Berekowska, and Anna's cousin,...

Masters, Hilary. Elegy for Sam Emerson.(Brief article)(Book review)
June 1, 2006... Masters, Hilary. Elegy for Sam Emerson. Southern Methodist Univ. Aug. 2006. c.288p. ISBN 0-87074-507-7. $23.95. F Masters, the son of Edgar Lee Masters, is perhaps best known for his celebrated memoir, Last Stands: Notes from Memory, but he...

Messud, Claire. The Emperor's Children.(Brief article)(Book review)
June 1, 2006... * Messud, Claire. The Emperor's Children. Knopf. Sept. 2006. c.448p. ISBN 0-307-26419-X. $25. F Beautiful, Ivy League--educated, and the daughter of a renowned journalist, Marina Thwaite lives in New York City along with two close friends...

Min, Katherine. Secondhand World.(Brief article)(Book review)
June 1, 2006... Min, Katherine. Secondhand World. Knopf. Oct. 2006. c.275p. ISBN 0-307-26344-4. $23. F Min's first novel opens by introducing readers to 18-year-old Isadora Myung Hee Sohn, known as Isa to her mother and friends and Myung Hee to her...

Nganang, Patrice. Dog Days: An Animal Chronicle.(Brief article)(Book review)
June 1, 2006... Nganang, Patrice. Dog Days: An Animal Chronicle. Univ. of Virginia. (CARAF Bks.). 2006. c.224p, tr. from French by Amy Baram Reid. ISBN 0-8139-2534-7. $49.50; pap. ISBN 0-8139-2535-5. $18.50. F Originally published in 2001 and winner of two...

Summer chick lit.(Nine Hot Reads for the Beach)('20 Times a Lady', 'Back in the Game', 'Consider Lily', 'Girls' Night Out', 'Here Comes the Bride', 'Model Student: A Tale of Co-Eds and Cover Girls', 'Pick Me Up', 'Room for Improvement', 'True Lies of a Drama Queen')(Brief article)(Book review)
June 1, 2006... Get out your flip-flops, your sunscreen, and a nice big beach bag for the next crop of chick lit! Leave room next to your towel for a new short story collection perfect for the beach and, of course, the obligatory June wedding tales. Some old...

P., Melissa. The Scent of Your Breath.(Brief article)(Book review)
June 1, 2006... P., Melissa. The Scent of Your Breath. Black Cat: Grove. Aug. 2006. c.160p. ISBN 0-8021-7022-6. pap. $12. F Once upon a time, a woman went mad. Readers expecting anything other than that will be disappointed by Melissa P.'s brooding,...

Q&A: Betsey Osborne.(FICTION)(Interview)
June 1, 2006... In Betsey Osborne's debut novel, The Natural History of Uncas Metcalfe (LJ 4/1/06), an elderly man finds his bike stolen, gets lost on his way to his office, meets a young woman named Alex, and finds out that his wife has been injured. What...