American history is so poorly taught in our schools that a whole generation or more has far less knowledge of the subject than their grandparents or their Boomer parents who are now retiring. The good news is that anyone can acquire such knowledge independently and a good place to start is a new book, Signing Their Lives Away: The Fame and Misfortune of the Men Who Signed the Declaration of Independence by Denise Kiernan and Joseph D’Agnese ($19.95, Quirk Books, Philadelphia, PA). While most know that the Declaration was largely written by Thomas Jefferson and initiated the American Revolution, other than John Hancock, John Adams and Benjamin Franklin, most of the other signers faded into history largely unknown. Quite a few paid a high price for their commitment to the creation of a new nation and a new democratic experiment. Their stories are gathered together in this book, bringing them to life as real men daring to take on the greatest power of their times. They literally changed the world.

Another event changed the world and has been the subject of debate ever since. It was the creation of the first atomic bombs that were used to end World War II when dropped on two cities in Japan. What was not debatable, however, was that Nazi Germany was seeking to unleash the power of fission and, if that nation had secured it, how different history would have been for humanity. Historic Photos of The Manhattan Project with text and captions by Timothy Joseph ($39.95, Turner Publishing Company) is a tribute to the many men and women who brought about the Atomic Age in their pursuit of a way to end the war begun by the enemies of humanity. In a rare and wonderful collection of more than 200 photos, filled with the people whose faces look out at us, so much a part of their era and yet so like us. There is no effort to cover up the destructive power of the bombs, but this is primarily an inspiring story of the men and women, from brilliant physicists to the most ordinary worker, who lived through those extraordinary and dangerous times in the 1940s and blessed America with their work. Anyone who loves history will declare this book a real treasure.

The question that Americans keep asking is why we have a military presence in the Middle East even though for many 9/11 was and is a sufficient answer. More perplexing to many is why a militant Islam has emerged in the latter part of the last century and is now a threat to the West. Moorthy S. Muthusamy has penned Defeating Political Islam: The New Cold War ($25.98, Prometheus Books) to explain why al Qaeda is not just a minority of “fanatics” outside the mainstream of Islam, but rather that it and other Islamic terrorist organizations are a fulfillment of Islam because it is not just a religion, but a tyrannical political system as well. The long conflict we have been in and are likely to be in for many more decades is a contest of ideas and he advocates an ideological war directed at discrediting the simplistic, conquest-oriented theological roots of Islam. Born in India, the author emphasizes the importance of the largely non-Muslim India in this struggle and provides a careful analysis of the problems the Islamic threat represents. His book arrives as Pakistan, a Muslim nation, wages war on the Taliban seeking its takeover and not long after the terrorist attack on Mumbai, India. This is an excellent work of scholarship and analysis. Ed Husain brings another perspective in The Islamist ($16.00, A Penguin Book, softcover) in which he describes how a British-born Muslim left behind his upbringing to become a jihadist, rebelling against his own family until he came at last to see how his faith had been twisted into something evil and until he was able to break free in the hope that a modern Islam would learn to live in harmony with other faiths and societies. In the Graveyard of Empires: America’s War in Afghanistan ($27.95, W.W. Norton) by Seth G. Jones examines why the military and foreign policy experts agree that a war in Afghanistan would be very difficult to win in any traditional sense of the word. An analyst for the Rand Corporation, Jones says that history has some powerful lessons to teach us. Urging that an Afghan military must be created to meet the Taliban challenge, he makes a powerful case why more American troops are only a stop-gap measure and success will come only by enlisting and working with local tribes and clans from the bottom-up in the largely rural areas of that ancient nation.

