Well before 9/11 and since, we did not pay attention to what our nation’s and the West’s enemies have been saying. We have paid a terrible price for that and, if we continue to ignore them, we shall surely do so again. Jed Babbin has done us all a favor with his new book, In the Words of Our Enemies ($24.95, Regnery Publishing). Babbin not only quotes the current group of dictators and Islamic zealots, but he points how those who would avoid war at any price and the media have repeatedly ignored the past threats and current ones. Babbin begins with the chilling words of Osama bin Laden whose goal, along with others like the Iranian leaders, is the mass murder of all Westerners. He provides a look at Chinese duplicity, Hugo Chavez’s hate speech, that of the North Koreans, and what Russia’s President, Vladimir Putin, is saying. Most, if not all of it, will keep you up at night, but a little lost sleep will help you understand just how dangerous the world is for a new generation and why, just as in the last century, we will be called upon to fight the evil that surrounds us.

It’s not your typical summer reading, but for anyone who wants to understand what it takes for the electricity to come on when you flick a light switch, I highly recommend Jason Makansi’s new book, Lights Out:The Electricity Crisis, the Global Economy, and What it Means to You ($27.95, John Wiley & Sons). The electricity industry, at $700 billion, is the largest in the nation. It literally powers our lives. Everything comes to a stop when there is an electrical failure. You cannot use a credit card. Gasoline cannot be pumped for your car. There’s no air conditioning. Nothing works without it. The author, a consultant to the industry for 25 years, spells out just how vulnerable our electricity transmission system is. The wires and cables that transmit electricity are aging and in need of replacement and expansion. We are living with a Third World electrical transmission system and its failure will affect vast regions of the nation unless dramatic steps are taken, with the support of the government and public utility commissions everywhere. While we fear terrorist attacks, the real danger is a system dependent on many separate but integral factors. The public remains ignorant of this or, should we say, in the dark? Despite the clamor for "alternative" energy sources, wind power is one that gets scant notice; at least until Wendy Williams and Robert Whitcomb wrote Cape Wind ($26.95, Public Affairs). Just off the Cape Cod coast where the famed Kennedy compound is located and throughout Nantucket Sound, the winds blow consistently. A "wind farm" would generate electricity, but the plan to build 130 giant wind turbines has been deterred because many powerful political figures and others do not want to permit that to happen. The authors have written a primer on wind power and why many interests have combined to defeat the aspirations of environmentalists. The authors are two seasoned journalists who unravel the competing interests of those aligned for and against wind power.

When "Freakonomics" was published, its authors blamed everything on the evil corporations, evil doctors, evil conspiracies of all kinds, but the problem with that book was that they got it wrong. Happily, John R. Lott, Jr., Ph.D., a leading economist, has remedied that with his own book, Freedomnomics: Why the Free Market Works and Other Half-Baked Theories Don’t ($27.95, Regnery Publishing). I first read this author’s "More Guns, Less Crime" in which he brought his considerable skills to debunk all those who think that banning guns will reduce crime when, in fact, the statistics demonstrate just the opposite. In his latest book, he explains how free markets really work and, in the process, promote prosperity and economic justice. Why anyone thinks that government can or should control prices and otherwise meddle in the marketplace is beyond me. Virtually every nation that tried Communism, a command and control approach to economics, has abandoned it, including China. This is a highly readable and eminently sensible book that explains why the free market determines the cost of everything we buy.

An interesting new book is The Personality Code by Travis Bradberry ($24.95, G.P. Putnam’s Sons), based on a global study of more than 500,000 people. It reveals 14 fundamental personality types, fixed character traits that control behavior. This will encourage your own self-awareness once you determine which type you are and, of course, it will help you interact with the other types, unlocking the secrets to understand your boss, your colleagues, your friends, and yourself. We all need to identify our strengths and our weaknesses so we can get through life more smoothly. It is an essential element of our existence and this book facilitates the process.

