Recordpub.com - One for the Books: Memorable Friendships

Stories of friendship, real or fictional, can introduce us to memorable characters.

One of my new favorites is "The Housekeeper and the Professor," a novel by Yoko Ogawa set in modern Japan. As this warm and gentle story begins, a young woman takes a job as housekeeper to a man she suspects may be an ogre; she is something like the 10th woman to attempt the job that no other housekeeper has kept for long. It turns out that her new employer is a former professor of mathematics who was injured in an accident and now has very limited short-term memory. He is also quite eccentric. His first question on meeting her is, "What's your shoe size?" She tells us: "Every morning, during the entire time I worked for the Professor, we repeated this numerical q and a at the front door. To the Professor, whose memory lasted only 80 minutes, I was always a new housekeeper he was meeting for the first time, and so every morning he was appropriately shy and reserved. He would ask my shoe size or telephone number, or perhaps my zip code, the registration number on my bicycle, or the number of brushstrokes in the characters of my name; and whatever the number, he invariably found some significance in it."

The 64-year-old professor pins notes to his clothing as reminders. He has a doctorate in mathematics; she never graduated from high school, but she can appreciate that "There was something profound in his love for math." She sometimes brings her 10-year-old son to work with her, and the professor instantly brightens up every time he sees the boy, whom he nicknames "Root" because his hair is shaped like the square-root symbol. The mother and son share the professor's love for baseball and come to consider him a friend. They also come to love numbers, to appreciate them through the professor's eyes. "He treated Root exactly as he treated prime numbers," the narrator tells us. "For him, primes were the base on which all other natural numbers relied; and children were the foundation of everything worthwhile in the adult world."

This is a strange and unusual love story and a unique character study. Though not a romance, it is a testament to the love of friends. It is a moving, unforgettable gem.

"The Girls from Ames: A Story of Women & a Forty-Year Friendship" by Jeffrey Zaslow is the true account of 11 childhood friends from Ames, Iowa. All the girls were born in 1962-63, and several have known each other all their lives. The author presents each one's story, separately and as they relate with the other girls. "Not every girl was close to every other girl in the same way ... but like a corporate flow chart, all were linked to one another through someone else," writes the author, "meaning there were 99 different one-on-one relationships between them." There is plenty here for readers of any age to relate to, from preschool and kindergarten, to learning about the birds and bees and first crushes on boys, to becoming adults. The girls share stories from minor problems such as not fitting in and having bad haircuts, to the big issues of marriage and divorce, birth and death. "They ended up moving in or out of 17 different states. Between them, they found nine first husbands and two second husbands, and brought 21 children into the world. They have buried five parents."

The author also talks about friendship in general, pointing out that studies have shown that "women -- and the Ames girls are proof of this -- are likely to connect early and then hold tight to each other." Says one of the women, "We root each other to the core of who we are, rather than what defines us as adults -- by careers or spouses or kids. There's a young girl in each of us who is still full of life." The author writes, "When they're together, the girls almost have to be their most authentic selves." Another of the women says, "These women seem to have an extraordinary capacity for strong connections, and not just with their families and the group of us, but also with their newer friends and colleagues. Maybe through our strong friendship we have learned how to more deeply care for others."

A lighter story of friendship comes from Claire Cook in her novel, "The Wildwater Walking Club." Baby boomer Noreen has been downsized from her job and dumped by her boyfriend, on the same day. She was once a workaholic, she tells us, "And then one day, I awoke to find myself not only jobless, but ... oldish and fattish. And ... seriously alone." To overcome the ensuing depression, she buys walking shoes and hits the pavement, hiking around her "pretty little beach community" on Wildwater Way in Marshbury, Mass. While walking, she encounters one heretofore unknown neighbor, and then another. The three women start walking together each day, and as they walk they talk, becoming entwined in each others' lives. "I'd taken that first step because I'd wanted to look better. I'd wanted my clothes to fit. But it hadn't taken me long to figure out that the biggest benefit was less about vanity than it was about sanity. Walking always helped," says Noreen. "In a world full of disappointment, walking was becoming the one thing I could actually count on."

