The single book you must read if you ever want to make sense of how rapidly the world is changing is Thomas P.M. Barnett’s Blueprint for Action: A Future Worth Creating ($26.95, G.P. Putnam’s Sons). Previously, Barnett made a huge splash with his bestseller, The Pentagon’s New Map. Previously recommended here, it’s worth reading, too. Its sequel is filled with good news considering we are in the midst of a "war on terrorism" with various horrid things occurring around the world. For example, Barnett says that China—who the Pentagon thought would be the next big war we’d fight—turns out to be a likely future economic partner and possibly even one who will help the "Core" nations keep the peace while the "Gap" nations that threaten the Core are reformed and integrated. Barnett asserts that globalization occurs when nations agree to various "rule sets" in order to peacefully trade with one another. The latter, the Gap nations that are run by despots of varying description, says Barnett, must be integrated into the Core, often by a combination of force and civil reorganization. It is the US with its "Leviathan" military, i.e., huge and rapid capacity to invade (as a last option) nations that threaten their neighbors that must engage other Core nations in the job of rebuilding or connecting former Gap nations. For the US, Barnett says this will require a large "systems administration" (civil activities) corps, to come in after the traditional fighting forces have done their job, plus lots of help from other nations. You will never look at the world the same way after you finish reading this unbelievably challenging and brilliant book.

Imagine if we won the war in Iraq and lost it here at home? That could happen if the matrix of Big Lies being spun by opponents of President Bush and the war succeed in turning domestic opinion against the liberation of that nation and the transformation of the Middle East. To learn the truth, however, you need only read Richard Miniter’s new book, Disinformation: 22 Media Myths that Undermine the War on Terror ($27.95, Regnery Publishing, Inc.) Miniter, an award-winning investigative journalist, relentlessly documents the truth that debunks the lies that there were no WMDs found in Iraq, that 100,000 Iraqis were killed in the war, that the US had actionable intelligence with which to thwart 9-11, and other myths being promulgated to turn the public against the war and cast a fog over its well-established justification. As Winston Churchill once said, "A lie can get half-way around the world before the truth can put on its boots."

Still a bit foggy about whom we’re fighting in the "war on terror"? Until a few weeks ago the enemy, "Islamic fundamentalists", weren’t named as such. Moreover, Americans have lost much of the early urgency we felt after 9-11. Tony Blankley, the editorial page editor of The Washington Times, has grown concerned that, other than our military engagement in Afghanistan and the liberation of Iraq, too many Americans still don’t grasp how high the stakes are. In his book, The West’s Last Chance: Will we win the Clash of Civilizations? ($27.95, Regnery Publishing) he looks at the way political correctness and multiculturalism threatens ours and Europe’s future as too many still try to ignore the peril of Islam’s effort to dominate Europe and our leadership position in the world. Presciently, he predicted the events occurring in France and elsewhere on that continent. Most usefully, he examines how a previous generation of Americans geared up to fight the threat of Nazism and the Japanese Empire in World War II, drawing some sharp contradictions between the way Americans pursued that war and the current one. Even if we are not fighting a state-sponsored army in uniforms, it does not make al Qaeda and similar groups less dangerous to our lives and our way of life. Blankley does a superb job of spelling out the options, illuminating the issues, and providing a plan to win!

It doesn’t hurt to have a bit of luck going for you when your book is published. Given last month’s riots in France, Lorenzo Vidino’s Al Qaeda in Europe: The New Battleground of International Jihad ($27.00, Prometheus Books) could not have arrived in the bookstores in a more timely fashion. This is the first book to examine Islamic terrorism in Europe. The author is the deputy director of The Investigative Project, a Washington, DC-based counterterrorism institute and America’s largest private data-gathering center on militant Islamic activities. This book is yet another wake up call to anyone who does not yet grasp how widespread the Islamic jihad is as it describes three of the most important terrorist networks in Europe and analyses events there. European policies naively granted asylum to known jihad terrorists and millions of Muslims, many of whom were not inclined to assimilate and who regarded the continent to be a land of infidels. Two generations later, Europe finds itself with a vast enemy in its midst and it has become the planning area for past and future attacks on America.