I don’t know what it means; if indeed it means anything other than two authors with essentially the same idea, but there are two books out about saying "No" as a way to avoid problems or to negotiate better. William Ury has written The Power of a Positive No: How to Say NO and Still Get to YES ($25.00, Bantam Books) and Jim Camp has written NO: The Only Negotiating System You Need for Work and Home ($23.00, Crown Business). Ury says that "no" is perhaps the most important and certainly the most powerful word in the language. He suggests that we need to use it frequently in all kinds of situations, but can learn to use it in ways that bring about a positive situation. For anyone who has trouble saying "no", this book will prove quite helpful. Camp’s book is more for the person who must use "no" for the purpose of negotiating in corporate settings, but his advice works just as well at home or anywhere else. In essence, both books provide good advice on how to control one’s emotions and avoid saying or doing things that can adversely affect the outcome of any situation. Camp also notes that sometimes it’s just as well to give up and walk away.

Looking for advice about, well, anything? There’s a publisher, Hundreds of Heads, Inc. that specializes in advice books on all manner of topics. The latest to come off their presses include How to Get A’s in College, How to Love Your Retirement, How to Survive Your In-Laws, and How to Survive Your First Job. These books are compilations of advice based on the experiences of people solicited to share their thoughts on these and other topics. They generally cost about $13.95 each, are softcover titles, and you can check out their entire line at www.hundredsofheads.com.

There’s a lot to be said for the combined wisdom of people who have encountered problems you may be facing. In a similar vein, there’s a series by Lifelong Books, an imprint of Da Capo Press under the heading of "Staying Sane." Two of their recent titles include Staying Sane When You’re Buying or Selling Your Home and Staying Sane When You’re Planning Your Wedding. Both are written by Pam Brodowsky and Evelyn Fazio, priced at $12.95, and are softcover. Here again, the advice is quite sound and likely to prove very helpful.

Film buffs will enjoy two softcover books The Rough Guide to Film Musicals by David Parkinson and The Rough Guide to Film Noir by Alexander Ballinger and Danny Graydon ($14.99 each). Now that the American Film Institute has announced its new list of the top films of the last hundred years, these two guides will provide instant access to the basic information about them and the others that continue to entertain despite the years. Both are packed with interesting data and lots of photos as well. To learn more visit www.roughguides.com.

Working Like Dogs: The Service Dog Guidebook by Marcie Davis and Melissa Bunnel (Alpine Publications, Loveland, CO), a large format softcover book that is a comprehensive resource for everyone responsible for the care of a service dog. It is filled with information that anyone who has a service dog needs to know. These specially trained dogs make life easier for those whom them serve. This is the first time I have seen a book on this topic and this is as good as it gets.

Visit our Featured Book section to discover some interesting titles you might not otherwise learn about.

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Birth and Parenting

There is always an abundance of books on giving birth and parenting skills. Here are some of the latest to arrive at Bookviews.

Baby on Board: Becoming a Mother without Losing Yourself by Joelle Jay and Amy Kovarick ($17.95, Amacom softcover) says, "You can choose a life in which you maintain and enhance the best of yourself, for you and your baby," say the authors. Offering practical advice and wisdom of moms, they remind soon-to-be mothers that having it "all" requires a definition of what "all" means and that requires self-awareness, empowerment and transition. Motherhood confers an entirely new identity and this book will help readers determine how to best prepare and fulfill it. Often ignored is the expectant dad, but Todd Barrett Lieman has written ABCs for Expectant Dads-in-Training ($12.00, Dalmation Press, softcover) noting that most guys don’t want a technical pregnancy guide, but rather a practical guide to things like products for newborns, baby food, diapers, and all the many things involved with a new baby and its care. This is really a very good book on the topic and should be on the gift list for any expectant, first-time dad.

Pushed: The Painful Truth about Childbirth and Modern Maternity Care by Jennifer Block ($26.00, Da Capo Press/Lifelong Books) presents a full picture of maternity care in America. A former editor at Ms. Magazine, the author traveled the country to witness several births, from a planned cesarean to an underground home birth, to report the experience of women today. She asks whether routine C-sections, inductions, and epidurals really equal medical progress or whether they accommodate the hospital’s need to stabilize patients and facilitate the medical procedure? The author asserts that many doctors, fearful of malpractice, are not advocating the normal labor process of birth. More than half of women who give birth these days are given drugs to induce or speed up labor. Nearly a third are counseled to have C-sections. The book’s theme is that medical technology is being over-emphasized "at the expense of maternal and infant health."