One of the women owns a lavender farm, and we learn quite a bit about the uses for lavender, as the ladies attend a lavender-growers' convention. The book even mentions Daybreak Lavender Farm in Streetsboro. Another of the women has involved herself in support of a teacher in New Orleans. And one humorous subplot involves an all-too-real current problem: neighborhood backyard clothesline wars.

I have to admit that I was sometimes confused about the women's motivation for their actions. But the book has a happy ending, so it makes a nice summer read.

Find book news and more online at www.recordpub.com; click "News" in the menu bar, then "Lifetimes," and find "One for the Books" or visit my blog at http://blogs.dixcdn.com/shine_a_light; Twitter @One4TheBooks.

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BOOK NOTES, One for the Books Extra Online Exclusives:

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Follow me on Twitter @One4TheBooks.
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Check out my new blog on books, inspiration, fun and thought-provoking goodies! It’s called “Shine A Light!”

http://blogs.dixcdn.com/shine_a_light/

If you lose that link, go to www.recordpub.com. Click “Blogs” in the blue bar at the top of the page, and find “Shine A Light.”

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LOCAL BOOK CLUBS:

The Book Discussion Group at the Randolph Library meets the first Monday of the month, except August, at 6:30 p.m. in the Randolph Senior Center. The group is open to everyone, and new members are always welcome. The library will stock copies of the books each month. Call the library at 330-325-7003.

Pierce-Streetsboro Library’s Book Discussion Group meets regularly on the second Monday of each month at 6:45 p.m. in the library’s meeting room. New members are always welcome to attend and participate in the discussion. The library is located at 8990 Kirby Lane in Streetsboro, next to the administrative offices of the Streetsboro City Schools. For more information, call the library at 330-626-4458.

The Book Discussion Group at the Mogadore Branch of the Akron-Summit County Library, 144 S. Cleveland Ave., 330-628-9228, meets at 6:30 p.m. Wednesdays to discuss books.
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The Friends of the Randolph Library will hold a book sale at the Randolph Community Center (located behind the library) from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. July 31 and from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. Aug. 1. Parking is available both behind the library and behind the community center.

The Friends of Brimfield Library will hold a sidewalk book sale from 11 a.m. until 3 p.m. Aug. 8. For more information about these events, call the Randolph Library at 330-325-7003 or the Brimfield Library at 330-677-5826. Visit Portage County District Library online at www.portagelibrary.org for information about library programs and services.

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NCR Online reviews THEOLOGY IN THE CONTEXT OF SCIENCE by John Polkinghorne:

http://ncronline.org/node/14051

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The NCR Book Club discusses THE MAKING OF A CATHOLIC PRESIDENT: KENNEDY VS. NIXON 1960 by Shaun A. Casey

http://ncronline.org/node/14143

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from Shelf Awareness: New Titles Out July 21:

Twenties Girl: A Novel by Sophie Kinsella
The Leader's Way: The Art of Making the Right Decisions in Our Careers, Our Companies, and the World at Large by the Dalai Lama and Laurens van den Muyzenberg
Getting It Through My Thick Skull: Why I Stayed, What I Learned, and What Millions of People Involved with Sociopaths Need to Know by Mary Jo Buttafuoco
Fire and Ice by J. A. Jance
Storm Cycle by Iris Johansen and Roy Johansen
No Quarter: The Battle of the Crater, 1864 by Richard Slotkin

Now in paperback:

Sleepless in Scotland (the MacLeans) by Karen Hawkins
Smoke Screen: A Novel by Sandra Brown

New Titles Out July 28:

The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson
Hot Pursuit: A Novel by Suzanne Brockmann
Reset: How This Crisis Can Restore Our Values and Renew America by Kurt Andersen and Tom Brokaw
Warriors Super Edition: Bluestar's Prophecy by Erin Hunter and Wayne McLoughlin
Eagles and Empire: The United States, Mexico, and the Struggle for a Continent by David A. Clary

Now in paperback:

Casting Off by Nicole R. Dickson
Chosen to Die by Lisa Jackson
Velva Jean Learns to Drive: A Novel by Jennifer Niven
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PUBLISHERS WEEKLY BEST-SELLERS
By The Associated Press

