Business Books
New Age
Color
Your Chakras
Susan Shumsky, DD
New Page Books
9781632650412 $12.99
www.newpagebooks.com
Color Your Chakras: An Interactive Way to Understand the Energy Centers of the Body offers an intriguing way of understanding chakras through a coloring book that focuses on chakra various colors and Sanskrit letters of India, and so new age colorers of all ages receive a combination of coloring book and discussion that includes descriptions of each chakra deity.
New age collections will find the blend of drawings and specific colors help in understanding chakra concepts, making for a fun approach that adopts a more playful attitude than most to the idea of chakras and their relationships to the body's energy.
Don't
Be a Jerk
Brad Warner
New World
Library
9781608683888 $16.95
www.newworldlibrary.com
Don't Be a Jerk and Other Practice Advice from Dōgen, Japan's Greatest Zen Master comes from a Zen priest and author who translates the classic Japanese Zen master's works for modern readers.
While the light-hearted title is designed to attract a wide audience, this doesn't mean that the book is light reading. It's packed with spiritual, philosophical, psychological and scientific insights as it pairs Dōgen's words and insights with some of the bigger questions of modern times.
Brad Warner doesn't just paraphrase Dōgen's works: he explains the obstacles he encountered along the way and helps define and understand Dōgen's approach to life. The result is a powerful and engrossing account detailing encounters with Dōgen and insights into his world; highly recommended for any interested in Japanese Zen in general and the works and perspectives of Japanese monk Dōgen in particular.
The
Gifts of Near-Death Experiences
Dennis Linn, Sheila Fabricant Linn, Matthew Linn
Hampton Roads
9781571747433 $16.95
www.redwheelweiser.com
The Gifts of Near-Death Experiences: You Don't Have to Die to Experience Your True Home joins other literature on near-death experiences around the world, but takes a different approach than most by showing readers how to reap the benefits of these experiences without going through trauma.
Leaps in growth can be achieved in other ways, and this is the only book to show readers how to create a foundation of spiritual and healing understanding based on NDE circumstances.
Each chapter recounts a NDE case story, adding discussion points, meditations, exercises and more. All these are designed to take readers away from the near-death experience and closer to the lessons and benefits to be gained from such encounters.
New age and health readers alike will find The Gifts of Near-Death Experiences an exciting, different approach.
Practical
Astrology for Witches and Pagans
Ivo Dominguez Jr.
Red Wheel Weiser
9781578635757 $18.95
www.redwheelweiser.com
Practical Astrology for Witches and Pagans: Using the Planets and the Stars for Effective Spellwork, Rituals, and Magickal Work is a top recommendation for anyone actively practicing astrology, and tells how to build rituals and apply astrology to wiccan practices.
The wider field of astrology may seem daunting, and quite a task to synthesize; but adopting an approach tailored to a specific audience means that the basic concepts and their applications are actually much easier to master than works directed to a general audience.
Ivo Dominguez Jr. chose the major perspectives that would specifically apply to magickal associations and practices, and thus chapters covering the astrology of the aura, planet and sign correspondence, how to use different charting systems and tables, and basic techniques for using astrological glyphs for simple magick makes for a fine survey especially recommended for practicing pagan and wiccan readers.
Music Makers
Les
Paul in His Own Words
Les Paul and Michael Cochran
Backbeat Books
9781495047398 $29.99
www.backbeatbooks.com
Les Paul in His Own Words appears in a centennial edition to celebrate a musician who basically created the world's first solid body electric guitar at the age of thirteen from an experiment with a five-dollar guitar and a phonograph needle - but this isn't all Paul is noted for achieving.
His ongoing experiments with music and sound lead to revolutionary changes in the recording and music industry, while his coming of age, music industry peers and experiences, involvement with Hollywood, unions and the Army, and his visions for revolutionary new guitars and sounds are all told by master musician Les Paul himself.
Musicians expecting an autobiography alone will be delighted to discover that Les Paul in His Own Words is as much about the music industry's evolution and changes in its technology and sound as it is about Paul's life and influences on the process.