Being a parent these days is fraught with perils earlier generations did not encounter. The rise in the numbers of teacher-predators seeking sex with the children entrusted to their care makes headlines. Rebecca Hagelin spells out the many ways a parent must be far more attentive to their child’s cultural environment. 30 Ways in 30 Days to Save Your Family ($26.95, Regnery Publishing) is “must” reading so far as I am concerned as the author examines the important and essential role a parent must play in an era where sexual images and dubious values are as close as Internet access, where children are targeted as markets for an estimated $200 billion they spend annually, and where modern lifestyles, often with both parents working, can turn one’s child into a stranger despite proximity. The teen years only exacerbate the need for open communication. This is an excellent, practical book on how to protect one’s child against a world of exploitation and potential dangers. Robin Sax has written Predators and Child Molesters ($17.98, Prometheus, softcover) subtitled “What every parent needs to know to keep kids safe.” Sax is a former sex crimes prosecutor and district attorney who answers one hundred of the most asked questions that include tips on how to spot predators, how to talk to kids about the risks and how to identify potential problems, recognizing and reporting sexual abuse, going to court, and how to heal and move on.

On the lighter side of life, there’s Uglier Than a Monkey’s Armpit: Untranslatable Insults, Put-Downs, and Curses from Around the World by Stephen Dodson and Dr. Robert Vanderplank ($12.95, Perigee, imprint of Berkley Publishing, softcover) that is testimony to man’s infinite capacity to creatively heap calumny upon those who annoy them. Taken from many countries, cultures and languages, the book ranges from ancient Greek to Yiddish to Asian and all points in between. I promise, you will laugh!

Music is so much a part of our lives that we often give it little thought. Two new books from the Indiana University Press do, however. The Great American Symphony by Nicholas Tawa ($24.95) explores the shift in the landscape of American music during the years of the Great Depression, World War II, and the post war era during which composers like Aaron Copland, Samuel Barber, Howard Hanson, Virgil Thompson and Leonard Bernstein produced what have now become classics that have entered into the American musical mainstream. This is an interesting look at a period beset with troubles that nonetheless produced an extraordinary creative explosion. In an earlier era, Moriz Rosenthall was a student of Franz Liszt and Chopin’s pupil, Karl Mikuli, as well as a friend of Brahms and Johann Straus II. His life linked the 19^th century with the modern era. Moriz Rosenthal in Word and Music is now available ($36.95 cloth/$24.95 softcover) and includes a CD featuring rare recordings by Rosenthal. Edited and with an introduction by Mark Mitchell and Allen Evans, it will please students of music history. In a practical vein, today’s professional musicians will benefit from The Savvy Musician: Building a Career, Earning a Living, & Making a Difference by pianists, composer, and music educator, Dr. David Cutler ($25.99 hardcover, $19.99 softcover, $11.99 eBook, Helius Press, Pittsburgh, PA ). Its official publication date is November, but if you are a musician or know one, a visit to www.savvymusician.com will tell you about the book and facilitate its purchase. It’s also a great resource of data for musicians. The author teaches at Duquesne University and has a broad background that he brings to an excellent text. Savvy musicians, says Dr. Cutler, find ways to differentiate themselves from the competition, create products that are unique, and are willing to take risks and unconventional approaches to build an audience and market. They understand that marketing is always the musician’s responsibility. Any musician who wants to know how to take control of his career will want to read this book.

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Insightful and Useful Books

Sometimes new books pile up on my table because they fit no particular genre, but are deserving of attention because they are good in their own right.

Ad Nauseum: A Survivor’s Guide to American Consumer Culture, edited by Carrie McLaren and Jason Tochinsky *$18.00, Faber and Faber, softcover) takes an intelligent look at the way advertising has created a society which, at this point, is in big trouble because we’ve all been buying too many things on credit. The average American sees approximately 3,000 ads every day and they shape how our community, friendships, and family are defined and perceived. These days a lot of ads are intended to determine public policy on some very complex topics, but advertising is so ubiquitous and so much a part of our lives that we tend not to be aware of its influence. This book will make you think. That’s something advertising doesn’t really ask you to do.