HARDCOVER FICTION
1. “Best Friends Forever” by Jennifer Weiner (Atria)
2. “Black Hills” by Nora Roberts (Putnum Adult)
3. “Swimsuit” by James Patterson, Maxine Paetro (Little, Brown)
4. “Finger Lickin’ Fifteen” by Janet Evanovich (St. Martin’s)
5. “The Doomsday Key: A Novel” by James Rollins (William Morrow)
6. “Rain Gods” by James Lee Burke (Simon & Schuster)
7. “The Apostle: A Thriller” by Brad Thor (Atria)
8. “The Devil’s Punchbowl” by Greg Iles (Scribner)
9. “The Help” by Kathryn Stockett (Putnam/Amy Einhorn)
10. “Dead and Gone” by Charlaine Harris (Ace)
11. “Guardian of Lies: A Paul Madriani Novel” by Steve Martini (William Morrow)
12. “The Castaways” by Elin Hilderbrand (Little, Brown)
13. “Shanghai Girls: A Novel” by Lisa See (Random House)
14. “Undone” by Karin Slaughter (Delacorte)
15. “Burn” by Linda Howard (Ballantine Books)

HARDCOVER NONFICTION
1. “Unmasked: The Final Years of Michael Jackson” by Ian Halperin (Simon Spotlight Entertainment)
2. “Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man: What Men Really Think About Love, Relationships, Intimacy, and Commitment” by Steve Harvey (Amistad)
3. “Outliers: The Story of Success” by Malcolm Gladwell (Little, Brown)
4. “Liberty and Tyranny: A Conservative Manifesto” by Mark R. Levin (Threshold Editions)
5. “Catastrophe” by Dick Morris, Eileen McGann (Harper)
6. “The Last Lecture” by Randy Pausch with Jeffrey Zaslow (Hyperion)
7. “The Vixen Manual: How to Find, Seduce & Keep the Man You Want” by Karinne Steffans (Grand Central Publishing)
8. “The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook A Tale of Sex, Money, Genius and Betrayal” by Ben Mezrich (Doubleday)
9. “Horse Soldiers: The Extraordinary Story of a Band of US Soldiers Who Rode to Victory in Afghanistan” by Doug Stanton (Scribner)
10. “Master Your Metabolism: The 3 Diet Secrets to Naturally Balancing Your Hormones for a Hot and Healthy Body!” by Jillian Michaels and Mariska van Aalst (Crown)
11. “Excuses Begone! How to Change Lifelong, Self-Defeating Thinking Habits” by Wayne W. Dyer (Hay House)
12. “Got Fight?: The 50 Zen Principles of Hand-to-Face Combat” by Forrest Griffin, Erich Krauss (William Morrow)
13. “The Secret” by Rhonda Byrne (Atria)
14. “Bobby and Jackie: A Love Story” by C. David Heyman (Atria)
15. “End of Overeating: Taking Control of the Insatiable American Appetite” by David Kessler (Rodale Books)

MASS MARKET PAPERBACKS
1. “My Sister’s Keeper” by Jodi Picoult (Pocket)
2. “TailSpin” by Catherine Coulter (Jove)
3. “Fearless Fourteen” by Janet Evanovich (St. Martin’s Paperbacks)
4. “Dead Until Dark” by Charlaine Harris (Ace)
5. “From Dead to Worse” by Charlaine Harris (Ace)
6. “Moscow Rules” by Daniel Silva (Signet)
7. “Club Dead” by Charlaine Harris (Ace)
8. “Hidden Currents” by Christine Feehan (Jove)
9. “Living Dead in Dallas” by Charlaine Harris (Ace)
10. “The MacKade Brothers: Devin and Shane: The Heart Of Devin MacKade 1/4The Fall Of Shane MacKade” by Nora Roberts (Silhouette)
11. “Tsar” by Ted Bell (Pocket Star)
12. “What Happens in London” by Julia Quinn (Avon)
13. “Dead to the World” by Charlaine Harris (Ace)
14. “Dead as a Doornail” by Charlaine Harris (Ace)
15. “Sail” by James Patterson and Howard Roughan (Vision)