At the end of the year, perhaps we should take some time out to consider the end of mankind? That’s what Robert W. Felix has been doing, gathering a vast array of scientific fact and conjecture in Not by Fire, but by Ice ($15.95, Sugerhouse Publishing, Bellevue, WA). We have been inundated by claims that global warming will destroy the earth or at least humanity, but Felix believes that another ice age is more likely to wreak havoc and it will be caused by the heating of the oceans by vast numbers of underwater volcanic activity and triggered by a reversal of the magnetic poles. Before you dismiss this as just another claim about the climate, it must be noted that what scientists do know is that vast, identified cycles of activity occur and, among them, are ice ages. The last one ended about 11,500 years ago and we are now at the edge of a cycle that will proceed the next one. Moreover, it is known that the earth’s magnetic poles have reversed in the past and, each time, they seemed to trigger an ice age. I cannot do justice to the extensive facts cited to underwrite the author’s views and I cannot dismiss them either. Anyone interested in the issues concerning the earth’s climate and its past will want to read this interesting book. For more information, visit www.iceagenow.com.

For those like myself who have an interest in science, my friend Robert W. Bly has written The Science in Science Fiction: 83 Predictions That Became Reality ($24.00, Ben Bella Books). I have known Bob for many years and he is a true renaissance man as an author of more than 60 books that range over many topics. A science fiction fan since the age of 12, Bob earned a degree in chemical engineering before becoming a leading copywriter and turning his skills and interests into many books and articles. His latest book looks at the way people like Aldous Huxley, Arthur C. Clarke, and many others conceived things like cloning, virtual reality, artificial intelligence, lasers, and how even computers began as science fiction. Anyone who grew up watching Flash Gordon or, in more recent times, Star Wars and Star Trek, will find this book entertaining and informative.

There are certain types of writers who write for the almost sensual pleasure of totally mastering a topic. They write to empty themselves in order to move onto the next topic. In the process, they produce works of intense bodies of information and, if they are particularly facile, entertainment. This would describe Sharman Apt Russell who has a number of such books to her credit and now adds Hunger: An Unnatural History ($23.95, Basic Books, an imprint of Perseus Books Group). One opens her book thinking that it is, perhaps, an odd topic, only to find oneself totally engrossed by the seemingly effortless scholarship, the skein of its many details that make you want more. You’re in for a treat if you read this book, everything you ever wondered about hunger and more.

While on the topic, if diets have not worked for you, then reading Body Intelligence by Dr. Edward Abramson, PhD, just might ($21.95, McGraw-Hill). This book is an alternative to diet pills, supplements, feeling guilty about every bite you take or ashamed of your weight. The author points out that no one is born with a dysfunctional relationship with food. The tons of advertisements and inducements to eat various food products has tended to warp our natural perceptions and, when you add in all the advertisements for weight control products, it’s a wonder we’re not all nuts. This book avoids rigid meal plans in favor of teaching you how to eat intelligently by identifying various bad eating habits and cravings, and how to develop a realistic, positive body image.

So, if you are as hungry as I am right now, let me recommend Italian Family Dining by Edward Giobbi and Eugenia Giobbi Bone ($27.50, Rodale), which is something of a classic, having originally been published thirty years ago. Joined by his daughter, Edward is the author of several cookbooks and Eugenia has written about food for many leading magazines and has authored a cookbook as well. Together they have added new recipes and the book provides page after page of mouth-watering delectables such as Chicken Gnochetti with sauce, Minestrone alla Genovese, and even recipes for quail and guinea hen. Divided by the seasons, you can literally dine your way through the year, enjoying all manner of pasta preparations and other dishes. If your taste buds can only be satisfied by the exotic, then consider Jasmine in her Hair: Culture and Cuisine from Pakistan by Huma Siddiqui ($29.95, White Jasmine Press, order directly from www.whitejasmine.com). Beautifully illustrated with full color photos, the book is a family effort and even a casual perusal of its recipes are enough to induce you to try your hand at them. From Pakoras (deep fried potatoes) to Dahi Naras (gram flour fritters in yogurt sauce), to Gajar Halwa (a carrot dessert), you will also be treated to a text that describes Pakistani home life, weddings, family rituals and traditions. The recipes are an invitation to let your palate travel to a faraway land, very much in the headlines these days. For the dieters, there’s The South Beach Diet: Quick & Easy Cookbook by Dr. Arthur Agatston ($27.95, Rodale) with 200 recipes that take thirty minutes or less to prepare. I hope you like multigrain watercress and cucumber tea sandwiches! This is a fairly predictable collection of low-calorie, but tasty dishes and, to its credit, provides plenty of information on the choices you can make to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