An interesting book is Claire Shipman’s and Katty Kay’s Womenomics ($27.99, Harper Business). The authors have excellent credentials as journalists. Shipman is a senior national correspondent with ABC News’ Good Morning America and Kay is the Washington correspondent and anchor for BBC World News America. The book addresses the issues that arise for all women in the workplace while noting the increasingly important role they play there. They assert that companies with more women managers are more profitable and that women make many if not most of the major buying decisions regarding homes, automobiles, et cetera. And they have the power to ask for and receive more flexible work conditions. They urge women to write their own rules for success. At the other end of the spectrum for women (and men) is having babies! The good news is that Consumer Reports has just published its tenth edition of Best Baby Products ($16.95, softcover) that is truly an A to Z guide for everything one needs while ensuring safety, durability, and usefulness. Take the guesswork out of these purchases with this guide. If women are a mystery to men, the opposite applies as well, but Ron Stout has revealed Secrets from Inside the Clubhouse: What Men Really Think About Women ($25.95, Brown Books). Things have changed from the earlier relationship between men and women. Women have emerged as independent, free to work outside the home, pick up dinner instead of cooking it, and to claim their own paychecks. The result has left men wondering why they are always expected to pick up the check on the date, what the rules are regarding working with women, whether and how it affects sexual relationships? The author takes on how men really feel about these changes and why they tend to keep their feelings to themselves, except in the company of other men. For men, especially, this book will provide a lot of insight and comfort. For women, it will explain some things that have escaped their understanding.

In the volatile housing marketplace, it helps to have some real knowledge to make some very big decisions. Two books from the “Dummies” series will prove very helpful. They are Home Buying for Dummies® now in its 4^th edition and Real Estate Investing for Dummies® now in its 2^nd edition. Both retail at $21.99 from Wiley Publishing. Eric Tyson teamed with Ray Brown for the home buying book and with Robert S. Griswold for the book on investment. In both cases, they are jammed-packed with the kind of nitty-gritty, real world information one needs to make informed decisions.

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Biographies and Memoirs

Biographies, autobiographies, and memoirs to varying extents are useful glimpses into the lives of people, great and unknown. Not all such books are equal and, in truth, it takes a great deal of talent and research to produce a good biography. When it comes to memoirs, however, seemingly anyone can produce one and that is why they are often irrelevant.

My late father, a thorough-going liberal who read The New York Times like it was gospel and subscribed to I.F. Stone’s weekly newsletter would have enjoyed American Radical: The Life and Times of I.F. Stone by D.D. Guttenplan ($35.00, Farrar, Straus and Giroux). Stone was an excellent reporter. He was a FDR New Dealer and an opponent of Sen. Joseph McCarthy who sought to expose the infiltration of communists in the U.S. government. McCarthy’s over-reaching was later vindicated by the Venona Papers, secret intelligence that demonstrated how many communist agents actually held high positions in the FDR, Truman and even Eisenhower administrations, betraying their nation to the Soviet Union. In the years since his passing, it has become clear that Stone was what is called “an agent of influence” for the Soviets, helping to shape public opinion about the communist dictatorship. Following Nikita Khrushchev’s revelations about the dictator Stone ceased to be a fan of Stalin. If all this sounds political, it is because Stone was political and for fifty years he carved out an independent career as an investigative journalist; one whose work was intended to advance liberalism. That said, this is a first rate biography worth reading. Richard Brookhiser’s memoir, Right Time, Right Place: Coming of Age with William F. Buckley, Jr. and the Conservative Movement ($27.50, Basic Books) recounts the conservative movement over the past forty years as seen through his eyes as a writer and staffer for the National Review. One thing that stands out immediately in this excellent memoir is the author’s gift for the well-turned phrase. Just reading him is a pleasure. He got his start as a 15-year-old who sent an article to Buckley and who, to his amazement, saw it published. In time, this afforded him the opportunity to not only become part of the National Review staff, but to be mentored by Buckley, a seminal figure in the rise of conservatism in America, to meet many of the major political figures and cover some of the most important events of those decades. Conservatism is making a comeback and to understand why I recommend you read this insightful and entertaining analysis of the Republican Party, the rise of the Religious Right, and the real William Buckley.