TRADE PAPERBACKS
1. “Glenn Beck’s Common Sense: The Case Against an Out-of-Control Government, Inspired by Thomas Paine” by Glenn Beck (Threshold Editions)
2. “The Shack” by William P. Young (Windblown Media)
3. “The Time Traveler’s Wife” by Audrey Niffenegger (Mariner Books)
4. “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” by Stieg Larsson (Vintage)
5. “The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society” by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows (Dial)
6. “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies” by Jane Austin and Seth Grahame-Smith (Quirk Books)
7. “Olive Kitteredge” by Elizabeth Strout (Random House Trade Paperbacks)
8. “My Sister’s Keeper” by Jodi Picoult (Washington Square Press)
9. “Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace ... One School at a Time” by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin (Penguin)
10. “Michael Jackson: The One and Only” by Triumph Books (Triumph Books)
11. “The Art of Racing in the Rain: A Novel” by Garth Stein (Harper)
12. “Julie & Julia: My Year of Cooking Dangerously” by Julie Powell (Back Bay Books)
13. “The Alchemist” by Paulo Coelho (Harper)
14. “I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell” by Tucker Max (Citadel)
15. “When You Are Engulfed in Flames” by David Sedaris (Back Bay Books)
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WALL STREET JOURNAL BEST-SELLERS
By The Associated Press

FICTION
1. “Best Friends Forever” by Jennifer Weiner (Atria)
2. “Eclipse” by Stephenie Meyer (Little, Brown and Company)
3. “Breaking Dawn” by Stephenie Meyer (Little, Brown for Young Readers)
4. “Swimsuit” by James Patterson, Maxine Paetro (Little, Brown)
5. “Black Hills” by Nora Roberts (G.P. Putnam’s Sons) (F-H)
6. “Finger Lickin’ Fifteen” by Janet Evanovich (St. Martin’s)
7. “L.A. Candy” by Lauren Conrad (HarperCollins)
8. “The Help” by Kathryn Stockett (Putnam/Amy Einhorn)
9. “Rain Gods” by James Lee Burke (Simon & Schuster)
10. “The Doomsday Key: A Novel” by James Rollins (William Morrow)
11. “The Last Olympian” by Rick Riordan (Disney Hyperion Books for Children)
12. “The Apostle: A Thriller” by Brad Thor (Atria)
13. “The Devil’s Punchbowl” by Greg Iles (Scribner)
14. “Dead and Gone” by Charlaine Harris (Ace)
15. “Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw” by Jeff Kinney (Amulet)

NONFICTION
1. “Unmasked: The Final Years of Michael Jackson” by Ian Halperin (Simon Spotlight Entertainment)
2. “Outliers: The Story of Success” by Malcolm Gladwell (Little, Brown)
3. “Liberty and Tyranny: A Conservative Manifesto” by Mark R. Levin (Threshold Editions)
4“Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man: What Men Really Think About Love, Relationships, Intimacy, and Commitment” by Steve Harvey (Amistad)
5. “StrengthsFinder 2.0: A New and Upgraded Edition of the Online Test from Gallup’s Now, Discover Your Strengths” by Tom Rath (Gallup Press)
6. “Catastrophe” by Dick Morris, Eileen McGann (Harper)
7. “The Last Lecture” by Randy Pausch with Jeffrey Zaslow (Hyperion)
8. “The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook A Tale of Sex, Money, Genius and Betrayal” by Ben Mezrich (Doubleday)
9. “End of Overeating: Taking Control of the Insatiable American Appetite” by David Kessler (Rodale Books)
10. “Master Your Metabolism: The 3 Diet Secrets to Naturally Balancing Your Hormones for a Hot and Healthy Body!” by Jillian Michaels and Mariska van Aalst (Crown)
11. “Horse Soldiers: The Extraordinary Story of a Band of US Soldiers Who Rode to Victory in Afghanistan” by Doug Stanton (Scribner)
12. “The Secret” by Rhonda Byrne (Atria)
13. “Mommywood” by Tori Spelling (Simon Spotlight Entertainment)
14. “Bobby and Jackie: A Love Story” by C. David Heyman (Atria)
15. “Got Fight?: The 50 Zen Principles of Hand-to-Face Combat” by Forrest Griffin, Erich Krauss (William Morrow)

