SirReadaLot.org
We Review the Best of the Latest Books
ISSN 1934-6557
August 2005, issue #76
Guide to This Issue
Contents: Home & Arts:
Fix-Up Furniture, Homes, Quilts,
Digital Photography of Nature, Harold
Weston's
Architecture / Home & Garden
Cheap and Tasteful Dwellings: Design Competitions and the
Convenient Interior, 1879-1909 by Jan
Jennings (The
In 1879, Carpentry and Building magazine launched its first house design competition for a cheap house. Forty-two competitions, eighty-six winning designs, and a slew of near winners and losers resulted in a body of work that offers an entire history of an architectural culture. The competitions represented a vital period of transition in delineating roles and responsibilities of architectural services and building trades. The contests helped to define the training, education, and values of ‘practical architects’ and to solidify house-planning ideals. The lives and work of ordinary architects who competed in Carpentry and Building contests offer a reinterpretation of architectural professionalization in this time period.
Cheap and Tasteful Dwellings explores in detail the results of
these competitions, conducted over a thirty-year period from 1879 to
1909. In this book, Jan Jennings, professor in the Department of
Design and Environmental Analysis at
A landmark book in architectural history,
Cheap and Tasteful Dwellings makes a compelling case for the
theory of convenient arrangement – its history, its role, its
principles, its relationship to contemporary interior design
education, and its meaning to American architecture. More
importantly, the book explains the impact of Carpentry and
Building's contests in furthering the tenets of convenient
arrangement for house design. By using extensive material from the
magazine,
Arts & Photography
Digital Nature Photography Closeup by Jon Cox (Amphoto Books, Watson-Guptill Publications)
Some 59.3 million digital cameras will be sold this year – and most come fully equipped with close-up features that let users get up close and personal with all the wonders of nature, from birds and trees to flowers and insects to underwater plants and fish. But few buyers know how to get the most from these features.
Digital Nature Photography Closeup shows readers, whether
amateurs or professionals, how to harness the macro power of their
cameras to create breathtaking nature photography. From Jon Cox,
instructor at the
- Stunning color photographs of a wide range of subjects.
- Macro techniques.
- File formats, Photoshop, and pertinent digital technology.
Cox offers advice on purchasing and using special macro equipment, i.e., lenses, extension tubes, teleconverters, microscopes, etc. In this logical follow-up to his bestselling Digital Nature Photography, Cox uses dozens of full-color examples to illustrate how he got that shot – and how other photographers can, too.
Digital Nature Photography Closeup is a comprehensive guide for
macro photographers. From basic techniques, to action shots,
aquarium and underwater photography, even shooting through a
microscope,
Digital Nature Photography Closeup is a great guide to exploring
the fascinating world of nature with a macro lens.
Arts & Photography / Art History / Cultural History
Wild Exuberance: Harold Weston's
The
Along with 104 color and ten black-and-white plates of Weston's
works, the catalog
Wild Exuberance includes essays that cover myriad aspects of
Weston's life and art. The
Wild Exuberance … focuses attention on Harold Weston, who should
be a significant figure in the history of twentieth-century American
art.... Born into social and economic privilege, Weston chose
individual liberty and relative isolation over social
conformities....
Wild Exuberance puts him and his work before us with spirit and
insight. – Marc Simpson, Associate Director,
This is an important volume, a contribution to regional studies,
social history, and the art history of American modernism. Harold
Weston is restored in this study to his rightful place as a
fascinating American figure, committed equally to social and
artistic progressivism…. His varied works, traced here in absorbing
detail over some five decades, are a splendid addition to the canon
of modernism. His life story, deftly outlined here as well, expands
our understanding of a turbulent period in American cultural and
social history. – Linda S. Ferber, Andrew W. Mellon Curator of
American Art, The
The fully illustrated exhibition catalog
Wild Exuberance provides a rare opportunity to see Weston's best
Biographies & Memoirs
Rolling Down Black Stockings: A Passage out of the Old Order Mennonite Religion by Esther Royer Ayers (The Kent State University Press) demonstrates the powerful influence of a society on a young girl's life, and how that childhood influence follows her.
Although my plain dress and long braids made me quite different
from my classmates, my black stockings troubled me the most. Rolling
them down and exposing my bare legs made me feel like one of them.
Rolling Down Black Stockings is a personal account of Esther Royer Ayers's youth spent in a highly restrictive and confined religious community. Ayers's story is as much a search for identity and a longing for a mother's love as it is a tale about a rigid culture and religion and her abandonment of it.
Ayers's account begins when she was eight years old, watching her mother take care of her sick father. Ayers, a writer who worked for a pharmaceutical company before retiring, describes how her family coped with the burden of not having enough income, which meant that the children were expected to work instead of pursuing an education. She writes of the difficulties she and her siblings faced when secular educational leaders closed the one-room schoolhouses that served her Mennonite community. She relates her struggles and conflicts on leaving her home and church.
Rolling Down Black Stockings is told in three books: book one describes Ayers’ youth in a farm community on the outskirts of Columbiana, Ohio; book two follows her struggles as she tries to fit in with another culture after leaving the church; and book three discusses the history and cultural dynamics of Old Order Mennonite.
This memoir recalls Esther Ayers's strange childhood. Her first
job, at 12, was as a maid in a neighbor's house. Esther and her
seven siblings already knew how to work hard – cleaning, heating
water for laundry, hoeing, gathering potatoes, and hauling buckets
of milk.
For Old Order Mennonites, heavy toil with few pleasures was the way
to heaven. An eighth grade education was good enough. Children were
ordered to fail twice so they could legally quit school at age 16.
For bright inquisitive Esther, this life was stifling. Esther had
never been to a movie, read a magazine, or seen a home with art on
the walls. … – Sandy Huff, Amazon.com
Writing with intelligence and insight, Rolling Down Black Stockings is a rare and reflective memoir and a valuable piece of social history that will appeal to historians as well as those interested in separatist communities and women's studies.
Biographies & Memoirs / African American
Bones Hooks: Pioneer Negro Cowboy by Bruce G. Todd (Pelican Publishing Company)
Some colored people are envious of my position among white people. They follow me because they know I can get help from the white people, but they do not trust me. Someday they will understand me. – Hooks
If a man was man enough to work on a ranch in the early days, he
was too much of a man to abuse me. If he did, I knew he wasn't man
enough to stay there for long. – Hooks explaining race relations on
the
Texans still talk about Bones Hooks and his famous ride. In 1910,
the forty-three-year-old former cowboy, then working as a
In
Bones Hooks Bruce G. Todd, creator of the
The son of former slaves, Mathew ‘Bones’ Hooks left home at the
age of twelve to pursue the rough-and-tumble life of a cowboy,
during which he rubbed shoulders with other legends such as Col.
Charles Goodnight. After his retirement, he devoted himself to civic
and social improvements in
Todd's book is rich with the history of the
In literature, music, and Western films,
Bones Hooks is the seldom-heard story of how blacks pioneered
the American west.
Todd brings a fascinating life, and an important, little known piece
of history, to light in this, the first biography of a man who broke
both wild horses and racial barriers.
Biographies & Memoirs / Entertainers
One of a Kind: The Rise and Fall of Stuey 'The Kid' Ungar, The World's Greatest Poker Player by Nolan Dalla & Peter Alson, with a foreword by Mike Sexton (Atria Books)
There has been a recent explosion of interest in high-stakes poker thanks to cable sports networks' televising of the World Series of Poker, numerous celebrity tournaments and other high profile match-ups. But for anyone with a longer-term interest in the game, the zenith of professional gambling was undoubtedly the heyday of Stuart Ungar, whom many consider to have been the greatest card player who ever lived. Ungar, the only player to win the $10,000 championship event in both the World Series of Poker and the Super Bowl of Poker – and to do so three times each – was a high-strung genius, both fearless and aggressive.
One of a Kind takes readers inside that world of high stakes gambling, capturing the roller coaster of big money and seedy glamour, of devastating losses and unrequited hopes.