A very clever, entertaining book about parenting is a Guide to Pirate Parenting: Why You should Raise your Kids as Pirates and 101 Tips on how to Do It ($10.95, Cold Tree Press, softcover). Now, I grant you that most of the "advice" is useless as a practical matter, but you won’t care because you will be enjoying it too much. The author Tim Bete has the alter ego of Cap’n Billy "the Butcher" MacDougall who dispenses his thoughts on feeding your pirate, nocturnal issues, disciplining your pirate, perhaps with a Flying Dutchman Wedgie, and when it is appropriate to smack a teenager in the head with an oar. Bring your sense of humor. Amusing, offbeat advice for any parent who is also a pirate.

There’s even a book, My Single Mom Life, by Angela Thomas ($19.99, Thomas Nelson) who relates her experiences raising four kids, sharing her hard-earned wisdom on loneliness, dating, finance, and parenting. "As a gift to our children," she says, "we can become healthy moms who are strong and amazing women in spite of ourselves." There is a spiritual theme to this book, but that is not surprising as Thomas Nelson is a leading Christian publishing house. There are an estimated 14 million single-parent homes in America and single moms often have less time to spend with their children than those with families that include a dad. How to deal with the guilt that accompanies single parenthood, identifying the good from the bad guilt is just one of the topics tackled. In a lot of ways, this is a very good book of advice on the subject.

There have been an increasing number of books for people who do not identify themselves as spiritual or affiliated with any religion. It was only a matter of time before someone wrote Parenting Beyond Belief: On Raising Ethical, Caring Kids Without Religion ($17.95, Amacom, softcover). Edited by Dale McGowan, the book’s 30 contributors include a number of noted atheists, but most are educators, doctors, psychologists and even philosophers who acknowledge that raising children without religion can be a daunting task in a society where religion has a high priority. That said, a 2001 American Religion Identification Survey found that 14% of respondents identified themselves as non-religious. If you fall into that category or know someone who does, this book will prove of interest.

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Getting Down to Business (Books)

Labor Day is right around the corner, so summer is as good a time as any to check out books on business titles that may prove helpful.

As new graduates flood into the workplace, they will find themselves competing with two generations of other people doing the same thing. Excuse Me, Your Job is Waiting: Attract the Work You Want by Laura George ($16.95, Hampton Roads, softcover) will help you identify the qualities you want in a job and how to deal with negative feelings that can get in the way of finding a satisfying job. This book deals with the way one’s emotions can either get in the way or increase a positive attitude. The author is a human relations manager and has seen it all. Back on the Career Track is a guide for "stay-at-home moms" who want to return to work ($24.99, Warner Business Books). Written by Carol Fishman Cohen and Vivian Steir Rabin, it is a comprehensive, step-by-step guide to workforce reentry, filled with examples of success stories. Thus, if you or someone you know is contemplating this decision, one can find a lot of good advice here. And then there is advice for those who may have completed a career, are now in a generation that in previous times would have opted for retirement, but wants to return to the workplace. Encore by Marc Freedman ($24.95, Public Affairs) is for those baby-boomers who are tired of too much golf or just need the financial safety net to continue earning. This is a whole new social trend, often the result of the fact that many are just living longer, healthier lives. This book is filled with excellent advice on finding work that matters in the second half of their lives.