The Wall Street Journal’s list reflects nationwide sales of hardcover books during the week ended last Saturday at more than 2,500 Barnes & Noble, B. Dalton, Bookland, Books-a-Million, Books & Co., Bookstar, Bookstop, Borders, Brentano’s, Coles, Coopersmith, Doubleday, Scribners and Waldenbooks stores, as well as sales from online retailers Amazon.com and barnesandnoble.com.
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USA Today Best Sellers
By The Associated Press
Key: F-Fiction; NF-Nonfiction; H-Hardcover; P-Paperback

1. “Glenn Beck’s Common Sense: The Case Against an Out-of-Control Government, Inspired by Thomas Paine” by Glenn Beck (Threshold Editions) (NF-P)
2. “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” by J.K. Rowling, art by Mary GrandPre (Arthur A. Levine Books) (F-P)
3. “New Moon” by Stephenie Meyer (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers) (F-P)
4. “Eclipse” by Stephenie Meyer (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers) (F-H)
5. “My Sister’s Keeper: A Novel” by Jodi Picoult (Pocket) (F-P)
6. “Twilight” by Stephenie Meyer (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers) (F-P)
7. “Breaking Dawn” by Stephenie Meyer (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers) (F-H)
8. “TailSpin” by Catherine Coulter (Jove) (F-P)
9. “The Shack” by William P. Young (Windblown Media) (F-P)
10. “Black Hills” by Nora Roberts (G.P. Putnam’s Sons) (F-H)
11. “Best Friends Forever” by Jennifer Weiner (Atria)
12. “Swimsuit” by James Patterson, Maxine Paetro (Little, Brown) (F-H)
13. “Sooner or Later” by Debbie Macomber (Avon) (F-P)
14. “Finger Lickin’ Fifteen” by Janet Evanovich (St. Martin’s) (F-H)
15. “The MacKade Brothers: Devin and Shane: The Heart Of Devin MacKade 1/4The Fall Of Shane MacKade” by Nora Roberts (Silhouette) (F-P)
16. “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” by Stieg Larsson (Vintage) (F-P)
17. “The Time Traveler’s Wife” by Audrey Niffenegger (Mariner Books) (F-P)
18. “Blue Moon: The Immortals” by Alyson Noel (St. Martin’s Griffin) (F-P)
19. “Julie & Julia: My Year of Cooking Dangerously” by Julie Powell (Back Bay Books) (NF-P)
20. “Fearless Fourteen” by Janet Evanovich (St. Martin’s Paperbacks) (F-P)
21. “Boys R Us” by Lisi Harrison (Poppy) (F-P)
22. “Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace ... One School at a Time” by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin (Penguin) (NF-P)
23. “Hidden Currents” by Christine Feehan (Jove) (F-P)
24. “The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society” by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows (Dial) (F-P)
25. “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” by J.K. Rowling, art by Mary GrandPre, (Scholastic) (F-P)
26. “L.A. Candy” by Lauren Conrad (HarperCollins) (F-H)
27. “Dead Until Dark” by Charlaine Harris (Ace) (F-P)
28. “What Happens in London” by Julia Quinn (Avon) (F-P)
29. “Unmasked: The Final Years of Michael Jackson” by Ian Halperin (Simon Spotlight Entertainment) (NF-H)
30. “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies” by Jane Austin and Seth Grahame-Smith (Quirk Books) (F-P)
31. “Fractured” by Karin Slaughter (Dell) (F-P)
32. “The Doomsday Key: A Novel” by James Rollins (William Morrow) (F-H)
33. “The Dangerous Days of Daniel X” by James Patterson, Michael Ledwidge (Vision) (F-P)
34. “Last Kiss” by Luanne Rice (Bantam) (F-H)
35. “The Help” by Kathryn Stockett (Putnam/Amy Einhorn) (F-H)
36. “Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man: What Men Really Think About Love, Relationships, Intimacy, and Commitment” by Steve Harvey (Amistad) (NF-H)
37. “Olive Kitteridge” by Elizabeth Strout (Random House) (F-P)
38. “The Lightning Thief” by Rick Riordan (Disney-Hyperion)(F-P)
39. “Liberty and Tyranny: A Conservative Manifesto” by Mark R. Levin (Threshold Editions) (NF-H)
40. “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” by J.K. Rowling, art by Mary GrandPre (Scholastic) (F-P)
41. “Devil Bones: A Novel” by Kathy Reichs (Pocket Star) (F-P)
42. “The Last Olympian” by Rick Riordan (Disney Hyperion Books for Children) (F-H)
43. “Living Dead in Dallas” by Charlaine Harris (Ace) (F-P)
44. “The Apostle: A Thriller” by Brad Thor (Atria) (F-H)
45. “Outliers: The Story of Success” by Malcolm Gladwell (Little, Brown) (NF-H)
46. “From Dead to Worse” by Charlaine Harris (Ace) (F-P)
47. “Marked” P.C. Cast, Kristin Cast (St. Martin’s Griffin) (F-P)
48. “The Devil’s Punchbowl” by Greg Iles (Scribner) (F-H)
49. “Burn” by Linda Howard (Ballantine Books) (F-H)
50. “Rain Gods” by James Lee Burke (Simon & Schuster) (F-H)