Stuart Errol Ungar was born in 1953 on
Ungar was by many accounts the greatest gin player that ever was,
and he quickly made his mark in the mob-run gambling dens of
But the same reckless and flamboyant attributes that made Ungar
such an exciting card player to watch, took their toll on the rest
of his life. He was an inveterate gambler, who would generally
squander his sizable casino winnings at the racetrack. Married to a
woman who stood by him and managed his finances as best she could,
he yielded to the temptations of his celebrity status with sexual
promiscuity. He never had a bank account or credit card, and only
got a social security number minutes after winning his first World
Series in order to collect the prize money. In the 24/7, glitzy
world of Vegas casinos, he turned to drugs – coke, crack, methadone,
painkillers – and ultimately sank into the unreliable persona of
addict. At age 45, he was found dead in a squalid
In One of a Kind veteran sports handicapper and World Series of Poker media director Nolan Dalla, along with acclaimed writer Peter Alson, offer the first authorized biography of Ungar's heartbreaking ascendancy and decline. The book was originally intended to be Ungar's autobiography, and Dalla had spent many hours interviewing the card sharp during the summer and fall preceding Ungar's death in 1998. The authors still tell parts of the story using Ungar's own words, but have greatly expanded the biographical narrative through extensive interviews with the people in Stuey's life.
If you want an ‘education’ in the old-time gambling underworld,
you can’t do better than
One of a Kind. Although you’d never want to live it, Ungar’s
life, as drawn by Dalla and Alson, is riveting, haunting, and
compelling. Ungar’s legacy of genius, destroyed by indulgence, would
seem absurd as fiction; as truth it is a gripping epic tragedy. –
Brian Koppelman and David Levien, screenwriters of Rounders and
Runaway Jury
A well-written and well-researched study of the most naturally
gifted and emotionally stunted card genius in the history of poker.
– A. Alvarez, author of The Biggest Game in Town
One of a Kind is a riveting account of Ungar's meteoric ascent and ignominious decent in the gambling world. This intimate biography illuminates the dark genius of poker's most charismatic and mysterious star, who could ruthlessly peer into and read other men's souls but seemed baffled and powerless when confronted with his own.
With well-seasoned knowledge, Dalla and Alson recreate the palpable drama at the tables, leading the uninitiated through the rules of the games and the subtlety of play. Mostly though, their compassionate, yet clear-eyed biography pays lasting tribute to a man of unequaled skill, who burned out long before his legend.
Biographies & Memoirs / Travel
Twilight of Love: Travels with Turgenev by Robert Dessaix (Shoemaker & Hoard)
Ivan Turgenev (1818-83) was a Russian writer best known for his
play A Month in the Country and his novel Fathers and Sons. Together
with Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky, Ivan Turgenev was one of the leading
novelists of
No less sensational than his novels was his personal life. For
forty years, until the day he died, he was passionately devoted to
the diva Pauline Viardot, following her and her husband around
Europe and even living with them amicably at times as part of their
household. Everything for Turgenev, even his dismay at the
backwardness and injustice of life in
What, then, did Turgenev mean by ‘love,’ the word at the core of
his life and work?
Robert Dessaix, widely known interviewer and commentator on
Australian television and radio, has had his own forty-year
relationship with Turgenev, first as a student of Russian in both
Australia and Russia, then as a teacher, and now as what he calls a
close friend. When he was in
Themes of Dessaix’s work include the problem of irrational love in a world of reason, Russian theology, the experience of being far away and therefore barbarian in European eyes, the modern confusion of the erotic with the sexual, and of course, the problem of death. Dessaix tells how he has come to see Turgenev's life and work as an expression of a turning point in the history of love – the moment the Romantic became rational, love unraveled into sentiment and erotic feelings, and Eros became a mere commodity.
Dessaix's exploration of Turgenev's travels illuminates not only
the great writer's soul but allows us better to understand the
mysterious relationship between the landscapes of geography and the
landscapes of literature, and how page and place feed magically off
one another. This is one of the best travel memoirs I've read in
years. – Alberto Manguel
Virginia Woolf wrote of Turgenev's fiction that the meaning of
what he said went on long after the sounds had stopped. The same is
true of Dessaix's lucid, tender prose. At the end of his journey the
author feels, ‘I'd caught up with myself at last,’ and he believes
he has understood himself better. Readers of this profound, funny,
sad book may also come to believe the same. – Evening Standard (
An elegant, witty and moving study of a beloved writer and, more deeply, of love itself. Twilight of Love would have delighted its subject. – John Banville
In this truly remarkable work, Robert Dessaix has found the pulse that quickened Turgenev’s age, but has failed in ours. Twilight of Love is a moving, melancholy, vastly informative excursion into the Russian mind, and the language is superb at capturing the landscapes, atmospheres, and human vagaries.
Business & Investing / Economics / Humor
A Devil's Dictionary of Business: Monkey Business; High Finance
and Low; Money, the Making, Losing, and Printing Thereof; Commerce,
Trade; Clever Tricks; Tours de Force; Globalism and Globaloney;
Industry; Invention; the Stock Market; Marvelous Explanations and
Clarifications; All Presented with Wit and Attitude… by Nicholas Von
Hoffman (Nation Books)
A Devil's Dictionary of Business, a curmudgeon’s lexicon, is full of diabolical stuff about business. It provides a comical, entertaining overview of the business world, told from the perspective of the legendary Nicholas von Hoffman, best-selling author of Citizen Cohn, and Washington Post columnist of whom the late Katherine Graham said, "My life would have been a lot simpler had Nicholas von Hoffman not appeared in the paper."
Arranged alphabetically, from ‘Abacus’ to ‘Zukor, Adolph,’ the dictionary elucidates the business world from top to bottom, from the ancient world to the Enron world. For example von Hoffman defines a financial ‘Analyst’ as "a human steam calliope employed by stockbrokers to tout securities the brokerage owns (or has a hidden financial interest in) and wants to unload onto the naive and ever hopeful."
Von Hoffman, a self-styled Pulitzer prize-losing author, has had a long and bumpy career in journalism, during which he has been fired more than a few times by editors and TV executives who have a limited tolerance for curmudgeonly behavior. He is the author of thirteen books, several plays, and an opera libretto, and a columnist for the New York Observer.
Financial ignoramuses (ignorami?) like myself will dive into this book. . . . So this is what 'equity' means? I never even heard of 'dogs of the Dow.' Now, because of Nicholas von Hoffman I might even peruse financial pages. Not alone, though. I will keep beside me my trusty A Devil's Dictionary of Business. – Frank McCourt
…In between the wisecracks, he offers a trove of information on business topics from the basics of double-entry bookkeeping to the arcana of Hello Kitty merchandising, and draws grudgingly appreciative biographical thumbnails of such figures as Andrew Carnegie, Jimmy Hoffa and yo-yo mogul Donald Franklin Duncan. Throughout, von Hoffman pays tribute to capitalism's achievements in conferring organization, technology, low prices and high quality on society while bemoaning its wholesale re-engineering of that society to eliminate family meals, foist on us a culture driven by the youth marketing demographic and make the consumer ‘the central person in the American universe.’ Readers will enjoy the book either as an entertaining casual browse or as a socioeconomic soapbox. – Publishers Weekly
A Devil's Dictionary of Business is a godsend to those looking for an incisive and entertaining overview of the business world. This catty, chatty, sharp, funny, mean, informative, and engaging book is worthy of its antecedent, Ambrose Bierce’s Devil’s Dictionary, and is an ideal gift for one’s stockbroker, bank manager, loan shark, or that anti-capitalist, Starbucks-bashing cousin, all of whom will enjoy von Hoffman’s sardonic and dizzying tour of Mammon.
Business & Investing / Human Resources
The HR Value Proposition by Dave Ulrich &
Wayne Brockbank (
"Why should our company continue to invest in HR?''
It's a question frequently asked about the HR function, particularly as the field's traditional activities like payroll, benefits administration, and training are being automated or out-sourced. Once this transactional work is streamlined or delivered via new channels, wonder many executives and line managers, what does the future hold for HR professionals?
According to Dave Ulrich and Wayne Brockbank, leading HR thinkers and professors at the University of Michigan School of Business, HR is in the midst of a fundamental transformation – from transactional players aspiring to become ‘strategic partners,’ to key wealth creators whose activities add value for all stakeholders. This transformation will require a dramatic refocusing of HR: from what is done to what is delivered; from building HR functions for efficiency to building them for stakeholder value; and from implementing best HR practices to delivering value-added HR practices.