American Son: My Story by Oscar De La Hoya with Steve Springer ($14.99, Harper Paperbacks) is a touching memoir about achieving the American Dream, offering insight into his personal and professional life as one of the most celebrated boxers of his era. He discusses his rise to the top of his sport, the pitfalls of stardom in a celebrity obsessed culture, the tragic passing of his mother from cancer, and what it means to be an American as the son of Mexican-born parents. Along the way he won ten world titles and an Olympic gold medal. This is an inspirational book in many ways. In his own way, Lord Byron was a celebrity in his times, a kind of poet as rock star during the era of Regency England. He died age the age of 36 in 1824 after producing some of the finest romantic poetry ever penned. Byron in Love: A Short Daring Life by Edna O’Brien ($24.95, W.W. Norton) reveals, however, an extremely unpleasant person in real life, the result of a terrible youth spent hostage to a terrible family and other English institutions. His publisher burned his memoirs, fearful his scandalous life would taint his literary reputation, but O’Brien, a talented biographer, does not whitewash his failings, of which they were many, including an incestuous love affair with his half-sister. That he was a great poet whose best friend was Shelley, there is no doubt, nor will you doubt that in life he was a dreadful person.

What follows is a succession of memoirs of questionable merit, if only because one must ask why they were ever penned. Down Around Midnight: A Memoir of Crash and Survival by Robert Sabbag ($25.95, Viking) tells the story of the crash of an Air New England Flight 248 that crashed deep in the woods of Cape Cod on June 17, 1979. It is the story of ten strangers and their resilience in the face of disaster and its aftermath. The author was one of the survivors and tells the stories of others. It is thirty years since the event and, while traumatic for those involved, one cannot help wondering whether it merits telling. In a similar fashion, The Ride by Brian MacQuarrie ($26.00, Da Capo Press) tells of the shocking abduction and murder of 10-year-old Jeffrey Curley on October 1, 1997, and how his father, Bob Curley, a mechanic at the local fire department who had demanded the death penalty, eventually transitioned “from grief to anger to activism against predators.” He became an outspoken critic of the death penalty. This is an issue that still divides Americans and this book is one of advocacy, so if you still think justice includes the ultimate punishment, you will want to take a pass. The world of upper class “swinging” London society in the early 1960s is told through the lives of Tommy Webber and Susan “Puss” Coriat, deemed the perfect couple, both raised in privilege, both clever and reckless, both seeking adventure they could ill-afford. They mingled with celebrities such as Keith Richards, Mick Jagger, George Harrison, and Jimi Hendrix, among others, and as they gravitated toward different aspects of the decade, they grew drastically and dangerously apart. Their story is told in A Day in the Life by Robert Greenfeld ($24.95, Da Capo Press). Bad choices plagued them, but again the question must be asked, why is their story of any real consequence? The author has made a living writing biographies of people like rock promoter Bill Graham, Grateful Dead lead guitarist Jerry Garcia, and acid guru Timothy Leary; in all, the most dubious of role models.

Another cautionary tale is told in Kinky Gazpacho: Life, Love & Spain by Lori L. Tharps ($13.00, Atria Books, softcover), a memoir by an Afro-American woman who sought escape from her otherwise pleasant, but conventional middle-class life. She convinces herself that somehow her destiny will be found in Spain, even though she doesn’t even speak Spanish and knows nothing about the nation. When she gets her chance as a Smith College junior to spend a year in Salamanca, a university town outside of Madrid, she discovers that racism is rampant in Spain, experiencing many unpleasant examples of it. Nonetheless, she falls in love with a fellow student, Manuel, and in time they marry. This is a story of clashing cultures in which love does its best to overcome great obstacles. In Pig Candy: Taking My Father South, Taking My Father Home, Lise Funderburg ($15.00, Free Press, softcover), the daughter of George, an Afro-American who grew up in the segregated South and fled to the integrated North in the 1960s takes him to where his childhood was spent. The author grew up as “a white-looking, mixed-race girl, growing up in the urban integrated North in the 1960s.” She has little in common with him, but the distance between them collapsed when his cancer, in remission for 15 years, returns. A journalist and author, she accompanies him on regular visits to his hometown in rural Georgia, confronting her relationship with him and the Jim Crow South of his past. The title is drawn from a particular way of cooking a whole pig. Their story is a particularly American one, well told, and both instructive and touching. Momma Makes Up Her Mind and Other Dangers of Southern Living by Bailey White ($14.00 Da Capo Press, softcover) is a celebration of the South as told through a series of stories that have entertained many who heard them read on National Public Radio. Her life is filled with unusual characters, many from her own family, and for fellow Southerners it will resonate with many memories of this unique region.