Are you one of those girls who grew up reading and loving the Nancy Drew mysteries? Have I got the book for you! It’s Girl Sleuth: Nancy Drew and the Women Who Created Her by Melanie Rehak ($25.00, Harcourt). Nancy made her debut in 1930 and eighty million books later, she is as popular today as ever. Nancy and her "author", Carolyn Keene, were created by Edward Stratemeyer, a man who made a fortune as a dime novelist. He also created the Bobbsey Twins and the Hardy Boys, but it was Mildred Wirt Benson and Harriet Stratemeyer Adams who brought Nancy to life. Together, they inspired generations of young girls.

A particularly useful book is Johnny May’s Guide to Preventing Identity Theft ($14.95, Security Resources Unlimited, PO Box 7754, Bloomfield Hills, MI 48302). The crime of identify theft is reaching epidemic proportions and, happily, this book provides readers with the necessary tools to combat this crime, how your personal information can be stolen, and what to do if you become a victim. This one is the real deal and can save you lots of grief. Also in this category, there’s The Germ Freak’s Guide to Outwitting Colds and Flu by Allison Janse with Charles Gerba, PhD ($11.95, Health Communications, Deerfield Beach, FL). This book combines humor with some very good advice on how to keep yourself healthy at home, at work, and out in the world around you. While getting a flu shot is always a good idea, there are many other commonsense procedures you can take to protect yourself.

This is the time of year we are treated to books like The Annotated Night Before Christmas ($29.00, Prometheus Books) for hardcore celebrators of the holiday. Edited by Martin Gardiner, the familiar words of Clement Clarke Moore’s beloved poem have been the jumping off point for all manner of parodies, sequels, and imitations. Shamelessly and hilariously, this book collects them for the pleasure of readers who cannot get enough Christmas cheer out of the original work. For golfers, there’s even "A Visit from Jack Nicklaus." There’s Santa in Florida and Santa the astronaut and, of course, "Get With It, Santa Baby."

Every so often a book comes along that is so unique and clever it deserves special acclaim. Such is the case of I Can’t Wait by Serge Block and Davide Cali ($9.95, Artisan, a division of Workman Publishing, NYC). Using spare text and the graphic metaphor of a single brilliant red thread, this book takes you on life’s journey from being a child who can’t wait to be a grownup to waiting for a grandchild to be born. It does so with an eloquence that reminds us how quickly life goes by and why each day should be savored.

And, since 2006 is just around the corner, let me recommend my friend June Cotner’s wonderful page-a-day calendar, Everyday Blessings, ($11.99, Sourcebooks, Inc) that will provide you a year’s worth of inspiration and comfort in the words of sources as diverse as Ralph Waldo Emerson and an anonymous Celtic blessing. Good reminders to savor each day and be grateful for it.

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Some Good Books to Listen To

Audiobooks make great stocking-stuffers. Harper Audio has a wide range of titles, all on CD, sure to please someone on your gift list. For lots of laughs, there’s The Worst Noel: Hellish Holiday Tales. A collection of recollections by seventeen contributors, it is all about those office party hangovers, delayed flights, and other agonies of the season. If you’re stuck in holiday traffic, pop it into the player and relax, you will be laughing soon enough.

Political junkies, left and right, will enjoy Mike Gallagher’s Surrounded by Idiots and Bernard Goldberg’s 100 People Who Are Screwing Up America. Both will prove to be "red meat" for conservatives. On the liberal side of the aisle is The Case for Hillary Clinton by Susan Estrich who thinks the Senator would make a good president.