Vintage black and white and color photos throughout this oversized celebration make Les Paul in His Own Words a 'must have' reference highly recommended for any music collection.
Small Town Talk
Barney Hoskyns
DaCapo
9780306823206 $26.99
www.dacapopress.com
Small Town Talk: Bob Dylan, The Band, Van Morrison, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, and Friends in the Wild Years of Woodstock may sound like another book about Woodstock and its evolution, but this one holds a difference: it focuses on the upstate New York town of the same name and the stories of not just the legendary music icons who descended upon it, but how the town evolved from early to modern times.
Barney Hoskyns is a music historian and author of several other music books, but this one provides a wider-ranging coverage than his prior band and musician biographies, tracing the changes brought to Woodstock by the musicians and artists who descended upon it and how those changes moved into the American music mainstream.
No popular music collection should be without Small Town Talk.
The Computer Corner
Getting
Started with Data Science
Murtaza Haider
IBM Press
9780133991024 $39.99
www.ibmpress.com
Getting Started with Data Science: Making Sense of Data with Analytics provides a basic review of the theory and techniques of data science and includes numerous examples and exercises to reinforce the basics on software and computers used for data gathering and analysis.
The different problems presented apply real-world questions to the process of working with data and shows how to gather, manipulate, present, and use data. Research challenges are specific and encourage creative thinking and learning for any student new to data science.
The result is a solid discussion for college-level students, backed with the equations, charts, and formulas essential for understanding how data analysis is applied to different problems.
Linux
Phrasebook
Scott Granneman
Addison-Wesley
9780321733684 $29.99
www.informit.com/devlibrary
The second updated edition of Linux Phrasebook offers a quick, at-a-glance reference of basic code and commands for Linux and will please developers looking for a handbook that allows them to work more effectively in a Linux environment.
Over a hundred usable code and command pieces are arranged in chapters which cover the basics of Linux, from understanding how files are created and organized to code used for running sequential commands, grouping directories and files, using archives or removing duplicate lines in a file, and more.
Sidebars of code accompany descriptions of best practices and common coding approaches in a handy guide recommended as a basic desk reference for all levels of Linux user.
The
Culinary Corner
Crazy
Water Pickled Lemons
Diana Henry
Mitchell Beazley
9781784721572
$19.99
Crazy Water Pickled Lemons by Diana Henry is subtitled 'Enchanting Dishes from the Middle East, Mediterranean, and North Africa' - and the descriptor is truly indicative of Henry's ability to not just collect recipes, but test them to assure her cookbook audiences get the best possible results.
If this book's title sounds familiar, that's because it was her first, published in 2002 to much acclaim, and helped her establish her reputation as a notable cookbook author.
It's reissued here for fans of hers who discovered her several cookbooks into the game and who missed her first book. It arranges its chapters by taste, scent, texture or color to assure that newcomers to these cuisines have an easy time pairing flavors from different regions.
Color photos throughout and lively introductions to each dish make for another Diana Henry winner, very highly recommended.
Food
and the City
Ina Yalof
Putnam
9780399168925 $28.00
www.penguin.com
Food and the City: New York's Professional Chefs, Restauranteurs, Line Cooks, Street Vendors, and Purveyors Talk About What Do and Why They Do It is a lively survey from an author who traveled to all five boroughs in New York to interview and record chefs and cooks on all aspects of their jobs.
Her focus on a diverse selection of ethnic groups, eateries, and establishments from street vendors to fine dining establishments lends versatility to her presentation, while the inclusion of butchers, bakers, and others creates a fine, diverse set of food insights specific to no one institution or ideal.
Any reader who would learn about New York City's range of food purveyors will find Food and the City a lively jaunt through all the facets of New York City's culinary havens.
Home
Made Food Notebook
Yvette Van Boven
BIS Publishers
9789063693978 $19.95
www.bispublishers.com
Although Home Made Food Notebook isn't a cookbook, but is presented as a notebook for home cooks, it's a highly recommended pick for any who want to make notes on recipe creations and other food-oriented subjects.
Its style and format lends to note-keeping and organization and provides cooks with an excellent place to assemble information under one cover, while calendars and places for food names and measurements make it easy to not just keep notes, but have them well organized for.