Did you grow up in the 1970s? Then you should pick up a copy of My ‘70s Book by Darryll Sherman ($11.95, Dog Ear Publishing, softcover) Not only is it an entertaining look at that decade, but a reminder of how different it was from the current one. Darryll had to grow up without computers, CDs, and cell phones. How he survived those primitive times, I will never know. Well, truth is I do know because I was considerably older and to me the 70s was all about the Vietnam War and the Watergate scandal. Enjoy the movies, the music, and how life was lived then. You can check it all out at http://www.my70sbook.com

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The Topic is Health

With the latest scare from swine flu, thoughts about epidemics are not far from people’s minds, but there was a worldwide killer that has been eradicated and the story of that is found in Smallpox—The Death of a Disease by Dr. D.A. Henderson, MD, ($27.98, Prometheus Books). For more than 3,000 years, hundreds of millions of people had died or been left permanently scarred or blind by smallpox. In 1967, Dr. Henderson became director of a worldwide campaign to eliminate this disease and his book is a fascinating story of how this was achieved. To date, it is the only disease to have been deliberately eliminated. It is surely a great scientific and humanitarian achievement. The author and his staff had to cope with bureaucratic and cultural obstacles, shortage of local health personnel and meager budgets, but on October 26, 1976, the last of the smallpox cases occurred. It took only ten years to put an end to this dread disease. What followed has been the long struggle over whether to destroy the remaining virus in the two laboratories that held it until it was discovered that the then-Soviet Union had been experimenting with smallpox virus as a biological weapon and the threat remains that a rogue nation or terrorist might commit this horror. Comparable mass vaccination programs might also eliminate polio, measles, whooping cough, diphtheria, and tetanus. To many the Black Death that killed a third of the population of Europe, 1347-1351, was perhaps just a question on a history exam, but it had such a profound effect on history that understanding what happened provides a useful insight to the plagues or epidemics that threaten modern man. The Black Death: A Personal History ($16.00, Da Capo Press, softcover) by John Hatcher takes the reader to Walsham, a rural English village the Bubonic plague has reached from across the Channel, illuminating the thoughts and day-to-day lives of ordinary villagers as they struggle to make sense of and to survive it. Hatcher, the historian, is an expert on medieval and early modern social and economic history who teaches as the University of Cambridge. This book uses a bit of fiction, mixing it with his vast knowledge to illuminate that catastrophe in terms of how it changed Europe’s social and economic fabric in the wake of 75 million dead.

The Depression Cure by Dr. Stephen S. Ilardi, PhD. ($25.00, Da Capo Press) suggests that patients look to their evolutionary past to beat depression, noting that modern-day hunter-gatherer groups like the Kaluli people of Papua, New Guinea, experience virtually no depression despite living without the material comforts and medical advances that we take for granted. Modern society seems to build in depression and the author points out that sales of antidepressant drugs now exceed $20 billion annually, but that roughly half of those taking them don’t improve meaningfully on medication alone. His program helps patients reclaim six ancient lifestyle elements that can improve or eradicate depression. These include a diet rich in omega-3 fatty acids, the critical building blocks for brain structure and function; enjoyable activities that keep us from dwelling on negative thoughts; exercise that stimulates important brain chemicals; sufficient sunlight exposure to keep the body’s clock in sync; social support to avoid isolation; and healthy sleep habits that allow the brain and body to recover. It works for me and it will work for you! In a similar vein, I recommend reading Chip Ingram’s and Dr. Becca Johnson’s Overcoming Emotions that Destroy: Practical Help for Those Angry Feelings that Ruin Relationships ($19.90, Basic Books). Anger scares us and it can wound those we love and rebukes ourselves for not keeping it in check. The authors say that anger is rarely a stand-alone issue and their book urges the reader to ask themselves if their anger is valid and when they should or shouldn’t get angry? There is a spiritual element to the book as well. The authors define anger as a charged, morally neutral, emotional response of protective preservation. In short, some anger is valid and it generates all forms of behavior. If you or someone you know has an “anger problem”, this is a good book to read or recommend.