The world of business and personal finance is well served by Neil Cavuto’s Your Money or Your Life and Donny Deutsch’s Often Wrong, Never in Doubt: Unleash the Business Rebel Within. Both are well known television personals, the former for Fox News and the latter who hosts an interview show on CNBC. They bring their own experience and expertise to the listener and do so in an entertaining way.

In the category of biography, from Random House Audio, there’s Dean & Me: A Love Story by Jerry Lewis and James Kaplan, that recounts the ten-year partnership with Dean Martin that ended abruptly in 1956, leaving them to move onto successful, individual careers, and a silence between them that would not be broken for twenty years. Also from Random House, One Nation Under God: The History of Prayer in America by James P. Moore, Jr. provides a historical context to the role of religion in America from the first settlers to present times. Try as some do to eliminate religion from life in modern America, this audiobook makes it clear that prayer played an essential role in all aspects of life in the nation, shaping its culture, its character, and even its commerce.

Returning to Harper Audio titles, there’s Two Lives by Vikram Seth that tells a fascinating, remarkable love story of a Jewish refuge who marries an immigrant from India who was sent to Berlin in the 1930s to study dentistry. They met again in England and embarked on life together during a century shaped by war. Christopher Kennedy Lawford shares his memoir, Symptoms of Withdrawal, as a member of those famous families.

History buffs will enjoy Grant and Sherman: The Friendship that Won the Civil War and A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare, 1599. So much seems to turn on personal relationships and the Civil War book reveals yet another perspective to that conflict. The book about Shakespeare is, frankly, strictly for those who are really into the Bard. For Catholics, there’s an interesting book, God’s Choice: Pope Benedict XVI and the Future of the Catholic Church. Its author, George Weigel, chronicles the rise of the new Pope and the dawn of a new era.

Lastly, if you are the parent of a really active, really sensitive kid, Raising Your Spirited Child by Mary Sheedy Kurcinka may just hold the key to dealing with the challenge. These are the kids often called "difficult" who have the ability to overwhelm parents. Filled with good advice, this may just be the gift that keeps on giving.

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Fun, Offbeat Reading

The classic satire by Voltaire, Candide, has been published ($11.00, Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition, softcover) chronicling the adventures of the naïve Candide, who doggedly continues on his journey even when faced with injustice, suffering, and despair. It is a story, said Voltaire, of optimism, but it is also an eighteenth century mocking look at kings, priests, publishers, journalists, scientists, and warmongers. Voltaire’s writings were often banned, got him jail time in the Bastille, and finally exile from France. This edition represents Theo Cuffe’s new translation. It reminds us that thinking all is well when it is not is no way to deal with the real world.

Hypochondria Can Kill by John Naish ($13.00, Plume softcover), a health journalist for the passed 15 years, is a collection of odd research reports on everyday perils and modern syndromes. It is subtitled, "A disease for every occasion, an illness for every symptom." We are deluged daily with new reports that everything we do can kill us and the book is filled with examples of how sex, food and drink, work, sports and our pets have been said to be lethal. The author also reveals how some top historical figures were hypochondriacs. By the way, worrying about your health can quadruple your chances of an early death!

The popular television show, Mythbusters, has generated a book of its own and anyone who has ever watched and enjoyed it will enjoy "the explosive truth behind 30 of the most perplexing urban legends of all time" ($15.95, Simon Spotlight Entertainment, an imprint of Simon & Schuster.) The show looks at questions such as, if an elevator suddenly falls, can you save yourself in the nick of time by jumping just before it hits bottom? Can eating a poppy-seed bagel provide a sense of euphoria? Will silicone breast implants survive the pressure of high altitude? A Left-Hand Turn Around the World by David Wolman ($23.95, Da Capo Press, Cambridge, MA) is subtitled "Chasing the Mystery and Meaning of All Things Southpaw." A fun gift for anyone who is left-handed by an author who literally took a year off to travel the world to learn everything he could about lefties. In the process he discovered Left Hand, West Virginia and you will discover the myths and truths about folks who prefer to use their left hand.