Kyle
www.kylebooks.com
Annie Rigg's Summer Berries & Autumn Fruits: 120 Sensational, Sweet & Savory Recipes (9781909487437 $29.95) isn't your usual fruit preserving guide: it documents new ways of incorporating summer's bounty into both preserves and recipes, and focuses on sweet and savory uses that won't be seen in very many competing fruit cookbooks.
Some examples of the diversity represented herein include Dried Cherry and Hazelnut Wafers for Cheese, Roasted Plum Sorbet, Bulgur Wheat Salad with Cherries and Feta, and Turkish Pide with Lamb and Pomegranate Seeds.
Color photos accompany most recipes, drinks are included in the mix, and notes on fruit availability and windows of cooking opportunity for using fresh produce are added for further versatility.
Any home cook interested in new uses for summer's bounty will find few of the recipes here are duplicated in other fruit cookbooks. An international focus contributes to a mouth-watering, refreshingly different approach to using fruit.
Paleo Monday to Friday by Daniel Green (9781909487444, $22.95) features 100 Paleo recipes created by the author/chef and provides meals for breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks and desserts which all can be quickly prepared (even by those on a busy schedule) with no fuss or special ingredients.
From a Coconut Milk and Mango Smoothie made with almond milk, coconut milk, ripe mango and banana to a Sesame Tuna Steak with Wok-Fried Vegetables and a Vegetable Comfort Soup with Meatballs, there's a wide range of dishes and flavors provided in a cookbook packed with easy appeal and vivid flavors.
Novels and Mysteries
The
Lizard's Tale
Kurt Kamm
Publisher: MCM Publishing
ISBN:
978-0-9974413-0-7
Price: $12.95
www.kurtkamm.com
Alejandro Luna isn't a bad guy: he just wants to get in on the action - even if that action involves a profitable drug cartel operating in his native Guatemala. Even if these actions belay his involvements in environmental matters. And even if his choices lead to challenges in his values, life, and peace of mind: "American money was crisp and clean, and so much more valuable than the Guatemalan Quetzal."
Part of the reason why this international thriller is so compelling is that it's based on real events surrounding drug cartel actions in South America. Part of its attraction lies in its close inspection of different reasons for actions on all sides; whether they be the passion of a DEA agent who needs to tackle a big case to get a promotion or the special interests of an agricultural engineer who has ambitions beyond his job title and who sees the success of dishonesty all around him.
From Guatemalan politics to California, Mexico, and a rare lizard whose movements glide through the story line, Kurt Kamm holds the rare talent of blending fact and fiction into a multifaceted thriller that contains elements of intrigue, social commentary, insights on how different cultures clash, and most of all, how nefarious involvements become an attraction for any interested in making a success of their lives.
What does a rare beaded lizard's natural history have to do with the course of events, and why does it keep appearing and disappearing in the story line?
There's nothing cut and dried about The Lizard's Tale, and those who would partake of this story of darkness and a cursed creature will find the lizard's presence becomes the intrinsic and unexpected centerpiece of a story line filled with action and surprises; highly recommended for thriller audiences who look for stories based on facts, which add a healthy dose of cultural and environmental awareness into the mix.
A
Window Opens
Elisabeth Egan
Simon and Schuster
9781501105456 $15.99
www.simonandschuster.com
A Window Opens comes from the author of Where'd You Go, Bernadette? and centers on Alice, a mother who has a fairly good life, a dog, and a part-time job as an editor. The last thing on her mind is a job, but when her husband changes his career, the perfect job lands in her lap - or, does it?
Faced with dreams come true and uncertain reactions to them, Alice finds herself on call and out of sorts, confronting a comfortable (if not nearly perfect) life that has, in the past, fit neatly into her personality quirks and desires.
Whimsical, funny, and engrossing, A Window Opens is about opportunities realized and unrealized, the changes they bring, and a woman who embarks on a roller coaster of family encounters and self-discovery; a gem much in the vein of Bernadette, displaying the hallmarks of whimsy Eagan is well noted for.