For those in management positions, change often spells trouble. Nancy Widman, Elaine J. Eisenman, Ph.D., and Amy Dorn Kopelan have written I Didn’t See It Coming: The Only Book You’ll Ever Need to Avoid Being Blindsided in Business ($24.95, John Wiley & Sons). This is a kind of corporate politics rulebook, filled with strategies to move up the corporate ladder without being caught off guard or making fatal mistakes after investing years in a particular company. It’s well worth reading. The Upside by Adrian J. Slywotzky with Karl Weber ($27.50, Crown Business) offers "The seven strategies for turning big threats into growth breakthroughs." This book is strictly for business and, in particular, marketing junkies who want to stay on top of the rapidly changing strategies and trends affecting today’s world of business. It’s scary out there and books like this can provide an edge. Your Gut is Still Not Smarter Than Your Head by Kevin Clancy and Peter Krieg ($29.95, John Wiley & Sons) points to the fact that only two out of ten U.S. companies grow organically by more than 2% or 3% per year through their marketing efforts and the introduction of new products. The authors, marketing experts, explore the reasons behind these frustratingly anemic numbers, concluding that too many companies are relying on obsolete marketing methods. The result is a sluggish pace of innovations and mediocre performance. This book will get your growth instincts in tune with today’s methodologies.

Two softcover books address marketing and publicity techniques that will prove helpful. Be A Network Marketing Superstar by Mary Christensen with Wayne Christensen ($15.00, Amacom) offers the prospect of earning a lot of money via the industry of network marketing, also known as direct selling and multi-level marketing. This is a book for entrepreneurs and claims that 175,000 people start a network marketing business every week. How many succeed is anyone’s guess, but this book promises to help. Your move! For those seeking riches by authoring and most likely self-publishing a book to sell via the Internet, Penny C. Sansevieri has written Red Hot Internet Publicity ($29.95.18.95, Morgan James, hard and softcover editions) with the promise of teaching you how to get thousands of hits on your website and converting them into sales, and all sorts of comparable advice. Considering how many authors are out there, this book’s author probably figures she’s going to be the one who’s really going to make money! The advice is good enough, but the competition form some 200,000 new books every year is huge!

With the advent of globalization, there are an increasing number of books devoted to the subject. World Inc by Bruce Piasecki, Ph.D. ($24.95, Sourcebooks) says that real power has migrated from governments to the world of business and that the world is looking to corporations to solve its major social problems. As proof of this, he points out that 51 of the 100 largest economies in the world are corporations and that 40% of global commerce takes place between corporations. This book advocates producing products designed with financial, social, and environmental values, suggesting these are no longer just benevolent gestures, but actually give corporations the competitive edge in the global marketplace. The author is an energy and environmental consultant to Fortune 500 companies, but what he fails to factor in is the need (and pressure) to be responsible to investors, i.e., to make and maintain a profit, and the way much of the world remains in the control of governments that pass stupid laws based on bad economic theories or by a variety of dictators and other thugs of all descriptions. Corporations are often at the mercy of people like Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez who either wants to steal their assets or do bad things in the world. I much preferred Doing Business Anywhere: The Essential Guide to Going Global by Tom Travis ($24.95, John Wiley & Sons). This is global business 101. It offers the six basic things you need to know to operate successfully in the post 9/11 world. Written for entrepreneurs, but equally useful to senior executives, it is intended to point out trade opportunities and to avoid costly mistakes that any successful entrepreneur must know. These tenets of global trade are illustrated by examples from real industries that explain the complexities of global commerce. Thus, the reader will learn how to take advantage of trade agreements, why one must protect one’s brand at all costs, why high ethical standards are essential, and that, as always, all business is personal. Okay, it’s a dog-eat-dog world out there, but this book will prove enormously helpful to guide you through it.

China has become the new great market and companies are eagerly exploring its potential. Ted Plafker, a correspondent in the Beijing bureau of The Economist and a regular contributor to other publications, has written Doing Business in China: How to Profit in the World’s Fastest Growing Market ($24.99, Warner Business Books). It will prove very useful to executives, managers, entrepreneurs and investors. It is an A-to-Z guide to all aspects of breaking into and growing one’s business in China. Plafker pinpoints the top emerging market sectors, explains the laws, rules and regulations of doing business there, provides useful insights to cultural differences, and discusses why sales and marketing in China is very different there.

Would you rather listen to a book than read it? Hachette Audio has two interesting business books on CD. The Last Chance Millionaire: It’s Not Too late to Become Wealthy is by Douglas R. Andrew ($24.98, 3 CDs) the owner and president of Paramount Financial Services. He has two bestsellers to his credit and his financial strategies are world considering. This audiobook will work best for those closing in on retirement. The other audiobook is See Jane Lead: 99 Ways for Women to Take Charge at Work by Lois P. Frankel, Ph.D. ($24.98, 3 CDs). The author maintains that too many women are ignoring the qualities and assets they already possess that can make them great leaders. As a result, they often sabotage their careers. If this sounds like you or someone you know, I recommend this audio book.