A Woman’s Guide to Revenge by Greg and Ann Clouthier ($14.95, Select Books) is a collection of funny, true stories about getting even and is subtitled "signs of a cheating man." The authors have been married for 30 years, but are private investigators who specialize in infidelity cases. Cheating husbands and scheming boyfriends have been around a long time and this book is about what happens when the wronged woman is pushed too far. It also contains some practical advice on how to spot a cheat and what legal steps are available.

For the kind of fun that is a family vacation, there’s two books about Walt Disney World, both jammed packed with information that will insure that you get your money’s worth and make the most of the time you’ll spend. The Luxury Guide to Walt Disney World® Resort by Care Goldsbury ($18.95, Insiders’ Guide, imprint of Globe Pequot Press) is just first class in every respect. This is for the kind of traveler who wants to tour Walt Disney World® and may want to reside in one of the luxurious resorts and dine at many of Orlando, Florida’s best restaurants. Passporter’s Walt Disney World® for Special Needs by Deb Wills and Debra Martin Koma ($22.95, PassPorter Travel Press) approaches the resort from the point of view of folks who may require a wheelchair or electric scooter. There’s plenty of assistance if you know to ask for it, from children with autism or families with special diet needs. There are places where mothers can breastfeed an infant and rides sized to fit guests with various disabilities. In short, a very useful guide for those who have "special needs."

For those who like to hit the open road, if it happens to be I-95, I am happy to report that the third edition of Drive I-95 is off the press ($22.95, Travelsmart, www.drivei95.com). Written by Stan Posner and Sandra Phillips-Posner, this book will take you, exit by exit, from Boston to the Florida border and back. In addition to its easy to follow maps, it is a treasure trove of information concerning the entire route. For example, out of 827 places to sleep along the way, 356 of them allow pets. You can learn where ATMs are located, offbeat museums, a bit of the history of the places along the route. In short, this is just the best damn book on this travel topic.

Though it may seem blasphemous to include Everything You Always Wanted to Know About God (but were afraid to ask) in this section, the fact remains that Eric Metaxas ($14.99, Waterbrook Press, Colorado Springs, CO) has made this into an interesting and entertaining topic by using the format of questions and answers to questions that have been asked from earliest times. In the process, he takes the reader on a theological journey that any Christian or Jew can enjoy, particularly if he or she hasn’t stepped foot in a house of worship in a while, but still wonders about spiritual issues in her or her life. Visit www.waterbrookpress.com for more information.

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Military Matters

The United States Marines recently celebrated its 230th birthday and anyone who admires the Corps will enjoy American Spartans: The U.S. Marines - A Combat History from Iwo Jima to Iraq ($26.00, Free Press, an imprint of Simon & Schuster). Written by James A. Warren, this is the story of what is arguably the greatest "boots on the ground" fighting machine that ever served a nation to protect and advance freedom. As they say, "No better friend, no worse enemy." In the last half-century the Marines transformed themselves from an obscure navy police unit with fewer than 10,000 men into an independent military service of more than 170,000 with its own naval and air force capabilities. It is the tip of the sword of the US military force. These are men and women who commit themselves to a warrior code. The author found that "the Marines fit no stereotype. They are a varied lot. Yet Marine history and culture bind them together like a close family." The Corps’ major battles are recounted, reminding us that freedom comes with a price of valor.

For those who find military history and other topics of interest, the Naval Institute Press has published a bonanza of interesting, new titles. Cradle of Conflict: Iraq and the Birth of the Modern U.S. Military by Michael Knights ($39.95, Navel Institute Press) is an invaluable look at the way our nation’s 15-year engagement with Iraq has transformed how the US fights wars. This book provides a detailed review of both wars the US has fought against Iraq, including insights on how commanders learned to deal with the insurgency that followed Iraq’s liberation.