Likewise, Emotional Intelligence 2.0 by Travis Bradberry and Jean Greaves ($19.95, TalentSmart, 11526 Sorrento Valley Road, San Diego, CA 92121) is based on the authors’ groundbreaking research that tested more than 500,000 people to discover how they use “EQ” and how it influences their lives. The answers yielded information about how one can manage their emotions to their benefit. They hold the key to understanding people. This book is particularly oriented to the workplace in which most of us must cope with many others around us. Barely 15% in the workplace feel respected and valued by their employers. It notes that 70% of us do not handle conflict or stress effectively and just 36% understand emotions as they happen. People with high EQs are ten times more productive, so this is a subject everyone with a job needs to master because it can lead to higher compensation and a lot more happiness. From Hachette Audio come two books worth listening to. They are John C. Maxwell’s How Successful People Think ($24.98) and Michael J. Losier’s Law of Connection ($22.98). Maxwell contends that successful people have certain traits in common and you can acquire them too. By mastering these traits you will think more creatively and capture the big picture, understanding the future better. Losier’s book looks at those people to whom you say one thing, but they hear something else. The lack of connection leads to disappointment, frustration, and conflict. His book offers the key to successful communication via a few simple skills. It’s a great way to improve your life at home and in the workplace.

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Books for Kids, T’weens and Teens

Do a child a favor and buy them The National Geographic Kids Almanac 2010 ($12.99, softcover). Ideal for those aged 8-12, it has more than 500 stunning photographs and 300 pages filled with fast facts, true stories, fun activities and interesting articles on every subject under the sun. I often wonder how the editors manage to top themselves every year, but this book does it with its pages devoted to amazing animals, cultural comparisons of food, currency, literature and lots more, as well as information on history, the wonders of nature, and some super science.

Sometimes a book for younger readers comes along that is just so imaginative that one cannot wait to tell others about it. This is the case with Wolf Camp by Katie McKy and illustrated by Bonnie Leick ($15.95, Tanglewood Press). Perfect for those 6 to about 10, it tells the story of Maddie, a girl who goes off the Wolf Camp for two weeks and returns home with all the attributes of a wolf! Even the family collie takes notice! She develops a hunger for meat, just meat. She howls at the Moon. She can even scratch her head with her foot. The artwork is a perfect compliment to the wry and clever text. As the story ends, she returns from Bear Camp and her dad wonders if she might hibernate that winter. Ed Young is a very talented artist whose books have won the Caldecott medal and other awards for those who create for the youngest readers. Two new books are available and parents with a taste for art, nature and culture will want to share them. Hook ($17,95, Roaring Brook Press) is about an eagle egg rescued by a young Indian boy and placed in the nest of a chicken. When born, he definitely doesn’t look like the other chicks and as he grows it is clear his domain is the air, not the ground. This story is simply told with wonderful artwork and the most spare text. Tsunami by Kimiko Kajikawa and illustrated by Ed Young ($16.99, Philomel Books) is a Japanese tale of village people saved from death by a wise man who realizes that a tsunami, a giant wave caused by an earthquake at sea, is on its way to consume them. There’s plenty of suspense in this story and dazzling artwork.