Reviewer's Choice
Between
You & Me
Mary Norris
W.W. Norton
9780393352146 $15.95
www.wwnorton.com
Between You & Me: Confessions of a Comma Queen follows author Mary Norris' evolution through various jobs until she arrives at her life's calling as a copy editor at The New Yorker, where she's worked for years with a wide range of notable authors.
Expect a blend of memoir, hilarious inspection of the quirks of both the English language and its users, and a fun survey of issues in modern usage and language wrapped in a delightfully vivid read that runs the gamut from contemporary Facebook conversations to grammarian solutions for language deficiencies.
Under her hand, language becomes a living, evolving and fun interplay of personalities, purposes, and technical structures that are revealed to any with an interest in the English language's penchant for trouble.
Caravan:
a Great British Love Story
Gareth Iwan Jones
Frances Lincoln Limited
9780711236776 $19.99
www.franceslincoln.com
Caravan: a Great British Love Story is a travel piece that follows the journeys of photographer Gareth Iwan Jones and his family, who crossed Britain in a caravan.
Brits have taken their accommodations with them on holiday (in the form of a caravan) for over a century, and many have written about the experience; but Caravan: a Great British Love Story is a drive of a different nature. It's a visual journey that uses photos to tell the stories of people, places, and travel encounters.
As such, it's a vivid, all-color photo journal that brings its readers along for the ride, journeying throughout Great Britain and covering its most colorful byways and characters in the process.
The
Cars of Harley Earl
David W. Temple
CarTech
9781613252345 $39.95
www.cartechbooks.com
The Cars of Harley Earl is a 'must' for any car history collection and focuses on the 50-year career of auto designer Harley Earl, whose vehicles represented bold new directions for General Motors.
Earl's designs didn't stop with General Motors: they influenced American car design as a whole, incorporating many aviation design features into GM's cars, producing a Motorama show that toured the nation from 1949 to 1961, and influencing a wide range of concept and production cars that helped redefine car design options and new technology.
Color and black and white photos liberally pack discussions of options, accessories, costs, particular models and their revolutionary designs, and more.
No definitive American auto history library should be without this in-depth and key reference to one of the major auto design influencers in the country.
Land
Too Good for Indians
John P. Bowes
University
of Oklahoma Press
9780806152127 $29.99
Land Too Good for Indians: Northern Indian Removal provides college-level readers with a vivid history of Indian removal using a different approach than traditional discussions, featuring four case studies that represent different elements of removal processes and experiences in the Old Northwest.
Removal experiences thus move beyond the Cherokee Trail of Tears to consider those of the Delaware Indians, the Seneca-Cayugas, Wyandots, and other Indian communities in northwestern Ohio.
From interactions with federal governments and treaties to land purchases, community changes, and evolving relationships between federally recognized tribes, Land Too Good for Indians fills in many gaps in information and focuses on tribes and experiences not given popular or detailed coverage in other places.
The
Long Cosmos
Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter
Harper
9780062297372 $25.99
www.harpercollins.com
Readers who have followed the evolution of Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter's dimension-stepping 'Long' universes well know that Sir Terry Pratchett's death ends the bestselling Long Earth series - but, thankfully, not before the climax is reached in this last book, The Long Cosmos, which is highly recommended for prior readers who longs to know the final events which take place nearly six decades after Step Day opens a multitude of parallel Earths to mankind.
The new society continues to evolve, and a message has been received: "Join us." A new breed of humans understands the meaning of that message - but they are forced to enlist the cooperation of other facets of mankind as they embark on their greatest project yet: building a supercomputer the size of a continent.
Some of the characters from previous Long Earth stories - an aging Joshua, trolls, and the Next - all interact in this final story, which offers a satisfying, riveting series conclusion. Fans will want to read slowly to extend the excitement, knowing that no more Long Earth books are in the works from this dynamic duo.
Toilets:
A Spotter's Guide
Patrick Kinsella
Lonely Planet
9781760340667 $11.99
www.lonelyplanet.com
Toilets: A Spotter's Guide belongs in any travel book collection and any lending library strong in humor, providing a visual collection of the world's most amazing toilets.