Among the "Axis of Evil" cited by President Bush is the nation of North Korea and that nation has been in the news for its sales of missiles and nuclear technology to nations unfriendly to US interests. Led by a Communist dictator, North Korea maintains a huge army, more than a million strong. James M. Minnich has combined nearly 25 years of military experience with his academic credentials to write The North Korean People’s Army: Origins and Current Tactics ($24.95, Naval Institute Press). For anyone interested in current events, this book will provide insight to both the history of North Korea and the military options available to deal with its armed forces. Some reading that will prove encouraging is the latest edition of The Naval Institute Almanac of the U.S. Navy by Anthony Cowden ($27.95, Navel Institute Press), demonstrating the enormous power and reach of our naval forces. Today as in the past, our ability to control the sea-lanes of the world and project our power beyond our shores offers the best first defense that we will prevail in war and peace.

We tend to forget what a stunning victory the liberation of Iraq was. It is the way future wars will be fought. Jon Lee Anderson wrote a bestseller, The Fall of Baghdad, now in softcover ($16.00, Penguin Books) and newly updated. It is his eyewitness account that not only chronicles the military operation, but the depth and humanity of the Iraqi people. We tend to forget these people lived every day under Saddam Hussein’s brutal rule for some three decades and that our forces remain welcome there as they build a new nation. This is the real story told through the experiences of real people.

A look back at the role that Canadian forces played in World War II will interest those who enjoy history. Two books by Mark Zeuhlke have been published by Douglas & McIntyre. They are Holding Juno ($29.95) about the crucial six days when Canadian forces held the vulnerable beachheads during the D-Day lands, and The Gothic Line ($29.95) about the role Canadian troops played during August 1944 when they spearheaded the famed Eighth Army’s major offensive in Italy. For 28 days, the battle raged on between the Canadians, along with British and Polish troops against the German defenses. The author is a superb historian and vividly brings these actions to life again.

The way the United States conducts modern warfare has undergone a significant transformation. Our weapons represent cutting-edge technology. Doug Beason has written an interesting book about the next generation of weaponry, The E-Bomb: How America’s New Directed Energy Weapons Will Change the Way Future Wars Will be Fought ($26.00, Da Capo Press, Cambridge, MA). It may seem like something out of a sci-fi movie, but the use of directed energy can immobilize and attacking force. It will prove especially effective in urban warfare. Col. Beason has been the key architect in the development of this new weaponry that can create intense, invisible heat that will force insurgents to retreat from an attack. Directed-energy weapons will play an important role in future military operations and you can read all about it in this interesting, new book.

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Kid’s Stuff: Books for Younger Readers

As always, there are lots of new books for younger readers and those who get read to at bedtime.

Merry Christmas, Merry Crow is a new addition to Christmas lore, written by Kathi Appelt and beautifully illustrated by Jon Goodell ($16.00, Harcourt Children’s Books) that tells the story of a crow that flies around town gathering discarded items such as buttons, a shiny ring, a piece of string, and, in the end, decorates his own Christmas tree. This one is a winner and will delight those being read to as well as those up to age 7 who can read it for themselves. I also recommend The Tailor’s Gift by David M. Stern with illustrations by Dave Zaboski ($17.95, Doc’s Productions, Inc., Los Angeles) for its sly takeoff on the Santa Claus story. In this one, a tailor named Shimmel Cloth makes fine clothes from the wool his flock of sheep produce. When a harsh winter storm descends on the village below his mountain home and embers from their fires cause the village to burn, it is Shimmel Cloth to the rescue, bringing warm clothes in a sleigh drawn by his sheep that, bypassing the icy, bumpy road, miraculously discover they can fly. When the villagers tell the tailor they have lost everything, he tells them to look around and take joy in the fact they still have each other. This is both an inspirational and entertaining story.

There’s a two-year-old in my family who, like others her age, delights in testing her parent’s patience and I thought of her when I opened I Love Messes by Robie Harris and illustrated by Nicole Hollander ($7.99, Little Brown & Company). The series for pre-schoolers, "Just Being Me", includes I’m All Dressed and I’m So Mad, providing a child’s eye view of a family dealing with all the things associated with a toddler, providing honest portrayals of growing-up and parenting experiences. T. Berry Brazelton, MD, famed author of books on raising children found the series delightful. I did, too. And so will you if you’re raising a child or know someone who is. Younger children often resist bedtime, so another book, The Nights of the World by Corinna Albaut-Arno ($18.95, Kane Miller), is a way of demonstrating that everyone goes to sleep around the world. Each page is designed with a pull-tag that changes the illustration from night to day! This is the kind of book a toddler will ask you to show them time and again.

