The Founders Reconsidered

Recently there have been published one or two books on the Founders of our country examined from new and interesting viewpoints. In honor of Independence Day, try these books that talk about aspects of the beginning days of the United States that you may not have known of before:

The Ascent of George Washington: The Hidden Political Genius of an American Icon by John Ferling Find this book in our catalog

A fresh and provocative new portrait of the greatest Founder of them all, George Washington.

Founders: The People Who Brought You a Nation by Ray Raphael Find this book in our catalog

Examines lesser-known participants in the founding of the U.S.

The General and Mrs. Washington : the untold story of a marriage & a revolution by Bruce Chadwick. Find this book in our catalog

The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Founding Fathers by Mcclanahan, Brion Find this book in our catalog

For a revision of the revisionists, read this. The book jacket says: "rescues the Founding Fathers' reputations from the plague of modern political correctness to hold them up for what they truly are: the pillars of American society."

The Washingtons of Wessyngton Plantation : stories of my family's journey to freedom by John F. Baker, Jr. Find this book in our catalog

A descendant of Wessyngton slaves, Baker pens an accessible and exciting work of African-American history.

The Founding Fathers Reconsidered by R.B. Bernstein Find this book in our catalog

Bernstein reveals the Founding Fathers not as shining demigods but as imperfect human beings who nevertheless achieved political greatness.

Thrillers Hot Off the Press

Thriller fans - These are some of the new thrillers ordered and newly acquired by Harford County Public Library for July - just in time for beach reading!
* TRY FEAR by James Scott Bell
* KILL ZONE by Vicki Hinze
* NO MERCY by John Gilstrap
* GREEDY BONES by Carolyn Haines
* MISSING MARK by Julie Kramer
* KILL HER AGAIN by Robert Gregory Browne
* FADE TO BLACK by Leslie Parrish
* HOUSE SECRETS by Mike Lawson
* RED BLOODED MURDER by Laura Caldwell
* THE APOSTLE by Brad Thor
* BREAKPOINT by JoAnn Ross
* OUTCAST by Joan Johnston
* THE BONE FACTORY by Nate Kenyon
* THE ODDS by Kathleen George
* FUGITIVE by Phillip Margolin
* UNDONE by Karin Slaughter
* THE DEVIL'S COMPANY by David Liss
* FREE AGENT by Jeremy Duns
* CRIMINAL KARMA by Steven M. Thomas
* FAN MAIL by P.D. Martin
* THE MISSING INK by Karen E. Olson
* DUST TO DUST by Heather Graham
* EVERYWHERE SHE TURNS by Debra Webb
* DEAD DOCKET by Mitchell Graham

FYI you thriller fans - ThrillerFest 2009 will be held at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in New York City July 8 - 11. Read more in the International Thriller Writers newsletter The Big Thrill...

Far North by Marcel Theroux

Book Jacket
"Far North" takes the reader on a quest through an unforgettable arctic landscape, from humanity's origins to its possible end. Haunting, spare, yet stubbornly hopeful, the novel is suffused with an ecstatic awareness of the world's fragility and beauty, and its unexpected ability to recover from our worst trespasses.

In this post-apocalyptic, dystopian view of a future where heat and starvation have caused people to flee to the far north, Makepeace, the sheriff and maybe last survivor of a failed city lives in solitary isolation. Following a series of events, Makepeace decides to venture out into the greater world to discover what is happening there. This world is a very dangerous place peopled by thugs, robbers, murderers and slave traders. Makepeace is captured and sold into a slave camp but manages to escape after five years, only to reach "the Zone" a huge, empty and radioactive city also filled with anthrax. Through Makepeace's eyes, the author shows us not just the brutality of this world, but also its beauty and the enduring hope that humanity will survive. This novel is thought-provoking as the reader asks "what would I be prepared to do to survive?" What makes us human, and what does it take to remove the constraints that civilized society places on us? From the beginning there are surprises, twists and turns enough to keep the reader turning the pages and wondering if Makepeace will make it home again.

Publisher's Weekly gave this novel a starred review.

If you like this book, you might like these.
Cormac McCarthy's 'The Road', John Wyndham's 'Chrysalids' or Margaret Atwood's 'Oryx and Crake'.

Cookbooks both practical and escapist!

About a year ago, Gourmet magazine launched a cookbook club, in which it selects a cookbook every month, reviewing it in the print magazine and offering related multimedia content on its website. Read more about the launch at Publisher's Weekly for 5/5/08. Click here for the Cookbook Club website.

The category of cookbooks is probably the most popular category of nonfiction books in the public library. Certainly the publishing industry produces a plethora of books each year that are both practical and a delight to the eye and the imagination.

If you are one of our many readers who check out cookbooks, look below at the short list of some of the new titles recently arrived in Harford County Public Library. If you are looking for practical cooking advice, trendy information, or pure escapism, browse our cookbook section or ask your branch librarian for help.