For a wry look at life from the standpoint of a cat, there’s Ashley Spires’ Binky the Space Cat ($16.95, Kids Can Press) that I am inclined to think was written for adults, not kids. The main character has dreams of going into outer space, but never really leaves the house he shares with the humans who feed him and make his life a great comfort while he makes theirs a bit of a trial. Fully illustrated, it is a real romp. Ages 10-12 will enjoy this one. From the same publisher is a short biography of Harry Houdini ($14.95, Kids Can Press) the famed magician and escape artist. Written by Elizabeth MacLoed and illustrated by John Mantha, this is an excellent book to ignite the imagination of any pre-teen.

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Novels, Novels, Novels!

Summer is a traditional time for hitting the beach with a good book or just getting some rays on the patio. Here are a few of the latest novels worth considering.

The Visibles by Sara Shepard ($24.00, Free Press) marks her move from writing for young adults to adult fiction. The novel is not so much about being a kid, but when what happens to you as a child leaves an indelible imprint. It’s about why being wise is never as important as having never been loved. For those who enjoy a story that plums the nature of loss and longing. It explores the memories of parents who never quite fulfilled that need to provide the cushion of comfort every child needs as her father slips into mental illness and her mother remains aloof as the main character traverses from adolescence to adulthood. When she puts off a career to take care of her great-aunt, bedrock of the family and full of folksy wisdom, she learns that her biography doesn’t define her and that her future, not her past, belongs to her alone. Last Night in Montreal is the debut novel of Emily St. John Mandel ($29.95, Unbridled Books) It is the story of Eli who worries that Lilia will leave him and tries to prepare himself because Lilia always leaves one place or person for the next, not out of cruelty but because she is unable to stop moving on after a childhood of mysterious, practiced disappearances. When she does slip out one morning and doesn’t return, Eli is devastated. When a mysterious postcard arrives telling him where he can find her he heads north, but he is unprepared for the mysteries, the broken hearts, and the kind of closure he finds there.

The novel is about the intersection of the lives of four people and you will read through to the end to unravel the clues.

Quite possibly one of the most unusual novels I have seen in a very long time is The Selected Works of T.S. Spivet by Reif Larsen ($27.95, The Penguin Press). It pays no heed to reality as it spins out a fantastical tale of T.S. Spivet, a 12-year-old genius cartographer who lives with his family just north of Divide, Montana. One August afternoon he receives a phone call from the Smithsonian announcing that he has won the prestigious Baird Award. Slipping out before dawn the next morning, he hops a freight train headed east. Thus begins his adventures that include falling into a mythical wormhole, discovering an underground hobo information network, meeting along the way a range of characters from a deranged preacher to a racist trucker. He meticulously charts and illustrates the journey. This rather odd, extensively illustrated, and intriguing book is a kind of modern Alice in Wonderland exploring loss, love, and loneliness. Remarkably for a first novel twenty-two nations have bought its publishing rights. Stephen King declares it a treasure. Though more conventional, Songs for the Butcher’s Daughter by Peter Manseau won the 2008 National Jewish Book Award for fiction ($14.00, Free Press) and is now available in a softcover edition. It is the story of the last Yiddish poet in America, a bad-tempered, but charmingly eloquent Itsik Malpesh and his 21-year-old translator. Steeped in Jewish history, it begins with the Easter Sunday progrom in Kishinev, Russia, during which his mother’s life is spared because she is giving birth to him. A four-year-old butcher’s daughter witnesses the birth. Fleeing to America, Malpesh mirrors many an immigrant’s experiences. It is an odd love story combined with his quest to find that long-ago butcher’s daughter, a talisman of his life. There’s something here for both Jew and gentile, and for anyone seeking something out of the ordinary in story-telling.