From Illumination Arts, just in time for the holidays, come two new books for the toddler and pre-schooler in the form of Your Father Forever by Travis Griffith, illustrated by Raquel Abreu ($15.95) that provides a reassuring look at the role of fathers in our lives. This is a companion to A Mother’s Promise, published earlier. The other new title is Am I a Color Too? ($15.95) about a young, interracial boy who wonders why people are labeled by the color of their skin. Written by Hiedi Cole and Nancy Vogl, and illustrated by Gerald Purnell, this book may prove useful to answer unasked questions by the children of interracial marriages. You can learn more about the many fine books by this publisher by visiting www.illumin.com.

I became an instant fan of the books from the Rip Squeak Press in San Luis Obispo, California because of the beautiful illustrations by Leonard Filgate that illuminate the great stories by his wife, Susan Yost-Filgate. The latest is Rip Squeak and His Friends ($16.95) featuring our hero, a mouse with an adventurous streak that invariably includes his various pals. This story involves a home in which the humans have left, leaving behind a pet cat. Despite the notion that cats are automatically trouble for mice, Rip and his sister, and the cat are soon joined by a frog and together they explore the place, becoming a small family in the process. Visit www.RipSqueak.com to learn more about this series of books. They will become your family’s treasures.

Fans of astrology may want to pass along the stories of the various star signs with a gift of Zodiac: Celestial Circle of the Sun by Jacqueline Mitton and Christina Balit ($16.95, Frances Lincoln). The artwork is excellent, as are the production values of the book, and the text is aimed at youngsters seven to ten years or so. They will never look up at the sky again without contemplating the constellations. Kenneth C. Davis has written Don’t Know Much About World Myths ($19.95, Harper Collins) that will entertain any youngster aged 8 to 12. It’s a tour around the world for a look at the many different myths from various nations.

From National Geographic comes fifty profiles of Americans who helped change our history through their lives. American Heroes by Marfe Ferguson Delano ($24.95) will intrigue the pre-teen and younger teenager with its stories of people like Alexander Graham Bell, the Wright Brothers, Alice Paul the suffragette, Jackie Robinson, and Martin Luther King, Jr., among many others from the days of our Revolution to modern times. In recent months, National Geographic has also published The Remarkable Benjamin Franklin by Cheryl Harness ($17.95) that tells the story of this great American and the times in which he lived. From an earlier period of history, there’s Elizabeth I: The Outcast Who Became England’s Queen by Simon Adams ($17.95) and, for fun plus some interesting information, How to Be a Pirate by John Malam and illustrated by Dave Antram ($14.95). This is the kind of history that any young reader can enjoy and, at the same time, store up useful knowledge.

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Novels, Novels, Novels!

The holidays are not usually associated with picking up a good novel, but, in between all those trips to the mall, school events, the job or homemaking, what better way is there to just relax for a little while?

In the spirit of the season, The Secret Life of Mrs. Claus by Carly Alexander ($12.95, Kensington Publishing softcover) is a clever, sexy, fun tale filled holiday cheer and miracles as three women and a very special Mrs. Santa suit help them get what they really want for Christmas. I am so glad there are talented authors that still want to write new Christmas stories. This one is a winner!

Our eyes are on the Middle East these days and The Hadassah Covenant by Tommy Tenney and Mark Andrew Olsen ($19.99, Bethany House) is a powerful, heart-wrenching thriller set in both ancient and modern Iraq, Iran, and Israel. Its template is the biblical story of Queen Esther, but its main character lives two thousands years later, but they are bound by a divine legacy. The past and the present play against one another as the contemporary Hadassah watches helplessly as her beloved land and people are terrorized by the threats within its borders and from the nations beyond. I don’t want to tell you too much about the plot except that it will move you on several levels. To learn more about this and other Bethany House titles, visit www.bethanyhouse.com.