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Kid Stuff: Books for Younger Readers

I don’t know how many books I have seen that teach the alphabet, but since there is always room for more, the latest is The ABC’s of Fruits and Vegetables and Beyond by Steve Charney and David Goldbeck, with delightful illustrations by Burgaleta Larson ($16.95, Ceres Press, PO Box 87, Woodstock, NY 12498). Goldbeck and his nutritionist wife, Nikki, have been writing about food issues for almost four decades and have several bestselling books to their credit. Charney is an entertainer. Once one gets past the alphabet section of the book, based of course on various fruits and vegetables, this book teaches kids how to eat better, serving up all kinds of food facts to amaze them, plus information where many fruits and vegetables are grown, and ways to prepare them. The book offers projects, poems and other ideas to expand their interest and knowledge.

Among my favorite children’s book publishers is Charlesbridge Publishing in Watertown, MA. New books are generally published in the spring and fall, so when I saw the fall catalog, I requested a few. I immediately fell in love with Wiggle and Waggle by Caroline Arnold and illustrated by Mary Peterson ($12.95), the story of two worms in a garden and their joy at making wonderful tunnels through the dirt. The artwork perfectly compliments the always-amusing text as Wiggle and Waggle sing to make their work more fun, dislodge a rock, and have a picnic to celebrate the great job they’ve done.

Not just the alphabet, but its history is the subject of Ox, House, Stick: The History of Our Alphabet by Don Robb as illustrated by Anne Smith ($7.95). This is for the youngsters age 10 and up and it is filledwith fascinating information about the way the modern alphabet came to be, plucked from earlier civilizations and their languages. Any youngster who loves to read will find this book quite compelling as each letter yields its story. Ever tried to explain to a youngster why certain things make them sneeze? Well, now Alexandra Siy and Dennis Kunkel have done so in Sneeze! ($6.95), a book that is filled with photos of actual pollen, dust, cat hair, and the flu bug that cause people to sneeze. The text explains how and why the body reacts to these and other stimuli. This is the kind of book that later produces physicians and scientists! To check out these and other Charlesbridge books, visit www.charlesbridge.com.

Ever wonder about the special relationship between a seeing-eye dog and its master? Well, now you can read about from the point of view of the dog. Hanni and Beth: Safe & Sound by Beth Finke and illustrated by Anthony Alex LeTourneau ($17.95, Blue Marlin Publications) tells how Hanni helps Beth get around. Hanni explains the difference between being in the harness and out, gives advice to sighted people how to behave around a seeing-eye dog when he or she is on the job. This is the kind of book that should be in the children’s section of libraries to introduce them to the world of the blind. Check it and the other clever books published at www.BlueMarlinPubs.com. A service dog is the subject of Thanks to Nicki by Ann Howard Creel ($6.95, American Girl) and is the second in a two-book series starring Nicki Fleming, American Girl’s 2007 Girl of the Year. In this story, Nicki struggles with two difficult situations; letting go of Sprocket, the service dog she’s been training, and getting her two best friends to get along with one another. An excellent book for summer reading.

American Girl devotes itself to books for, well, American girls! Among some of its new titles are the School Smarts Homework Survival Guide ($8.95) and the School Smarts Planner ($9.95). The former is filled with tips from teachers across the nation on what to bring home to do your homework, how to choose the best place to study, and much more that will ease the process. The books mentioned here are aimed at girls age 8 and up. The latter "planner" will help record homework assignments, schedule practice sessions, create "to-do" lists and even find time for fun! Both books will prove helpful teaching lessons on how to organize one’s life to reduce stress. Miles of Smiles: Travel Games and Quizzes to Go ($9.95) explains how to be a good traveler, to keep a journal about the trip, and is filled with diversions to help make the time go by coming and going to the destination.