Drawing on an eighteen-year global study of over 30,000 HR professionals and line managers, Ulrich and Brockbank identify the fourteen HR criteria that have the greatest impact on value creation and outline five core elements required to build them:
- External business realities: Adapt HR practices to a complex and changing world.
- Stakeholders: Connect HR actions to the value they create for stakeholders.
- HR practices: Invest in practices that yield the most value for the firm.
- HR resources: Align HR strategy and organization with business priorities.
- HR professionalism: Upgrade the competencies and perform new roles for every HR professional.
Scores of best practice examples from international corporations to smaller firms illustrate how companies are delivering value through HR. Audits, diagnostics, and tools help HR professionals assess where they are now and where they need to focus to build their own world-class HR function.
Ulrich and Brockbank clearly reinforce our vision that HR leaders must be highly visible, credible, value-added business partners to be effective in the world of business. – Bill Conaty, Senior Vice President, Corporate Human Resources, GE
Like HR Champions in the 1990s, The HR Value Proposition will fuel a decade of HR professional development in the years ahead. It provides the theories, examples, and criteria that create and deliver HR value. – John Hofmeister, President, Shell Oil Company
This readable and practical book illustrates a new way of creating seamless interdependency with all stakeholders. Both managers and HR will benefit enormously from this strategic framework. – Stephen R. Covey, author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
Written by the field's premier trailblazers, The HR Value Proposition charts the path HR professionals must take to help lead their organizations into the future, offering a compelling, actionable blueprint for the future of HR.
Business & Investing / Marketing & Sales
Buzzmarketing: Get People to Talk About Your Stuff by Mark Hughes (Portfolio)
Forty-four percent of sales are affected by buzz or lack thereof, according to a 2001 McKinsey Report.
Everyone wants buzz for their business, but few people actually know what to do to get it. Mark Hughes, CEO of Buzzmarketing and host of the nationally syndicated radio show The Buzz Factor, shares the secrets of word-of-mouth marketing in his book Buzzmarketing. Buzz marketing is a topic many people talk about but few truly understand. To explain it, Hughes draws on his own real-world experience as an executive and consultant.
Most marketing is pushy, but Hughes says that word-of-mouth marketing ‘pulls’ by engaging attention of consumers and the media to the point where talking about the brand becomes entertaining, fascinating, and newsworthy. He tells the inside story of smart marketing strategies that got everybody talking about American Idol, Britney Spears, text-messaging, tie-dye, Miller Lite, and other buzz machines.
The key to these buzzmarketing success stories, says Hughes, is that they start conversations by pushing one or more of The Six Buttons of Buzz: the taboo, the unusual, the outrageous, the hilarious, the remarkable, and secrets (both kept and revealed).
Hughes explains why verbal mention placements are more effective
than visual product placements; why guerilla marketing isn't
buzzmarketing; how celebrities can be used in unexpected ways to
create buzz; how David & Goliath stories propel buzz for companies
like Ben & Jerry's; and how to police the product from bad buzz.
…Hughes's tales of companies that successfully harnessed buzz are
the strongest part of the book, covering businesses as diverse as
Pepsi, Ben and Jerry's and Rit Dye, which revived itself by sparking
the tie-dye craze in the 1960s. … Hughes's ideas are provocative and
should interest business professionals frustrated with same-again
advertising campaigns. – Publishers Weekly
A business book that's entertaining and useful for big brands and start-ups alike. – Steve Forbes, Editor in Chief, Forbes
An intriguing book about an intriguing new trend in marketing. It's rare to find a business book that teaches and entertains like this. – Warren Phillips, former editor, The Wall Street Journal and CEO, Dow Jones
Buzzmarketing works. It's not just a nice-to-have, it's a must-have! – Brian Swette, former Chief Marketing Officer, Pepsi-Cola; former COO, eBay
At last! A fun-to-read business book that delivers on its premise. Buzzmarketing puts a spotlight on what makes word-of-mouth advertising score a knockout...just when cluttered traditional media has lost its punch. – Stan Rapp, Chairman of McCann Relationship Marketing
The book shows how any company can thrive by pursuing a buzz-driven strategy rather than just hoping for a lucky break. Full of entertaining inside stories, Buzzmarketing is the definitive guide to today's hottest – and cheapest – marketing strategy.
Business & Investing / Small Business
Retail in Detail, 3rd edition by Ronald L. Bond (Entrepreneur Press)
Do you dream ... of staking your claim to riches in the retail
world?
Most small-business owners have no one to turn to for professional advice and must learn how to set up and manage their businesses the slow hard way – through trial and error.
Retail in Detail is the seminal text for the retail industry –
revised in this third edition to address today’s changing retail
market conditions.
Author Ronald Bond, with more than 30 years experience as a
manager and small business owner, takes an honest and down-to-earth
approach, discussing the problems that retail owners encounter on a
daily basis. Practical work sheets and cost figures help readers
calculate critical financial information.
Retail in Detail covers the steps of planning, opening, and managing a retail store, beginning with an honest assessment of whether readers are really suited to running a business. Bond provides practical information on planning a store opening, from selecting a product line and hiring employees to buying an initial inventory and obtaining the required permits, licenses, and tax numbers. Bond guides readers every step of the way, utilizing real-world examples and informative anecdotes to break down the critical daily processes into concise, easy-to-follow, chronological steps, including how to:
- Choose a location and maintain an image.
- Purchase and keep track of inventory.
- Stay abreast of legal and regulatory requirements.
- Manage finances and bookkeeping.
- Maintain employee relations.
- Overcome the common problems of retail operations.
- Manage inventory to decrease expenses.
- Minimize common mistakes.
- Establish a financial plan for decision making and growth.
Instead of focusing on economic theories and obscure business
concepts,
Retail in Detail is a step-by-step guide addressing the
commonplace, daily problems of retail operations like: choosing a
product line, the ins and outs of wholesale markets, pricing and
credit policies, inventory tracking and using computers, employee
relations, store location, store image, and merchandise displays. …
In addition there is a glossary of terms, an extensive publications
list, and
Retail in Detail will give the aspiring entrepreneur a much
needed basis from which to launch his or her enterprise. Sound,
sage, productive advice, which if followed carefully, will enhance
the odds of success for any new business. –
Retail in Detail provides real information readers can apply to
their retail business today.
With more than 30 years of experience, Bond provides the most comprehensive information available to successfully plan, launch and manage a retail business. Packed with realistic and practical advice, this step-by-step manual raises the bar for the most comprehensive information available.
Business & Investing / Small Business & Entrepreneurship
The Small Business Owner's Manual: Everything You Need to Know to Start Up and Run Your Business by Joe Kennedy (Career Press)
Nothing is more important for small business owners than saving time and making the right decisions – being both efficient and effective. The Small Business Owner's Manual is designed to help entrepreneurs and business owners of all sizes and shapes do just that, providing them the direct, fast-paced, and practical information they need. While some may read it cover to cover, the real value of The Small Business Owner's Manual is as a reference resource when entrepreneurs are faced with pressing questions that need answers.
For example:
- Choose among 13 ways to get new financing and the 17 steps
to building a winning loan package.
- Weigh the pros and cons among eight legal structures, from
corporations to LLCs.
- Write winning ads and analyze 16 advertising and marketing
alternatives including the latest in Search Engine Marketing and
Search Engine Optimization.
- Develop a powerful business plan in half the time.
- Get taxes paid on time, collect from deadbeats, protect the
business from litigation and get legal agreements with teeth by
effectively finding and partnering with CPAs and attorneys.
- Get a quick overview of the 14 top forms of business
insurance including workers comp and medical.
- Understand the legal side of hiring, firing, and managing
employees and contractors.
- Minimize taxes by learning the ins-and-outs of business income taxes, the top 5 payroll taxes, sales and use taxes, common tax dodges, and the latest loopholes for business owners.
- Learn how the credit system really works and minimize chargebacks, disputes and headaches.
- Discover 12 ways to minimize fraud.