From an isolated tropical Toilet Island in Belize that places a commode on an island in the middle of nowhere (and far from toilet paper) to a 'Fountain of Toilets' installation in China which consists of some 10,000 commodes, urinals, and sinks, created by a Chinese artist, this gathering of color images is both hilarious and intriguing, and will simply delight any interested in either toilets or bathroom oddities around the world.
Children and Teens
Boyds
Mills Press
www.boydsmillspress.com
Margriet Ruurs' My Librarian is a Camel: How Books Are Brought to Children Around the World (9781590780930, $16.95) profiles unique mobile libraries that reach children in villages, towns, and areas around the world via boat, bus, elephant, donkey or wheelbarrow, and provides a lively glimpse into the wider world of book distribution for picture book readers with good reading skills.
Contemporary color photos and pages of text accompany a discussion based on the author's contacts with librarians around the world - many in remote or third world nations. Another plus: in many cases, volunteers and librarians used their own photos to capture these mobile libraries and the young patrons who use them.
Discriminating collections seeking something new to encourage readers will find this a remarkable, vivid visual testimony to the value of books and reading in different nations around the world.
Leslie Staub's Time for Earth School, Dewey Dew (9781590789582, $18.95) is illustrated by Jeff Mack and tells of a little alien who does not want to go to school - espcially a school on Planet Earth, where everything is strange and confusing.
Clothes don't feel right, Earth language is almost indecipherable, and everyone looks different than Dewey Dew. He's sure school will be a disaster and he'll be an outsider, until something unexpected happens to change his day.
Good reading skills or parental assistance will lend to this warm story of an unusual first day at school and how a little outsider comes to find his place in a strange new world despite all obstacles and fears.
Vivian Vande Velde's 23 Minutes (9781629794419, $16.95) provides young adults with the story of teen Zoe, whose secret ability is that she can turn back time twenty-three minutes into the past to relive anything she'd like to change.
Her strange talent may sound like a gift, but actually it's a detriment because her attempts to change fate often result in disaster. Those who don't realize she has this gift more often than not view her as odd, at best - and perhaps insane.
Zoe's just about resolved not to use her 'gift' when she inadvertently enters the scene of a crime and finds her gift the only possibility of making things right - if she can choose the right course of action in a limited period of time. The penalty for failure may be her demise.
This powerful saga will appeal to any teen who finds timeslip stories fascinating and offers quite a different approach to the subject of reliving events again and again, setting it apart from the usual teen 'going back in time' adventure.
Houghton
Mifflin Harcourt
www.hmhco.com
Brian Lies' Box of Bats (9780544639706, $16.99) provides three slipcased books of bat adventures for young picture book readers, includes a bonus pack of bat stickers, and will make for a whimsical, fun set of stories for any young bat enthusiast.
Bats at the Beach, Bats at the Library and Bats at the Ballgame each provide a fun new bat story, featuring whimsical illustrations in full color by the author.
Pat Miller's The Hole Story of the Doughnut (9780544319615, $17.99) is illustrated by Vincent X. Kirsch, and provides young picture book readers in grades 2-4 with the story of Hanson Gregory's invention of the doughnut in 1800s, when a stint as a cabin boy and ship's cook made him famous.
Hanson's initial culinary effort involved sweet round balls of fried dough, but their heavy, raw centers led him to cut them into circles - and the doughnut was born.
Many an adult will find this a fun, simple survey of the doughnut's origins.
Steve Jenkins and Robin Page's Flying Frogs and Walking Fish (9780544630901, $17.99) discusses creatures that use different methods to help them move on land and water alike, and pairs fun color drawings with discussions on how this physically happens.
From a swimming elephant and a tree-climbing goat to how an armadillo lizard bites its tail to form a circle and wheel away from danger, these are vivid natural history surveys that invite young readers to learn about some amazing animal abilities.
Lilly
and Dunkin
Donna Gephart
Delacorte Press
9780553536744 $16.99
www.randomhousekids.com
Lilly and Dunkin gives teens a vivid transgender novel as it tells of Lily Jo (born Timothy), a girl born in a boy's body; and Duncan, who struggles with bipolar disorder and a new town.