• American food writing : an anthology with classic recipes / edited by Molly O'Neill Find this book in our catalag
• Bon appétit, y'all : recipes and stories from three generations of Southern cooking / Virginia Willis Find this book in our catalog
• Don't fill up on the antipasto : Tony Danza's father-son cookbook : with memories of and Italian-American family and 50 pf their best recipes / Tony and Marc Danza Find this book in our catalog
• Appetizers : starters and buffet food: Fabulous first courses, dips, snacks, quick bites, and light meals: 150 delicious recipes shown in 230 stunning photographs/ Christine Ingram Find this book in our catalog
• Fabulous parties : food and flowers for elegant entertaining / Mark Held, Richard David, Peggy Dark Find this book in our catalog
• Brunch : recipes for cozy weekend mornings / recipes, Georgeanne Brennan ; photography, Laurie Frankel Find this book in our catalog

Sir Isaac Newton - criminal investigator

Earlier today I posted news about the Royal Society Prize for Science Books. The Royal Society is the national academy of science of the UK and the Commonwealth. Founded in 1660, the Royal Society counts many of the illustrious founders of modern science among its past fellows and members (read more). Sir Isaac Newton was one of the early presidents.

Currently I am reading an exceedingly fascinating book about Sir Isaac Newton. This work of nonfiction, Newton and the Counterfeiter : the unknown detective career of the world's greatest scientist by Thomas Levenson, reads easily, like fiction or like the best of true crime stories. Find this book in our catalog

In 1695, Isaac Newton, having lived reclusively in Cambridge for 30 years moved to London to take up the post of Warden of His Majesty’s Mint. He wanted a change of scene, but to move from Cambridge he needed some means of support other than his professorship: which perhaps explains why he took up this unlikely post. Newton could heve treated his post as a mere sinecure and left the duties of his office to lesser and ineffectual civil servants; however, during his three years in office he was notably successful in stamping out counterfeiting (pun intended!). This was vital to the economy of the time: money in the modern sense was just coming into being, but the official coinage was almost completely compromised by counterfeits. Newton brought all his genius to bear on the problem, using the new methods of science he had introduced to the world to detect, track down, prosecute, and convict many individual criminals from his office in the Tower. His chief adversary was a genius of a diferent kind: William Chaloner a brilliant counterfeiter and crime lord. In the courts and streets of London the two played out an epic game of cat and mouse.

There is much to enjoy: the readable, clear, yet technically well-informed style of the author and the extremely detailed, yet never boring description of the work of Newton and fellow natural philosophers; the rich details of society at all levels; the lively depiction of the underworld of London; the battle of the protagonists.

If you like historical true crime you will probably like:

The suspicions of Mr. Whicher : a shocking murder and the undoing of a great Victorian detective by Kate Summerscale.

If you like science writing that reads like fiction:

Longitude : the true story of a lone genius who solved the greatest scientific problem of his time by Dava Sobel.

Locus SF Awards

The 2009 Locus Award

Winners for best science fiction books and related books were named at a ceremony June 27 in Seattle. Read more about the award winners at Locus Online. Boing Boing observed that the list is a "good place to start your reading if you want to read some of the best stuff out there."
Locus Award winners:
* Science fiction novel: Anathem by Neal Stephenson Find this book in our catalog

* Fantasy novel: Lavinia by Ursula K. Le Guin Find this book in our catalog

* First novel: Singularity's Ring by Paul Melko Find this book in our catalog

* Young adult book: The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman Find this book in our catalog

* Novella: Pretty Monsters by Kelly Link Find this book in our catalog

* Anthology: The Year's Best Science Fiction: Twenty-Fifth Annual collection, edited by Gardner Dozois Find this book in our catalog

* Non-Fiction/Art Book: P. Craig Russell--Coraline: The Graphic Novel by Neil Gaiman, adapted and illustrated by P. Craig Russell Find this graphic novel in our catalog

Top Science Writing available in HCPL

The shortlist for the US$16,503 Royal Society Prize for Science Books has just been reported. Sir Tim Hunt, chair of the panel of judges, was reported in The Guardian as saying, "There's clearly a large audience for books that explain science clearly and gracefully, and no shortage of authors."

I am happy to announce that on checking the catalog I found that Harford County Public Library has all five of the shortlist of this prestigeous British award that are available from US publishers: (click on the titles to follow the links to our catalog)
* What the Nose Knows: The Science of Scent in Everyday Life by Avery Gilbert

* The Age of Wonder: How the Romantic Generation Discovered the beauty and Terror of Science by Richard Holmes

* Decoding the Heavens: Solving the Mystery of the World's First Computer by Jo Marchant

* The Drunkard's Walk: How Randomness Rules Our Lives by Leonard Mlodinow

* Your Inner Fish: The Amazing Discovery of Our 375-million-year-old Ancestor by Neil Shubin