I have worked with Joe Kennedy for well over a decade and have met few others with such energy for absorbing and implementing the many skills required to successfully run a small business.... There is much in this book to accelerate your business. I consider [it] an invaluable resource. – Eric Weider, President and CEO, Weider Health and Fitness
Author Joe Kennedy has more than twenty years of experience in operating and working with small businesses, a degree in finance and an MBA. He knows how entrepreneurs think and their drive to get to the essence of an issue, make the right decision and quickly move on. Impatient business owners will likely prefer this book since only the most relevant information is provided. The Small Business Owner's Manual is useful for newly minted entrepreneurs as well as seasoned business owners and can be read from cover-to-cover or to quickly lookup information in the midst of a crisis.
Cooking, Food & Wine
Grilled and Chilled: 120 Delectable Recipes for Light and Fresh Summer Cooking by Martha Day (Southwater)
Grilled and Chilled, written by cook and food writer Martha Day,
encapsulates the spirit of summer in 120 dishes, both classical and
innovative. The recipes, inspired by summer produce and ingredients
and by the pleasure of outdoor cooking and eating, are presented in
seven sections: appetizers and light meals; fish and shellfish; meat
and poultry; barbecues and picnics; pasta dishes, breads and pizzas;
vegetables and salads; and summer desserts. Traditional recipe
favorites such as Chilled Fresh Tomato Soup, Salade Nicoise, Classic
Whole Salmon, Grilled Chicken Salad, Tandoori Chicken, Margherita
Pizza, and Fresh Citrus Gelatin, are interspersed with stimulating
ideas like Pear and Pecan Nut Salad with Blue Cheese Dressing,
Grilled Salmon with Red Onion Marmalade, Pan-fried Pork with Peaches
and Green Peppercorns, Stilton Burgers and Mango and Lime Sorbet in
Lime Shells. There are also innovative recipes featuring some
favorite ingredients: Red Pepper and Watercress Filo Parcels, Warm
Duck Salad with
The recipes are shown in step-by-step detail and there is a
picture of every finished dish. The simple-to-use format includes a
shopping list for ingredients, and illustrations of techniques and
equipment on the page. Included are recipes for every kind of event,
meal and eating style, from formal dinners and barbecues to finger
foods and buffets
Grilled and Chilled is an introduction to cooking illustrating
ingredients, materials, techniques and equipment, including details
of types of barbecues and how to use them. It includes lunches and
suppers, picnics, barbecues, outdoor parties, al fresco dining and
open-air entertaining. Its 120 recipes and over 800 photographs
capture the essence of summer, inspired by seasonal ingredients and
by the pleasures of outdoor cooking and eating. This tempting
collection of recipes will inspire, and the simple-to-follow,
step-by-step format means that creating enticing summer meals
becomes easy and enjoyable.
Cooking, Food & Wine
Recipes from a Very Small Island by Linda
Greenlaw & Martha Greenlaw (Hyperion) presents the
When Linda Greenlaw comes home for dinner – whether it's from a
30-day swordfishing expedition or a day out on her lobster boat –
she knows what's going to greet her the moment she walks in the
door: a home-cooked meal courtesy of Martha Greenlaw, a fantastic
cook and Linda's mother. Martha Greenlaw, who's spent forty years
delighting friends and family with her cooking, has decided to share
her kitchen secrets. Some of these recipes are family heirlooms, and
others are creations that Martha has developed herself. About 20 are
from Linda, the bestselling author of The
In Recipes from a Very Small Island, Linda and Martha Greenlaw team up to present a slew of New England-style dishes. Using such regional staples as berries, fresh seafood and hearty vegetables, Martha and Linda have created recipes that readers will appreciate for their authenticity and simple, unfussy ingredients. All the recipes put the focus on their easy, intuitive techniques.
The Greenlaws' recipes range from hearty dishes like "Martha's Famous Lobster Casserole" to unique creations like "Spicy Swordfish Steaks with Cool Cucumber-Cumin Concoction." Linda and Martha demonstrate how to make the most of locally grown and seasonal produce, devoting one chapter to the culinary pleasures of "Blueberries and Cranberries" with "Foggy Morning Blueberry Muffins" and "Cranberry-Pear Crisp with Almond Topping." Another chapter features garden delights such as "Roasted Root Vegetables," and "Gingered Fruit Slaw."
Besides recipes from Martha and Linda, there are a series of
essays that offer an insider's view of life on
… It's a charming collection. … the Greenlaws present a nice
variety of old and new (e.g., classic
Recipes from a Very Small Island is packed with colorful
anecdotes about seaside life and brimming with more than
seventy-five recipes, this collection showcases the talents and
idiosyncratic charms of the Greenlaw family. Written in Linda's
inimitable style and filled with tasteful photographs,
Recipes from a Very Small Island will appeal to any cook who
wants to make a tasty and satisfying
Cooking, Food & Wine
Food and Cooking of Africa and the Middle East: A fascinating
journey through these rich and diverse cuisines: the culinary
history, the ingredients, the techniques and over 150 authentic
dishes by Josephine Bacon and Jenni Fleetwood
(Lorenz Books) brings together the authentic cooking styles and
classic foodstuffs of two vast and diverse regions,
Food and Cooking of Africa and the Middle East is a collection
of recipes from all over
After the introduction, the next six chapters, covering recipes from all over the regions, provide over 150 dishes ranging from appetizers and main courses to refreshing fruit desserts and delectable pastries. Enticing dishes are included for all palates and every kind of meal, from mezze starters, spicy, sizzling meat dishes and piquant fish curries to a dazzling array of rice and vegetable dishes, as well as exotic, delicate sweets and desserts. Recipes include irresistible appetizers like Fattoush, Dolmeh and Borek, hearty main dishes such as tagines, couscous and curries, tangy vegetables, side dishes and salads like Mandazi, Yam Chips and Joloff Rice, and tempting pastries and desserts, like Spiced Nutty Bananas and Briouates with Almonds and Dates.
With over 700 color photographs, step-by-step instructions, informative cook's tips, and a nutritional breakdown for every recipe, the book is easy to follow.
This wonderful collection of 150 delicious recipes from all over
Education
The Creative Arts: A Process Approach for Teachers and Children
(4th Edition) by Linda C. Edwards (Merrill
Prentice Hall)
The creative arts are our universal language – the language of our imagination, of musicians and dancers, painters and sculptors, storytellers and poets. They are the rhythmic language of the dancing five-year-old using her body to recreate the graceful movements of a swimming dolphin. The language of the arts is revealed through the painters and sculptors who choose not to be restrained by convention as they represent their understanding of color, shape, and form in ways that are personally satisfying and pleasing.
The creative arts are one of the most revealing of all human activities. They are the ways we communicate the very essence of our aesthetic experiences – our powerful, essential, and lasting ways of bringing beauty into our world. The arts are never dry, boring, or mundane. They provide a pathway for people of all ages to reach into new unfoldings and understandings of themselves.
In
The Creative Arts, Linda Edwards,
This new fourth edition presents a comprehensive and up-to-date survey of professional research, while continuing to provide links between theory and practice.
The Creative Arts, 4th edition moves teachers away from a reliance on prescribed activities and an endless array of uniform products toward a more secure sense of everyone's ability to engage in the creative process – regardless of product.
The overall framework through which this information is presented follows the continuum of the affective domain – a developmental framework that moves readers along on their journey to becoming a teacher or to becoming a more enlightened and articulate experienced teacher. As budding teachers move through the chapters and the continuum, they will progress from the basic, first levels of affective development to the highest. Their awareness of their growth through these levels will heighten their sense of their own creative abilities and those of their students.
Chapter 1 presents four statements summarizing the central themes and ideas about the creative arts that are woven throughout the book. Chapter 2 addresses the process involved in being creative. Chapters 3 through 8 are organized into specific categories of the creative arts: exploring feelings and images, introducing music and movement, celebrating the visual arts, encouraging play and creative drama, experimenting with three-dimensional art, and planning for literature. Chapter 9 considers two topics of general importance to all teachers: building a bridge between self-understanding and creativity, and the process toward the self-actualization of teachers.
Each chapter begins with a true story, collected from Edwards’ own years as a teacher and from the experiences of practicing teachers and student teachers. These stories set the stage for each chapter and highlight children's involvement in the creative arts process in real-life settings. These glimpses into the creative activity of children can serve as discussion starters for introducing, over viewing, concluding, or reviewing concepts, and they provide a wide range of experiences to observe and to reflect on.