Both are used to hiding. Both are different than anyone they know. And one summer, when they meet, each finds their perceptions and worlds changed.
Lilly and Dunkin is an engaging, memorable story that offers many thought-provoking moments, and is a recommended read for teens looking for stories about tolerance, growth, and coming of age.
Rupert's
Tales: Learning Magick
Kyrja
Schiffer
9780764349737 $16.99
www.schifferbooks.com
Young readers in families where magic, new age thinking, and pagan systems are in place will appreciate the unique approach of Rupert's Tales: Learning Magick, which tells of a bunny who meets a family involved in teaching their kids about tools they use in magick.
This book holds two stories for ages 5-8: 'Tools of the Craft' and 'Rupert's Magickal Imagination', and will best be used with parental assistance, as they incorporate ideas such as using intentions, handling disbelief, and making an altar, among many other concepts.
While good reading skills will attract independent picture book readers, this book will be enhanced by adult participation and explanation; though Rupert's Tales does an outstanding job of creating the introductory platform for such discussions by tackling a subject area not normally directed to younger audiences.
Santa's
Underwear
Marty Rhodes Figley
Sleeping Bear Press
9781585369546 $16.99
www.sleepingbearpress.com
Santa's Underwear is illustrated by Marty Kelley, who produces hilarious and fun drawings to compliment a different kind of Christmas Eve picture book tale about Santa's preparations for the busiest night of the year.
He showers, combs his beard, and prepares for his big event - until a search for his traditional long, red, woolly underwear becomes a lesson in futility. Santa always wears these under his suit to keep him warm - what will he do?
As he considers alternative underwear choices (many out of season), Santa faces a real dilemma on the cusp of the most important day of the year.
A hilarious, unexpected solution keeps kids (and any adult read-aloud participant) engaged and entertained to the end.
Reference Shelf
Corwin
www.corwin.com
Nancy Boyles' Lessons and Units for Closer Reading, Grades K-2: Ready-to-Go Resources and Assessment Tools Galore (9781506326467, $34.95) includes 12 formative assessments to accompany some eighty follow-up skills discussions and represents a research project that involved former classroom teacher Nancy Boyles in a survey of hundreds of standards and assessments in order to synthesize the twelve skills profiled here.
Reproducible sets of Active Reader Cards offer an opportunity for step-by-step discussions of lessons and illustrate the kinds of skill sets needed for analysis in oral and written tests. Lay-flat binding lends to easily reproducing these weekly lessons, providing teachers with solid approaches to helping these grades grow.
Margo Gottlieb's Assessing English Language Learners: Bridges to Educational Equity (9781483381060, $40.95) appears in its second updated edition to revise a classic that appeared a decade ago. With this update comes new tools and techniques, a new focus on academic language across disciplines and languages, new school-based case history examples and scenarios, and discussions on integrating students, teachers and administrative interests in the use and assessment of data.
Teachers who appreciated the first edition will find the revised update continues to provide essential information.
Catch a Falling Reader by Connie R. Hebert (9781412956062, $24.95) appears in its second updated edition and comes from a consultant and trainer who has developed research-based strategies for teaching reading and writing to kids.
Chapters show how youngsters can be stimulated to read through different teacher approaches to literacy and reading habits, and also illustrate exactly how entrenched cycles of poor study habits can be broken.
Teachers who clearly model what good readers do and who provide engaging activities stand a far better chance of cultivating good readers and converting those who are failing into successful students. This book clearly shows the path to achieving such goals.
The second updated edition of Text Complexity: Stretching Readers with Texts and Tasks (9781506339443, $34.95) addresses how to teach complex texts, offering a rubric for analyzing such works and introducing a blend of classroom examples and updated analysis of routines that encourage student interaction and understanding.
This approach is enhanced by the addition of four new chapters, the latest approaches to measuring word and sentence length, and other analytical skills development, complimenting insights that are key to any effective teaching strategy for tackling complex texts.
Grow
a Living Wall
Shawna Coronado
Cool Springs Press
9781591866244 $24.99
www.wholesomenews.com
Grow a Living Wall: Create Vertical Gardens With Purpose is a different kind of gardener's guide, covering the basics of how to grow flowers, herbs and vegetables on a vertical structure.