Let’s shift gears to the world of rock and roll. How to Kill a Rock Star by Tiffanie DeBartelo ($14.00, Sourcebooks) is likely to be her breakthrough novel, despite an impressive debut with "God Shaped Hole." The author has been a Hollywood screenwriter and director, so she knows her way around the territory she has created in a modern-day musical love story that asks, how much would you be willing to sacrifice for love, art or fame? As the lead character puts it, "I’d know for a long time that love had a sound, but I wasn’t sure it had a face and body, too. Especially one that would show itself to me for the first time on a subway platform, fidgeting nervously, with pale, luminescent eyes, dark, limp hair, and a cocky-bastard smile that could boil water. But I knew. I could tell. And I would’ve done anything for him." In a similar vein, The Secret Lives of Fortunate Wives by Sarah Strohmeyer ($23.95, Dutton, an imprint of the Penguin Group USA) takes a look at life in the suburbs in a wise and witty examination of what goes on beyond the manicured lawns. It’s set in a gated community where everyone is "thin and tan and exceedingly happy" and the women are "inversely beautiful to their husband’s ugliness." Of course, everything is turned on its head when Claire Stark Harding marries the neighborhood’s most eligible bachelor and moves in. She is everything a Hunting Hills wife is not. Hey, this is just fun to read!

Love is also the topic of A Walk On the Cliffs Margo Reasner ($11.95, iUniverse). This novel explores two worlds as its lead character wonders what it would have been like had she chosen the other man? MaryAnn choose Brad and sets about creating the perfect marriage, but she can’t help wondering what life would have been like had she chosen Robert. What if she could go back and change her decision? In this fanciful and fascinating story, that’s exactly what happens when, while on a vacation trip with her husband, Robert and his girlfriend, she wakes up one morning to discover she is Robert’s wife! It sets her on a journey of self-discovery as well, as she explores friendship, motherhood, and sexuality in this private parallel universe. Reasner pulls off this hat trick and keeps you reading to the last page. To learn more, visit www.margoreasner.com or check out her page in our Featured Books section.

If relationships interest you, I think you will find The Wake a rewarding reading experience. It is the 2005 winner of the Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz Prize. The author, Margo Glantz has had a long career as a distinguished novelist, critic, journalist and translator. As such she is regarded as one of Mexico’s leading literary figures. This translation by Andrew Hurley ($4.00, Curbstone Press) is yet another virtuoso piece of writing as she tells the story of Nora Garcia who returns to a Mexican village she has not visited in years to attend the funeral of her ex-husband, a famed pianist who had died of a massive heart attack. Nora is herself a musician, a cellist, and the novel has the feel of a canon and fugue with variations on a theme as she explores her feelings about the funeral, the mass, the burial, and her own long suppressed grief and rage.

If your preference is a novel that is so scary you will need a night light in order to get to sleep, then pick up David Morrell’s latest, Creepers ($24.95, CDS Books). It’s a cold October night in New Jersey and five people, city archeologists who like to investigate abandoned buildings, are preparing to break into the Paragon Hotel, a rundown relic of Asbury Park’s better days. Coming along to report on this ever-so-illegal activity is a reporter for The New York Times who intends to profile the group who are called "creepers" for their penchant to explore and extrapolate the secrets of such places. Only this time what they run into is danger, terror, and death. Morrell has a list of bestsellers that reads like a rap sheet running back to 1972 when he burst on the scene with First Blood. He’s the real deal and so is this new novel.

There are still people who love a good short story and you will find 18 of them in Tom Tolnay’s collection, Selling America ($12.99, Silk Label Books, Unionville, NY). Written around the theme of buying and selling, Tolnay introduces us to a mix of characters, all engaged in the most essential of all transactions. I once had a professor who told me, "Nothing happens until some person sells something to someone else." In this collection, there is both humor and pathos. Indeed, except for the theme, no two stories resemble each other, displaying the author’s talent and invest the reader in the lives of his characters. Reading Tolnay is a special treat.

That’s it for December and for 2005. Tell your friends about Bookviews.com and come back next month where you will learn about the best in new fiction and non-fiction that is often bypassed in the mainstream media. Don’t forget to visit our Featured Books section with its eclectic selection of unique books of merit. See you in January!

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