A young adult novel by Barbara Hall, The Noah Confessions, ($15.99, Delacorte Press) demonstrates the skill it takes to write for this "between" age group, no longer children, not quite an adult. Hall’s first novel was written in 1987, but her work in television is better known. "Northern Exposure", "Joan of Arcadia" and "I’ll Fly Away" earned her four Emmy nominations. In this novel, a troubled teenager’s discovery of her family history and how it helps resolve her feelings about her deceased mother is the coming-of-age story of Lynnie Russo, a teenage girl who attends a posh Los Angeles prep school. Fearing she is losing perspective on her life, her father gives her a manuscript written by her mother. It is a journey into her mother’s 16^th year. She learns her past does not have to determine her future. This is excellent storytelling and transformative.

I recall recommending Audrey Penn’s novel, Mystery at Blackbeard’s Cove, in 2004 and I am delighted she is back with Blackbeard and the Sandstone Pillar: When Lightning Strikes ($15.95, Tanglewood Press, Terre Haute, IN), a sequel which is part of a four-part adventure, ideal of those age 8 to 12 and up. In this new novel, four teens from Ocracoke Island, North Carolina, set out to locate and return some very old pirate loot to its rightful owners. Along the way they discover some mysteries that go back centuries, along with the fearful prospect that Blackbeard’s ghost could bring the world to the brink of disaster. It’s a page-turner and ideal for summertime. The talented Miss Penn has also written a story, illustrated by Barbara L. Gibson, A Kiss Goodbye, ($16.95, Tanglewood Press) for those aged 3 to 8. It features Chester Raccoon, introduced in previous books, and is about the trees in Chester’s part of the woods that are being cut down. Mrs. Raccoon must find a new home. Despite his fears, the new tree is just fine and comes with a new playmate.

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Novels, Novels, Novels!

In the heart of summer, relaxing with a good novel is some people’s idea of an excellent way to enjoy themselves. They’d be right!

I love a story that is set in exotic locations and filled with action. This nicely describes Volk’s Game by Brent Ghelfi ($19.95, Henry Holt), a thriller that opens with a firefight in the backstreets of modern day Moscow and then never lets the pace slacken. Volk and his equally lethal female companion, Valya, are out to steal a Da Vinci painting from a hidden chamber in St. Petersburg’s Hermitage. Volk is a player in the black market and an agent for the Russian military with two allegiances. There is a quality of authenticity to this novel thanks to the author’s travels throughout Russia, but it is his skill as a writer that will grip you and keep you turning the pages. For more action and thrills, don’t miss Ed Mitchell’s new novel, Gold Fire ($15.95, California Coast Publishing) that posits that Khalid Jafar, son of Osama bin Laden, with the secret assistance of China, has stolen four nuclear warheads from Russia, along with two SS-25 mobile intercontinental ballistic missiles. The search to find them ensues while the White House maneuvers to determine which party will control the Senate. There are many twists and turns in this novel, but the most compelling aspect is how it reflects the widely held view that al Qaeda does have nuclear weapons in its possession. Mitchell draws on his own experience as an Airborne Infantry Ranger who has guarded nuclear weapons and aerospace engineer who has spent more than 18 years working with National Missile Defense and Homeland Security contracts. Having recommended Mitchell’s previous novels, I can tell you this one will have you spellbound as well. To learn more, visit his website at www.booksbymitchell.com.

There’s plenty of intrigue to be found in Obit by Anne Emery ($24.95, ECW Press, Toronto). Those of Irish heritage will enjoy this one as Declan Burke who fled Ireland forty years earlier, settling in New York, reads the obituary of one Cathal Murphy, seeing that it is not about Murphy, but a coded indictment of his own life. Though a Halifax lawyer, Monty Collins, investigates the obit with its allusions to Burke’s IRA past, he gets no help from Burke until a burst of gunfire at a family wedding. That brings Burke’s former commanding officer into the picture and everyone involved has secrets they want to protect. From the farms of Ireland to the tenements of New York City, Monty must try to unravel the message of the obituary without becoming the subject of one. For anyone who loves a good mystery, this one will prove more than satisfying. Another thriller is Susan Schaab’s Wearing the Spider ($26.95, Galavant Press, New Canaan, CT). It combines sexual harassment, identity theft, and political intrigue. When Evie Sullivan’s, an attorney, has her identity stolen and used by a ruthless partner in her Manhattan law firm, it is just the prelude to a nightmare intended to set her up as the mastermind of an illegal business deal that ultimately leads to the murder of a U.S. Senator. Evie has to undertake a clandestine investigation while dodging the FBI, risking her career and her life. This is another one of those can’t-put-it-down novels that you almost don’t want to end.