These details come from a garden designer who has used the vertical gardening idea in small places, from patios and balconies to living spaces. Thus, the concept of the 'wall garden' expands beyond big fences and structures to embrace small spaces and different purposes, whether they be an aromatherapy garden or a design geared to edible plants.
Chapters cover the basics of equipment, plants, and caring for a vertical structure, and offer numerous large-size and good-quality color photos throughout as they explain the different choices involved in vertical gardens and the requirements for building and maintaining each.
Johns
Hopkins University
Press
www.press.jhu.edu
Candid Creatures: How Camera Traps Reveal the Mysteries of Nature by biologist Roland Kays (9781421418889, $39.95) pairs the color images of animals caught in his camera traps with discussions of animal conservation and wildlife science with a focus on how field cameras are changing scientific knowledge about species.
The book compiles images from archives holding millions of color and night-vision photos gathered by hundreds of researchers and selects the six hundred top images that provide different views of world wildlife.
Besides showing how the images reveal new information, Kays also discusses how this information is used in conservation efforts from animal counts and identification to how camera trap studies show ways that animals navigate through their environments.
From camera traps used to monitor mange infections in wombats to camera studies of wild dingo and domestic cat interactions, this volume pairs striking animal photos with maps and many natural history insights compliments of the camera trap's new technology.
Life in the Dark: Illuminating Biodiversity in the Shadowy Haunts of Planet Earth (9781421418636, $39.95) by Danté Fenolio presents an engrossing volume of color photos of creatures that live in the darkness, and comes from a scientist/wildlife photographer who uses images to compliment discussions of the many ways in which life has adapted to dark corners of the world, whether they be underwater or in caves.
Over 200 color photos embellish facts about the Constellationfish, the blind catfish that resides at the bottom of the Congo river, a diverse range of subterranean invertebrates, and the anglerfish or "seadevil", among many others.
References for further reading compliment the many striking images that make this an attraction for scientist and lay readers alike.
Naturally
Bug-Free
Stephanie L. Tourles
Storey Publications
9781612125961 $10.95
www.storey.com
Naturally Bug-Free: 75 Nontoxic Recipes for Repelling Mosquitoes, Ticks, Fleas, Ants, Moths & Other Pesky Insects features formulas that are safe for kids and pets and which use easily-found herbal ingredients and oils, refuting the notion that in order to be effective, a remedy has to be synthetic and powerful.
Chapters focus on repellants that can be used in and around the home and pair formulas with an ingredient dictionary defining different ingredient properties, recipes for rubs, sprays, balms and spritzers, and discussions of applications and cautions for their use.
One caution is that most of the mixes require numerous different oils and mixes; so users will find themselves out a bit of money in the beginning as they locate and stock a home oil collection.
The result will delight any herbal enthusiast seeking natural remedies for the usual array of insect pests without the toxic overtones of commercial products.
Stay
Healthy During Chemo
Mike Herbert, ND
with Joseph Dispenza
Conari Press
9781573246750 $18.95
www.redwheelweiser.com
Stay Healthy During Chemo: The Five Essential Steps should be the first read of any patient newly diagnosed with cancer, and offers a focus on five basic steps patients can take to be proactive about their treatments.
From developing an attitude that supports healing to detoxifying, eating better foods, and understanding how a blend of exercise and rest can speed healing, Stay Healthy During Chemo focuses on nutrition and self-help actions that patients can take to supplement their chemo routines.
From supplements to recipes for nutritious dishes, this is a therapy-complimenting approach that is in fact an essential piece of the overall success of chemotherapy.
TV
Brand Builders: How to Win Audiences and Influence Viewers
Andy Bryant and Charlie Mawer
Kogan Page
9780749476687 $29.95
www.koganpage.com
TV Brand Builders: How to Win Audiences and Influence Viewers is written by two industry leaders who have worked in the television industry, and pairs interviews with 50 experts from 8 countries and a wide range of networks with details about evolving television issues and approaches, from ads and access to digital campaigns to building TV brands in the new viewer environments.