Many chapters also present, in separate sections, overviews of four important components of the learning environments in today's classrooms: developmentally appropriate practice, children with special needs, personal and professional growth of teachers, and viewing the arts through a multicultural context.
Appendixes on children's literature, songs, finger plays, and guided imagery provide a ready resource for hands-on creative arts experiences for teachers and children. These resources offer a quick reference for locating materials for use in classrooms; many are mentioned throughout the book.
More than 300 references to the professional literature are cited in The Creative Arts, and a complete list appears at the end of the text. This reference list provides a compendium of recent research and up-to-date work in the field of the creative arts. More than 90 new citations have been added to this fourth edition, which reflect the expansion of the base of theory and research that supports the creative arts.
Many changes and major revisions to the fourth edition provide a comprehensive look at the creative arts and how the arts can expand our understanding of the teaching and learning process. The Creative Arts discusses noteworthy studies in music and movement, art, creative dramatics, and literature. It highlights the potential of multicultural arts as a resource for creative expression and awareness. It includes a section on national standards for visual and performing arts and the President's committee on the arts and humanities. And it addresses the eight intelligences (naturalist) and discusses all eight intelligences in each chapter.
A Family's Role in Developing Creative Arts at Home – Each content chapter contains strategies for encouraging family involvement in the creative arts. These process-oriented activities are appropriate for caregivers and children and are written with the home environment in mind.
The Literature Connection – Children's literature is a wonderful resource for learning about the arts and creativity. Each chapter includes recommended children's books that teachers can use to enhance children's experiences in the creative arts and provide a literature connection to the content of the chapter. An annotation is included so the teacher can select books about the arts to read while children are participating in the arts process.
Children's Drawings and Paintings – Included in this edition are visual images of children's work. These images are included as examples of the various stages of a child's creative development.
The Creative Arts as Viewed through a Multicultural Context – The multicultural coverage in this fourth edition is expanded through both content and examples that deepen the multicultural coverage. This focus on viewing the arts through a multicultural context is included to highlight its great potential as a resource for creative expression and awareness of the diversity of global arts.
Quotations – The powerful words of philosophers, musicians, dancers, artists, writers, and actors throughout this edition promote new ways of thinking about the arts. Some quotations are presented to provoke serious thought, while others use humor to convey a message. All provide inspiration to teachers for including creative arts education in the lives of young children.
Contemporary Theories and Models – This fourth edition is made more comprehensive through expanded coverage of Lev Vygotsky and Parson's theory of aesthetic development. Vygotsky's work provides a foundation for understanding the social formation of learning. Parson's theory is noteworthy in that he presents us with a systematic way of viewing aesthetic awareness and development in the arts.
Multiple Intelligences Theory – Since the publication of the
third edition, Howard Gardner has expanded his theory of multiple
intelligences to include naturalist intelligence, and most recently
he presents evidence for a possible existential intelligence.
Research – More than ever before, research studies and theoretical contributions provide a comprehensive view of why the arts are an integral component of education for all learners, especially children. To accurately reflect this growth, current and relevant research is included in this new edition to provide the foundation for continued study of the arts.
Margin Notes – The Creative Arts also supports teachers’ learning through the use of margin notes that provide suggestions and alternative ways for reinforcing and enriching learning. These notes are particularly helpful for outside assignments; extended research; classroom arrangement; individual, cooperative, and large-group activities; and as suggestions for establishing professional contacts with artists outside the field of education.
This fourth edition of The Creative Arts is an informative and challenging approach to the role of teachers as facilitators of the creative arts process in their own child-centered school arena. Those new to teaching will find avenues for structuring their first classroom environment to create an inviting atmosphere in which the children will have not only the freedom but also the permission to explore the process of creativity through many art forms. Experienced teachers will find the courage to break away from the old confines of having all children draw, make, move, or create the same thing at the same time. They will be encouraged to view the arts as an orchestral score, with much room for interpretation.
The Creative Arts engages future teachers in the processes of creativity to encourage creative growth and participation in their classrooms. It emphasizes process, rather than product, so teachers learn that once they tap into their own creativity they are better equipped to help children participate in the creative process. With its clear emphasis on the creative process, this book shows future teachers how to tap into their own creativity in order to foster children's creative growth. Grounded in research and theory, the coverage supports a constructivist notion of the creative arts and moves students away from prescribed activities and projects in favor of encouraging the creative drive of all children.
Education / College & University
Declining by Degrees: Higher Education at Risk edited by Richard H. Hersh & John Merrow (Palgrave MacMillan)
In his foreword, Tom Wolfe asks, "do parents – does anybody – have any idea what happens in college?" Declining by Degrees argues that the multi-billion dollar enterprise of higher education has gone astray.
When A Nation at Risk called attention to the problems of our public schools in 1983, that landmark report provided a convenient cover’ for higher education, inadvertently implying that all was well on America's campuses.
Declining by Degrees edited by Richard H. Hersh, Senior Fellow
at the Council for Aid to Education and former president of Trinity
College and Hobart and William Smith Colleges, and John Merrow,
Peabody Award winning president of Learning Matters and former
education correspondent for the MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour, blows
higher education's cover. Sixteen essayists – from Frank Deford,
James Follows, and Howard Gardner to Carol Geary Schneider,
president of the Association of American Colleges and Universities,
and Vartan Gregorian, president of Carnegie Corporation of
- How students are being short-changed by lowered academic standards.
- Why many universities focus on research instead of teaching and spend more on recruiting and athletics than on salaries for professors.
- How administrations are more obsessed with rankings than with learning.
Additional contributions include Leon Botstein, Julie Johnson Kidd, David Kirp, Arthur Levine, Gene Maeroff, Jay Mathews, Murray Sperber, Roberto Suro and Richard Fry, Deborah Wadsworth, and Heather Wathington.
…A ‘must read’ for those interested in both good news and bad, from higher education’s influential insiders and jaded outsiders. – Lee S. Shulman, The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching
… one thing becomes clear throughout: the state of American
higher education is a product less of policy decisions, curriculum
structure or student demographics than of the values and priorities
of American society. To this end, the contributors do an excellent
job sketching the larger cultural and economic forces – such as
materialism, job specialization, the information explosion and the
near-universal adoption of marketplace values – that they see as
primarily responsible for the decline of America's colleges and
universities. – Publishers Weekly
Instead of focusing on statistics, the book pulls together a series of essays on the causes in the decline of undergraduate education from a broad range of educators, journalists, administrators, parents and policy makers. Editors Hersh and Merrow thus sound the alarm, offering a no-holds-barred examination of the causes of this nation-at-greater-risk phenomenon and provide suggestions for what we must do to improve a system so vital to the nation's future. Because of its broad focus, Declining by Degrees will be of interest to a wide range of readers, from educators and policy makers to parents concerned about their children's education.
Education / Computers & Technology
Using Technology in the Classroom, Brief Edition by Gary G. Bitter & Jane M. Legacy (Allyn & Bacon)
Using Technology in the Classroom, Brief Edition was written to
help prospective and practicing classroom teachers, school
personnel, and parents understand the role of technology in PreK–12
education. Authors Gary G. Bitter,
Using Technology in the Classroom reflects the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) National Educational Technology Standards for Teachers (NETS-T). It is especially designed for introductory undergraduate or graduate students who need an overview of the role and use of technology in education and who find the exhaustive educational technology books that are currently available too long or irrelevant. Specific education episodes as well as applications at all levels are provided throughout the book. A DVD, located at the back of the book, is filled with video examples of real teachers and students using technology. The video excerpts, noted throughout the book with the designation DVD/Video Vignette, are aligned with the ISTE's National Educational Technology Standards for Students (NETS-S). Readers are encouraged to view the video lessons again and again as their observation and understanding levels increase. Learner activities are designed for students to further explore specific educational understanding and applications.
Using Technology in the Classroom emphasizes technology-rich
instruction supported by learning and teaching research. The ISTE
standards for teachers and students are highlighted throughout the
book. The
- Research summaries of the effect of technology on language, mathematics, science, and social studies achievement, as well as on students with special needs so that teachers can see how technology affects learning in various curriculum areas.
- Quick reviews of productivity tools and application software that can also serve as a resource for basic operations of the most common productivity software: word processors, spreadsheets, databases, and concept-mapping tools. Educational uses of these application software programs are discussed, and a convenient table of common terms is presented for each application.