A banquet of novels is available this summer. For those who love a good ghost story, there’s Travis Thrasher’s Ghostwriter ($13.99, Faith Words, an imprint of Hachette, softcover) about an author who has hit it big with a novel that has brought fame and fortune. However, when his beloved wife dies from cancer, he experiences writer’s block and, after finding a manuscript sent to him, he turns it in to his publisher as his own, only to again experience success. The real author, however, plans to make him pay for his crime. It’s a page-turner. Writers love to write about writing and that is the theme of The Accidental Bestseller by Wendy Wax ($15.00, Berkley, a member of the Penguin Group, softcover). It is the story of four aspiring authors who met at their very first national writer’s conference ten years earlier whose lives and work reflect the travails of the writer’s craft and trade. In an effort to help one of them, the others join together to collaborate on a novel, using their own lives as fodder and assuming no one will discover the truth behind their words. The book becomes a runaway bestseller, but success includes scrutiny and scandal as the four best friends realize how little they really know about each other. The life of one of the most famous of writers, Charlotte Bronte, provides the basis for a novel by Syrie James, The Secret Diaries of Charlotte Bronte ($14.95, Avon softcover) who recreates how the poor, plain, and socially unconnected Ms. Bronte became a literary sensation with “Jane Eyre”. Based on extensive research, Bronte’s deepest passions and desires, triumphs and disappointments come to life, as her sisters, Emily and Anne, too gained fame for their work. Anyone who is a fan of her work will welcome and enjoy this remarkable novel.

For those who love a good mystery, there is a new genre, the Baby Boomer novel, reflecting how members of that generation are now turning 60 and older. Retirement Can Be Murder by Susan Santangelo ($14.95, Baby Boomer Mystery Press, softcover), is the first in a series. The coming retirement of Carol Andrew’s husband, Jim, means her daily routine will undergo a major change, but that is nothing when he becomes implicated in the murder of Dr. Davis Rhodes, his retirement coach. Together they must solve the murder while adjusting to a new way of life. This is a very entertaining story, though those of a certain age will surely enjoy it more than a younger set. Jacqueline Winspear has made a name for herself with her Maisie Dobbs mysteries, but Among the Mad ($25.00, Henry Holt and Company, hardcover) is a departure from the picturesque English countryside of Kent  as she tells a story set in the World War I society of London in a race against time to save the city from a menacing threat of terror. The author has won a slew of awards and, when you read this novel, you will know why as on Christmas Eve 1931 Maisie witnesses a man commit suicide on a busy London street. You will not put this novel down until you have reached the last page.

Or maybe you just want to listen to a few good novels? If that’s the case, Hachette Audio has quite a few. The Castaways by Elin Hilderbrand ($39.98, eleven CDs) spins a story of tragedy and the sundering of relationships after a Nantucket couple drowns while trying to patch up a marriage harmed by gossip. Their closest friends, three other couples, find their relationships disrupted by their loss as this story of friendship and forgiveness unfolds. Summer on the island will never been the same for them. Michael Connelly’s The Scarecrow ($39.98, ten CDs) is about Jack McEvoy, a Los Angeles Times crime reporter facing a layoff, who decides to go out with a bang by writing about a kid who might actually be innocent of a brutal murder despite his confession. He pursues the real killer who has existed just below both police and FBI radar. In doing so, he sets off a tripwire that informs the killer that he is hot on his trail. Suspense is well served as well in a new Jason Bourne novel by Eric Van Lustbader, The Bourne Deception. ($49.98, unabridged/$29.98 abridged) and it is too complex to describe, but suffice it to say that it is a great “listen” in either the longer or shorter version as the hero of six novels finds himself in a race to prevent a new world war! David Balducci has built a reputation for suspense as well, crafting novels that seem to be right out of the headlines. First Family ($29.98, five CDs) tells of a daring kidnapping from a birthday party, but this one was at Camp David, the presidential retreat. The president’s wife asks a former aide to join in the search. Finally, master of suspense, James Patterson, has two novels available in the audio format, Swimsuit ($34.98, six CDs) and The 8^th Confession ($39.98, seven CDs). The former begins with the disappearance of a supermodel and the latter involves the near perfect murder of a millionaire couple from San Francisco.

That’s it for July and we still have a month of summer to come, so make a note to come back when we look at the many fine new fiction and non-fiction books yet to be read. Before you go, pay a visit to our Featured Books section where you will find some truly unique and interesting books that come highly recommended by Bookviews.