Its numerous examples of movie trailers, artwork, series productions and audience analysis offer concrete data and insights into how audiences are built, viewers influenced, and shows are made popular, and provide powerful insights from a range of industry leaders.
Anyone interested in the marketing and production of television shows in general and creating viewers and markets for media productions in particular will find TV Brand Builders packed with insights from actual productions and concrete results.
Biography and Autobiography
The
Box Wine Sailors
Amy McCullough
Chicago Review Press
9781613733486 $16.95
www.chicagoreviewpress.com
The Box Wine Sailors: Misadventures of a Broke Young Couple At Sea tells how author Amy McCullough (and her husband) bought a 27-foot sailboat, quit her job, and spent a year at sea, having the adventure of a lifetime that many can only dream about.
One might think this couple had much sailing experience under their belts; but in fact they'd only read a few sailing books, seen a few videos, and practiced sailing weekly for about a year.
Relatively broke and bereft of nautical expertise, McCullough and her husband learned as they went, and her memoir of this process takes readers on a dual story of adventure and romance as the couple sail the world encountering new peoples and lands, and experiencing many hair-raising adventures.
Readers who love true-life adventure stories will relish this nautical romance.
Life
Without a Recipe
Diana Abu-Jaber
W.W. Norton
9780393249095 $26.95
www.wwnorton.com
Life Without a Recipe provides a memoir of family and food, describing how Abu-Jaber grew up in a home filled with friends and family members who were opinionated and loving, filled with multicultural members and influences, and whose attitudes and advice shaped her world.
Diana Aub-Jaber's varied family ties resulted in diverse formulas for approaching life. Sometimes these recipes clashed and other times they complimented: it was up to her to build her own values and life from these intersections; and in a big way, that's what Life Without a Recipe is all about.
While food and family are part of the equation, foodies anticipating a cook's memoir alone may at first be disappointed that this isn't a book just about food. However, its diverse teachings make for a lively story that will make a delightful read for any who relish warm memoirs embracing family differences.
Business Books
Amacom
www.amacombooks.org
Louis S. Csoka's When the Pressure's On: The Secret to Winning When You Can't Afford to Lose (9780814436103, $24.95) is an inspirational business read which invites readers to consider how to perform to high standards during periods of crisis.
While such a theory is admirable, the meat of any good idea lies in its enactment; and that's where When the Pressure's On really excels. Csoka uses the techniques of athletes and military units as a foundation for developing five skills key to addressing stress and performing well.
From setting goals that support wider-ranging missions to maintaining focus when distractions demand attention, this book addresses the main techniques involved in superior business management when the heat's on, and should be at the top of the reading list of any busy manager.
Joel Peterson and David A. Kaplan's The 10 Laws of Trust: Building the Bonds That Make a Business Great (9780814437452, $15.95) tells leaders how to build trust and keep it alive, and addresses common long-term problems involved in maintaining business trust.
Joel Peterson has spent four decades as a board chairman, entrepreneur, investor, manager, and more, and his personal and business life has been built on these high-trust relationships.
His book synthesizes issues of trust into ten laws that support it, teaching the characteristics of team management, how to build trust-rich organizational structures, handling interpersonal expectations, and more.
Business leaders already interested in the concept of business trust will find this synthesizes life and business savvy and shows how to apply these trust-building skills in different ways.
Ethics
in Public Relations, 3rd Edition
Patricia J. Parsons
Kogan Page
9780749477264 $34.95
www.koganpage.com
The third edition of Ethics in Public Relations: A Guide to Best Practices has been completely revised and updated to reflect the latest ethical concerns in public relations practices, and considers how the industry is changing.
Patricia J. Parsons spent nearly thirty years as a faculty member and former chairman in the Department of Communication Students at a Canadian university. Her background in public relations strategy and ethical questions lends to an approach directed to practitioners already working in the field, who receive an overview of the ethical consequences of technology and its special challenges.
Ethics in Public Relations should be required reading for any entering the field as well as those who have decades of experience but who need a refresher course on the latest ethical questions which technology has introduced.