- Basic concepts of electronic mail, email procedures, etiquette, listservs, and Internet educational applications. Electronic communication covering the Internet and the World Wide Web is an integral part of the technology-rich instruction emphasized in the book. Security issues with regard to students' exploring the online world are discussed with examples.
- Information on planning and designing learning environments. Addressing the planning and designing processes of using technology in the classroom is the centerpiece of technology-rich instruction and is a focal point of this text.
- Emphasis is on planning and developing technology-rich lessons with technology integration utilizing WebQuests, software, blogging, searching, and methods of applying the Internet to create technology-based lessons.
- Software review guidelines which illustrate the unique features of each educational software type with descriptions of each category, tips for practical classroom integration, and illustrative classroom vignettes.
- Specific educational website review guidelines, popular content resources, and portals identified for language arts, mathematics, science, social studies, and the arts.
- An online instruction model to encourage a planning, design, and development process to produce technology-rich online instruction. Chapter 8 provides complete technology-rich instruction lesson plans for technology integration in the content areas and for multidisciplinary units.
- A major focus on the social, ethical, legal, and human issues involved in the role technology has in the educational field. Computer viruses, spam, email scams, blogging, and phishing are addressed as well as individual privacy, equity, and ethical and legal concerns. Numerous websites are provided for researching accessibility and the digital divide, the creation of electronic resources for students with disabilities, copyright, plagiarism, and virus information.
- The text emphasizes social, ethical, legal, and human issues
related to technology (Ch. 13 and elsewhere).
- Education oriented introduction and application of the
Internet provides details on current topics such as searching,
online instruction, and applying the Internet to create
technology-rich lessons (Chs. 4, 6 & 7).
- Emerging technologies such as including assistive and
adaptive technologies for people with disabilities are carefully
identified (
The book also comes with a Companion Website with additional resources, practice tests, and links to related sites.
Using Technology in the Classroom is a brief, accessible and
practical technology text organized around the NETS Standards and
emphasizes applying technology-rich lessons in the classroom based
on national standards, Bitter being a co-author of those standards.
The book prepares pre-service and in-service teachers at all levels
with the necessary background for planning and teaching
technology-rich classes. Emphasis is on planning and developing
technology-rich lessons to prepare the user for many types of
lessons including webquests, software review, and selection
procedures. It also informs teachers of the challenges and mixed
messages that students in today's classrooms will face in their
information-saturated lives.
Education /
Using Young Adult Literature in the English Classroom (4th Edition) by John H. Bushman & Kay Parks Haas (Pearson Merrill Prentice Hall)
The authors John H. Bushman and Kay Parks Haas show busy English
teachers how to address lifelong reading, reader response, teaching
the classics, and reaching a diverse student population.
Using Young Adult Literature in the English Classroom covers
diversity in young adult literature with a strong emphasis on the
relationship between reading, writing, and language skills. The book
presents curricular patterns to illustrate ways to organize
literature lessons in a variety of settings. It discusses theories
of Piaget, Havighurst, Kohlberg, and Carlsen – and literary examples
that use these theoretical frameworks.
Using Young Adult Literature in the English Classroom provides
future middle and high school English teachers with the guidance
they'll need to choose reading selections and develop ideas for
teaching them.
According to Bushman, Professor of Teaching and Leadership (English Education) at the University of Kansas, Lawrence, and Haas, English department chair, Ottawa High School, Kansas, young adult literature – with its conflicts, themes, protagonists, and language – should be present in the curriculum to provide the necessary transition to adult literature. This genre deserves the attention that is currently given the classics by those who aspire to teach English and by those who are already teaching English.
New to this edition
The authors have made changes in the fourth edition of Using Young Adult Literature in the English Classroom, updating the literature selections significantly to provide readers with information about the most current young adult literature. They have significantly changed and updated two chapters: ‘Diversity in Young Adult Literature’ (Chapter 8), and ‘Media and Young Adult Literature’ (Chapter 9). Chapter 9 contains ready-made media activities that can be taken directly into the classroom. In Chapter 6, ‘Organizing the Literature,’ the section on ‘Using Young Adult Literature in the Content Classes’ has been expanded.
The content of Using Young Adult Literature in the English Classroom is classroom oriented. In Chapter 1, Bushman and Haas discuss the characteristics of young adults and how this literature meets their interests and needs. In Chapter 2, they focus on the literature itself, providing criteria by which teachers may evaluate young adult literature. The research and theory, along with classroom applications, of the reader-response approach to teaching literature is the subject of Chapter 3. In Chapters 4, 5, and 6, they focus on the classroom itself and how teachers can effectively incorporate young adult literature into the curriculum. Chapter 7 encourages teachers to evaluate their use of the classics Chapter 8 provides literature for a diverse ethnic, cultural, and national population. Chapter 9 emphasizes media and technology and how teachers may use them effectively in conjunction with young adult literature. Chapter 10 focuses on concerns many educators have about censorship. Chapter 11 briefly reviews the history of young adult literature.
To involve readers in this text, Bushman and Haas suggest that they keep a ‘Learning Log’ which will allow them to interact with the book. In addition to jotting down ideas as they read, they suggest readers respond to what they have read, guided by the ‘Learning Log Responses’ located at the end of each chapter. Readers are thus able to participate in the reading-writing connection process that they suggest is beneficial for students to use.
In addition, to make Using Young Adult Literature in the English Classroom as useful and accessible as possible, they have supplied three appendices, one providing general teaching information and two supplementing the young adult literature information given in the text. Appendix A provides readers with a variety of resources (books, journals, and organizations) they may use for support when teaching young adult literature. Appendix B lists the works of literature that they have cited in each chapter and indicates which of these titles are more appropriate for the middle school student. Appendix C contains a long list of young adult books in various categories that are appropriate for use in both middle school and high school classrooms. This information supplements the lists of titles and brief annotations that they provide in Chapter 6 as a representative sample of young adult literature.
Using Young Adult Literature in the English Classroom, Fourth Edition, is written for both prospective and experienced English teachers as they begin and continue the process of selecting the literature curriculum for their students. This practical methods book provides teachers with direction to choose reading selections and to develop ideas for teaching them. Using a highly effective conversational tone, it provides the latest information about young adult literature in a short, concisely written format.
Health, Mind & Body / Alternative Medicine
The Foundations of Chinese Medicine: A Comprehensive Text for Acupuncturists and Herbalists, 2nd ed. by Giovanni Maciocia, with a foreword by Su Xin Ming (Elsevier Churchill Livingstone)
The Foundations of Chinese Medicine, written by a leading authority on Chinese Medicine in the Western world, Giovanni Maciocia, is one of the most successful Chinese medicine textbooks ever published in the English language. This new second edition covers the theory of traditional Chinese medicine and acupuncture and discusses in detail the function of the acupuncture points and the principles of treatment, both from the classics and from Maciocia’s own experience. Based on rigorous reference to ancient and modern Chinese texts, this book explains the application of theory in a Western practice context.
Key areas covered include:
- Explanation of the theories of Chinese medicine in relation to clinical practice including the theories of Yin-Yang and Five Elements, Qi, Blood and Body Fluids and the functions of the Internal Organs.
- Detailed presentation of the energetic action and clinical use of over 250 acupuncture points including the use of the eight extraordinary vessels.
- Pathological processes and pathogenic factors are discussed in detail.
- The four diagnostic methods with emphasis on pulse diagnosis.
- The principles of treatment and the combination of acupuncture points.
New to this edition:
- CD-ROM with over 750 self-testing questions in a variety of formats that can be self marked plus 65 surface anatomy images.
- 50 new acupuncture points.
- More Internal Organ patterns and a more detailed identification of patterns according to pathogenic factors.
- Two new chapters on the Functions of the Triple Burner and Pathology.
- An expanded discussion of the mental-spiritual aspects of the Internal Organs.
- An expanded discussion of the Identification of Patterns according to the Six Stages, the Four Levels and the Three Burners.
- Pinyin equivalents have been added to key terms throughout the text to make immediately obvious which original term is being translated.