Yet another thriller is Quantico by Greg Bear ($24.95, Vanguard Press). The winner of many awards for earlier novels, Bear serves up a story set in the near future that pits young FBI agents against a brilliant homegrown terrorist. The time is the next decade and the level of terrorism is very nearly out of control. In Jerusalem the Dome of the Rock has been blown up and in America all manner of devices and efforts are in place to protect people, but a plague is being brewed to wipe out entire populations. The FBI agents may be the last class to graduate at Quantico if they cannot uncover the plot in time to stop it. Scary? You bet! An interesting change of pace is provided by a romance, also published by Vanguard Press. It’s Woman in Red, by Eileen Goudge ($24.95) and it has so many plot turns and twists you need to follow closely the story of a mother returning home after being in prison for trying to kill a drunk driver who killed her eldest son. She is faced with reconnecting with a son she left behind who is, in turn, accused of rape. A man who lost his wife in 9/11 joins her in the effort to prove his innocence. Along the way, a romance develops between them. In a way, it is as much a thriller as the others, but it is more about emotional bonds than an action novel.

I am a bit conflicted by two novels that arrived recently. They are both rather odd by the usual standards of characters and plots. First Among Sequels by Jasper Fforde ($24.95, Viking) is one of those very British kind of stories and features Thursday Next, a "literary detective". He was introduced in a previous novel, The Eyre Affair, a comparable fantasy world for bibliophiles. In this story, Next is using a carpet store as a front for his work at "Jurisfiction", a policing agency within the book world. The author is a skillful and entertaining writer, but this is mostly for fanatical book lovers. The other novel is deliberately described as "inspirational." Brendon Burchard has written Life’s Golden Ticket ($22.95, Harper San Francisco) and it’s kind of The Alchemist meets The Five People You Meet in Heaven. It is a parable about life, loss, and redemption as a man gets what he calls a "golden ticket" after being thrown through the windshield of his car and nearly dying by the side of the road. He gets a second chance, however, to redeem his life and how he does it is the crux of the story. Looking for a bit of inspiration? This book has it.

Stephen Bly is back with One Step Over the Border ($12.99, Center Street, Hachette Book Group, softcover). Bly has written more than a hundred books. He knows his trade well and this story is about the search for Juanita, the gal of rodeo cowboy Hap Bowman’s dreams. Juanita lived in sight of the Rio Grande and spent time with Hap in Central Wyoming during the summer of 1988. At age 31, it is almost 20 years from the time they met. Hap and his roping partner, Laramie, set out to find her, posting signs everywhere, on websites and message boards, car bumpers, and even t-shirts. Once you open this delightful novel, you will want to know if he finds her. Or you can cheat a little by visiting www.OneStepOvertheBorder.com. This is just great fun!

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Listening to Books is Fun, Too!

One hears often that fewer people are actually reading books these days. If you had visited Book Expo in New York in June, you would have been hard pressed to believe that, given the thousands of new books being published just this year. Another interesting aspect of publishing is the continuing success of audiobooks, now always on CDs.

Some publishers have audio divisions and others are totally devoted to audiobooks. One of the latter is Tantor Unabridged Audio of Old Saybrook, Connecticut. Its 2007 catalog is filled with books by, among others, Pulitzer and National Book Award winners. Among the titles it offers is The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11 that won many awards last year. Its new releases include Ladies Who Launch about women who begin their own businesses, Justinian’s Flea: Plague, Empire, and the Birth of Europe, an excellent book for history buffs, P. J. O’Rourke’s bestseller, On the Wealth of Nations and the audio version of a book I think provides among the best insights into the past and present conflicts of the United States and the Middle East, Power, Faith, and Fantasy by Michael B. Oren. Visit www.tantor.com to discover the vast range of fiction and non-fiction books they offer.