This comprehensive text contains everything students need for a complete introduction to the theory of acupuncture and Chinese medicine. English style and terminology makes material easy to follow. Concepts are clearly explained, and logical, sequential organization builds from basic theoretical concepts, through functions of individual organs, to disease categories, and the appropriate use of points. The new edition features new and updated material, and a redesigned layout complements the accessible writing style, making the material even easier to follow. The two-color design makes The Foundations of Chinese Medicine easier to access and navigate and summary boxes throughout make the learning process easier.
Health, Mind & Body / Diet / Nutrition
American Heart Association No-Fad Diet: A Personal Plan for Healthy Weight Loss by American Heart Association (Clarkson Potter/Publishers)
Fad diets and get-thin-quick products run rampant in our culture,
and their proponents have their own theory of what is making
Calories in must be less than calories out.
It’s time to leave behind the one-size-fits-all approach to
dieting foisted on us by these fad diets. Now, the American Heart
Association, the nation’s most trusted authority on heart-healthy
living, introduces its first-ever comprehensive weight-loss book.
American Heart Association No-Fad Diet helps readers create a
personalized plan to lose weight in a healthful way. After a simple
assessment of their current habits, readers choose the eating and
exercise strategies that best fit their needs. Readers learn how to
set realistic goals, eat well to lose extra pounds safely, and add
physical activity to keep the weight off for good. The weight-loss
strategies in
American Heart Association No-Fad Diet are based on reliable
scientific research and are backed by respected medical
professionals sponsored by The American Heart Association, the
nation’s most trusted authority on cardiovascular health with
bestselling library of cookbooks.
This book offers more than 190 all-new recipes, including Cream of
Triple-Mushroom Soup, Tilapia Champignon, Chicken Pot Pie,
Pumpkin-Cranberry Pancakes, and Vanilla Soufflé with Brandy-Plum
Sauce. Readers also find two weeks of sample menus, guidelines for
meal planning, useful tips on dining out and food shopping, and
sound advice for staying on track to reach their target weight.
The
American Heart Association No-Fad Diet includes:
- Tips on turning negative thinking into positive rewards.
- Simple quizzes to find the approach that’s best for the individual.
- Diary pages to record and monitor eating and activity habits.
- Strategies to reduce calories and increase activity levels.
- Guidelines to help readers prepare their own nutritious meals.
- More than 190 delicious and healthful recipes.
- Techniques to maintain momentum.
By focusing on a positive attitude about food, activity and body image, the book encourages dieters to create a workable individual plan for weight loss. Readers can adjust their ‘calories-in’ by using one or more of the three basic eating strategies:
- The Switch-and-Swap Approach: Substitute lower-calorie foods for high-calorie foods.
- The 75% Solution: Eat three-quarters the amount of food.
- The American Heart Association Menu Plans: Two weeks' worth of sample menus plans to get readers started. Depending on calorie needs, readers can choose from: 1,200, 1,600, and 2,000-calories menu plans.
Along with the customized diet plan, the American Heart Association No-Fad Diet also includes three different programs to help readers move more. Increasing ‘calories-out’ can be accomplished by following one or more of the three basic exercise strategies:
- The Lifestyle Approach: Perform enough small activities throughout the day – on top of current activity – to add up to an increased amount of total activity.
- The Walking Program: To get started, add at least one 10 minute walk every day to current activity for the first two weeks.
- The Organized Activity: Participate in scheduled classes or play sports to add activity to life.
Readers can also combine and interchange several options for safe and effective weight loss.
The mission of the
American Heart Association No-Fad Diet book is to be a resource
for people, translating the trusted science of the American Heart
Association and our dietary guidelines into their daily lives…. To
lose weight effectively, you need realistic goals and a personal
action plan. This book gives you both, with plenty of options to
make it right for you, no matter who you are. – Alice Lichtenstein,
D.Sc., Chair of the AHA Nutrition Committee and director of the
Cardiovascular Nutrition Laboratory at
For those fed up with fads and want a diet that can provide a lifetime of effective weight control, American Heart Association No-Fad Diet is a great choice – the book helps dieters wise up and slim down – the right way. Readers design their own plan using tools that help them think smart, eat well and move more, the three key concepts that offer safe weight loss.
History / Military / WWII / Biographies & Memoirs / African American
Red Tail Captured, Red Tail Free: Memoirs Of A
Two World War II dates live in infamy for me. The first,
In words and images
Red Tail Captured, Red Tail Free is the extraordinary story of a
unique American hero and the wars he fought, written by Alexander
Jefferson, a retired Lt. Colonel in the US air force, and a retired
teacher and administrator in the Michigan public schools.
Based in
In
Red Tail Captured, Red Tail Free
Red Tail Captured, Red Tail Free also features photographs as
well as sketches, notes, drawings, and other illustrations
Jefferson, a Tuskegee Airman who was shot down during World War
II and held in a German prison camp for nine months, recalls better
treatment as a prisoner of war than as a black citizen in the
This vividly detailed, deeply personal book is a rare and important gift. One of the few memoirs of combat in World War II by a distinguished African-American pilot, Red Tail Captured, Red Tail Free is also perhaps the only account of the African-American experience behind barbed wire in a German prison camp.
Home & Garden / Crafts & Hobbies
Diamond Quilts & Beyond: From the Basics to Dazzling Designs by Jan Krentz (C&T Publishing)
As a quilt maker, instructor and designer, I enjoy creating quilts that incorporate a variety of techniques. When I work on a single design, multiple variations develop, with each successive quilt more exciting than the previous one! – from the Preface
Jan Krentz, who has written two previous quilting books, describes Diamond Quilts & Beyond as a quilt adventure, which includes everything from traditional geometric designs to those with an impressionistic flair; using the book readers can create their favorite techniques to create a quilted masterpiece. Based on historic charm quilts, Diamond Quilts & Beyond blends traditional construction techniques, contemporary fabrics, and artful embellishments. Four projects help readers gain confidence. Contents include:
- Inspiration and Design: Paintings; Photographs; Copyright Issues; Garden Landscape; Perspective; Landscapes – Natural Vistas; Travel; Getting Started; Creating a Design Background
- Fabric Selection, Design Techniques, and Equipment Requirements: Fabric Selection; Fabric and Design; Color, Contrast, and Visual Texture; Design Techniques; Equipment, Materials, and Resources
- Construction Techniques: Preparing the Design; Cutting the Fabrics; Piecing the Diamond Background from Individual Diamonds; Borders; Adding Design; Elements with Appliqué; Additional Surface Techniques
- Gallery of Quilts
- Projects: Monet Water Lily; Colorwash Diamonds; Fruitful Harvest Placemats; Colorwash Lone Star
Above all, Krentz teaches inspiration: she shows readers how to recognize the design inspiration surrounds them in landscapes, gardens, mountain vistas, seashores, trees, cityscapes, cultivated fields, produce departments, rows of merchandise for sale, paintings in a gallery, children at play, bouquets of flowers, sunsets, athletic events, calendars, magazines, travel brochures, greeting cards, and books. She recommends investing several hours in studying various styles of paintings by visiting the public library's art section, browsing contemporary art magazines, or searching the Internet, and she advises readers to search for specific artists in these periods/styles: impressionists (1830-1926), post-impressionists (1839-1953), cubists (1881-1973), contemporary artists (1927-present) – her own masterpiece is based on Claude Monet’s Water Lilies and Water Lilly Pool. She also suggests readers begin by making an image file with file folders, consisting, for example of flowers, animals sorted by continent, people, mountains, sky, water, aquatic life, birds, insects, color, texture, and geometric patterns/designs.
Diamond Quilts & Beyond features easy construction techniques, lots of inspirational photos, and a breathtaking gallery. This step-by-step book is strong in a number of areas: inspiration, showing readers how to turn inspiration in the form of paintings into a quilting pattern and in her amazing example and detailed explanations with illustrations. Krentz makes it easy to imagine, plan, and create art.
Home & Garden / Interior Design
Furniture Fix-Ups by the editors of Country Sampler Decorating Ideas (From Drab to Fab Series: Country Sampler Books, Emmis Books)
Furniture Fix-Ups, the second in the From Drab to Fab series,
shows readers how to save money and have fun revitalizing old
furniture and flea-market finds.
The From Drab to Fab series follows the same philosophy that made
Country Sampler Decorating Ideas
Furniture Fix-Ups contains 75 projects compiled from readers’ favorite furniture projects from past issues of Country Sampler Decorating Ideas. The book starts with the basics, introducing readers to the materials and techniques they will use to transform furniture pieces.
Each chapter covers a different style or technique, and then
presents four separate step-by-step projects complete with full
color photos of every part of the process, including before and
after photos. Readers learn to create a crackled paint look, use
punched tin to give a cabinet new life, color an unfinished chest
with dye and oil pencils, and use stenciling to add interest to an
old armoire, plus many more inspiring projects. Along with the
in-depth projects there are also ‘Quick-Hit projects,’ offering
simple techniques that make a big difference with very little
effort.
Furniture Fix-Ups introduces readers to techniques ranging from
decoupage to stains and dyes, painted patterns to transferred
images. It gives readers the skills to transform their homes using
color and personal touches, all while implementing inexpensive, easy
methods.
Literature & Fiction / History & Criticism
Shakespeare: The Seven Ages of Human Experience, 2nd edition by David Bevington (Blackwell Publishing)
What makes Shakespeare great? Why do we still read and perform his works? In Shakespeare, David Beyington argues that Shakespeare continues to live among us today because his representations of the human condition are believable, endearing, and touchingly human. Bevington, Phyllis Fay Horton Distinguished Service Professor in the Humanities at the University of Chicago, structures the book around Shakespeare's arc of human life from infancy and childhood to adulthood, advancing age, and eventual death, as set out by Jaques in the ‘Seven Ages of Man’ speech from As You Like It.
For this extended second edition, the author has added more material on fathers and sons, the perils of courtship, the circumstances of Shakespeare's own life, the performance history of his plays on stage and screen, and his delicate representation of gender relations. In a new final chapter on Shakespeare Today, he looks at the remarkable diversity of interpretations in modern criticism and performance of Shakespeare as a key to his ‘infinite variety’, and his ability to adapt to a changing world.
Chapters roughly outline the stages:
- All the World's a Stage: Poetry and Theatre
- Creeping Like Snail: Childhood, Education, Early Friendship, Sibling Rivalries
- Sighing Like Furnace: Courtship and Sexual Desire
- Full of Strange Oaths and Bearded Like the Pard: The Coming-of-Age of the Male
- Jealous in Honour: Love and Friendship in Crisis
- Wise Saws: Political and Social Disillusionment, Humankind's Relationship to the Divine, and Philosophical Skepticism
- Modern Instances: Misogyny, Jealousy, Pessimism, and Midlife Crisis
- The Lean and Slippered Pantaloon: Ageing Fathers and their Daughters
- Last Scene of All: Retirement from the Theatre
David Bevington's knowledge of Shakespeare is formidable. In this wonderful new book, Bevington uses the ‘Seven Ages of Man’ speech from As You Like It to weave together Shakespeare's plays and poems with what is known of Shakespeare's life. – Barbara Moirat, Bolger Shakespeare Institute
Recommended for all public and academic libraries in need of fresh introductory materials on Shakespeare. – Library Journal
Essential. A must for lower- and upper-division undergraduates; a
pleasure for graduate students through faculty and for general
readers. – Choice
By design, Shakespeare moves around quite a bit from play to play, from prose to poetry, from early to late, in order to pursue themes and topics that seem to have fascinated Shakespeare. One result is that discussions touch on only certain aspects of a given play or poem in a particular chapter. Bevington keeps coming back to some plays especially, such as Hamlet, King Lear, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Othello, and The Tempest, from different directions.
According to Bevington, instead of answering our questions, Shakespeare seems to question our answers. And he has become more relevant in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, as we have been bombarded by terrorism, onrushing social change, looming environmental disaster, and a decline of political discourse into name-calling and confrontation. This is the real way in which Shakespeare can be our contemporary and why reading and seeing and teaching Shakespeare remain eternally fresh.
With something to engage specialists as well as those who need a handle to make sense of Shakespeare, Shakespeare is a well written, witty and challenging introduction to Shakespeare structured around the seven ages of human experience.
Literature & Fiction / Humor
Better Than Chocolate: A Novel by Susan Waggoner (William Morrow)
In
Better Than Chocolate, Susan Waggoner, first-time novelist,
trains her eye on pop culture, vanity, celebrity, and two of
The novel starts ominously: “Be careful what you wish for…”
Food writer Annie Wilkins is about to step on the express
elevator up to wealth and fame. Her husband, Tom, a research
scientist, has done the impossible. He's invented the ultimate
indulgence: fat-free, carb-free, calorie-free chocolate that tastes
like the real thing . . . only better! When Tom's company proposes
using Annie and Tom as the product's spokespeople, Annie thinks
she's hit the jackpot. Suddenly, she's getting the life most people
can only dream of! Goodbye to writing walleye-on-a-stick articles
for Minnesota Menus! Hello to showcase houses and a (mini)celebrity
lifestyle rubbing elbows with the hoi polloi. Make room for new
furniture, pots of melting chocolate, glossy pictures of
As Annie soon learns, fame does have its price. She's under
corporate orders to lose twenty pounds . . . make that twenty-five
(the cameras!). And her hair? All wrong. Then there's her official
workspace – a kitchen set. And a lovable husband who has become,
overnight,
I am planning to include a copy of Ms. Waggoner's rich and tasty
first novel with each box of Godiva goodies I give in the years
ahead. …. – Donald W. Wigal
If you are a working mom, you may think that you don't have the time to read this book – but you absolutely must. Waggoner's heroine is the new American hero: a middle class mom with smarts and moxie to spare. Annie juggles sudden fame, corporate America, a teen deemed ‘suspiciously well-adjusted’ by his teachers, a four-year-old Francophile, and her own self-doubts with a driving wit that will make you laugh out loud. …welcome to Better Than Chocolate, the book find of the summer! – Abby Stein, mom & college professor
Highly amusing and finely written. – Library Journal
A witty, contemporary fairy tale, as entertaining as it is enlightening, Better Than Chocolate is a warmhearted, dead-on story that reminds us of what's truly valuable.
Medicine / Anatomy & Physiology
The Human Body in Health & Disease, 4th edition by Gary A. Thibodeau & Kevin T. Patton (Elsevier Mosby)
In this time of rapid scientific advance, our understanding of the human body is increasing at an explosive rate. Almost daily, new discoveries cause scientists to overturn old, established hypotheses and replace them with new concepts. Recent advances in medicine, biotechnology, biochemistry, immunology, neuroendocrinology, molecular biology, and other fields are overwhelming. New fields, such as genomics and proteomics, have burst upon the scene with a major role in uncovering new information about human structure, function, and disease. This explosion of new understanding presents instructors with the dilemma of selecting the most appropriate information to present in introductory but rigorous courses. The Human Body in Health & Disease, now in its fourth edition, has been designed to present information that is accurate and easy to comprehend.
Written by Gary A. Thibodeau, Chancellor Emeritus and Professor
Emeritus of Biology,
Offering a student-friendly writing style, The Human Body in Health & Disease presents a body systems approach with a strong emphasis on vocabulary, basic anatomy and physiology concepts, as well as the basic mechanisms of disease and pathologic conditions associated with each body system. The text is dominated by two unifying themes: the complementarily of structure and function and homeostasis. The integrating principle of homeostasis is used to show how ‘normal’ structure and function is achieved and maintained. Failures of homeostasis are shown as basic mechanisms of disease. Using a body systems approach, it emphasizes the basic concepts of anatomy and physiology and applies them to the clinical setting. It also covers the diseases and pathologic conditions associated with each body system. Chapters show students how organized anatomical structures serve specialized functions.
In every chapter of the book the student is shown how organized anatomical structures of a particular size, shape, form, or placement serve unique and specialized functions. Repeated emphasis of this principle encourages students to integrate otherwise isolated factual information into a cohesive and understandable whole. This integration of knowledge is further developed in each chapter as the breakdown of normal integration of form and function is identified as the basis for many disease processes. As a result, anatomy, physiology, and pathology emerge as living and dynamic topics of personal interest and importance to the student.
New to this edition:
- A Mini Atlas featuring full-color pages focused on photographs of pathologic conditions.
- A new Chemistry of Life chapter providing an introduction to basic chemistry concepts.
- Science Appl