The folks at the Hachette Book Group USA have one of the most active audiobook divisions around and, happily, they send a number of them along to me. I have nine of them piled up on the desk. Among the non-fiction titles is Her Way by Jeff Gerth and Don Van Natta, Jr., both of whom are Pulitzer Prize winning journalists who work for The New York Times. This is a book about Hillary Clinton who, despite being highly regarded and influential, and in line for the Democrat Party presidential nomination, is described as "the single most divisive individual in our political landscape." Find out why. Lone Survivor by Marcus Luttrell with Patrick Robinson is the eyewitness account of "Operation Redwing" and the lost heroes of Navy Seal Team 10. In June 2005, the team undertook a mission in Afghanistan to capture or kill a notorious al Qaeda leader in a Taliban stronghold. Luttrell was the sole survivor of that mission and his story reveals how great the challenge is to defeat this enemy. A very different subject is tackled in The Mona Lisa Stratagem: The Art of Women, Age, and Power by Harriet Rubin who looks at the way some women think their life is over when their youth is gone while others thrive in their later years. It is quite inspirational, especially to those of us who know such women.

Hachette’s library of new fiction audiobooks include masters of suspense like James Patterson whose new book, written with Michael Ledwidge, is The Quickie. This novel explores a woman’s desire for revenge. Eric Van Lustbader continues Robert Ludlum’s franchise in The Bourne Betrayal and fans of this secret agent will not be disappointed as he sets about dismantling a terrorist network. Four other fiction titles range from Matt Richtel’s thriller, Hooked, about life in the digital age on the Left Coast. A medical journalist narrowly survives an explosion in an Internet café after receiving a note warning him to leave immediately. Joyce Meyer and Deborah Bedford have written The Penny, a novel that begins in the summer of 1955 when Jenny’s future is changed after she picks up a penny and becomes involved with Miss Shaw. This is a book by women, for women, about women. I recall recommending The Blood of Flowers by Anita Amirresvani when it was first published as a story that takes the reader back to 17^th century Persia as a young woman becomes a skilled designer of carpets, but whose life is disrupted by the culture of that era. She takes great risks to escape to a better life.

To the north is a whole country called Canada and it has a rich heritage and tradition of good fiction writing. Happily, BTC Audio Books, an imprint of Goose Lane Editions, gives voice to some Canadian authors and two recent novels include David Bergen’s The Time in Between and Sandra Gulland’s The Many Lives & Secret Sorrows of Josephine B. In the former audiobook, Charles Boatman leaves for Vietnam, a country where he had fought 29 years earlier as a young, reluctant soldier. When he disappears, his daughter, Ada, and her brother, Jon, travel there to see if they can find him. The duel narration of actors Michael Hogan and Tricia Collins make this story come alive. The "Josephine B" in Gulland’s novel is the wife of Napoleon Bonaparte. She tells a sweeping tale of romance, heartbreak, and political intrigue during the tumultuous French Revolution. The author has lived in Canada since 1970.

Fans of the British television crime series, Father Brown ($39.99) and Rebus ($49.99) will welcome the news that the Acorn Media Group U.S. of Silver Spring, MD, has released these shows on DVD. Father Brown is the creation of G.K. Chesterton. He’s a kindly priest who always manages to confound criminals with his keen observations and inescapable logic. Rebus is a crime series based on the Edgar-winning Ian Rankin’s mysteries featuring rumpled, hard-drinking Detective Inspector John Rebus. Father Brown, Set 2, offers the concluding six episodes of the acclaimed PBS Mystery series and Rebus, Set 2, debuts with four mysteries plus a documentary on the making of the series. To learn more about these and other Acorn DVD releases with a focus on the best of British television, visit www.acornonline.com.

That’s it for August! Come back in September when we shall look at some of the new fiction and non-fiction being published. Check out our Featured Book section before you leave. And tell your friends about Bookviews.com so that they, too, can tap into this eclectic source of news about books.

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