Reporting stores include: Amazon.com, B. Dalton Bookseller, Barnes & Noble.com, Barnes & Noble Inc., Books-A-Million and Bookland, Booksamillion.com, Borders Books & Music, Bookstar, Bookstop, Brentano’s, Davis Kidd Booksellers in Nashville, Jackson, Memphis, Tenn., Doubleday Book Shops, Hudson Booksellers, Joseph-Beth Booksellers (Lexington, Ky.; Cincinnati, Cleveland), Powell’s Books (Portland, Ore.), Powells.com, R.J. Julia Booksellers (Madison, Conn.), Schuler.
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The following authors are making the media rounds, visiting talk shows, and/or talking about their books:

--Kathleen Horan, author of Relationship Obits: The Final Resting Place for Love Gone Wrong
--Diahann Carroll, author of The Legs Are the Last to Go: Aging, Acting, Marrying, and Other Things I Learned the Hard Way
--Jessica Queller, author of Pretty Is What Changes
--Linda Himelstein, The King of Vodka: The Story of Pyotr Smirnov and the Upheaval of an Empire
--Christian Davenport, author of As You Were: To War and Back with the Black Hawk Battalion of the Virginia National Guard
--John Bush Jones, All-Out for Victory! Magazine Advertising and the World War II Home Front
--Kevin Mattson, 'What the Heck Are You Up To, Mr. President?' Jimmy Carter, America's 'Malaise,' and the Speech that Should Have Changed the Country
--Peter G. Peterson, The Education of an American Dreamer: How a Son of Greek Immigrants Learned His Way from a Nebraska Diner to Washington, Wall Street, and Beyond
--Karrine Steffans, author of The Vixen Manual: How to Find, Seduce & Keep the Man You Want
--C. David Heymann, author of Bobby and Jackie: A Love Story
--Chris Hedges, author of Empire of Illusion: The End of Literacy and the Triumph of Spectacle
--Tori Spelling, author of Mommywood
--Richard Clarke, author of Your Government Failed You: Breaking the Cycle of National Security Disasters
--Ian Halperin, author of Unmasked: The Final Years of Michael Jackson
--Ben Mezrich, author of Bringing Down the House: The Inside Story of Six M.I.T. Students Who Took Vegas for Millions
--Fred Kaplan, author of 1959: The Year That Changed Everything
--Peter Mancall, author of Fatal Journey: The Final Expedition of Henry Hudson
--Karrine Steffans, The Vixen Manual: How to Find, Seduce & Keep the Man You Want
--Patrick Malone, The Life You Save: Nine Steps to Finding the Best Medical Care-and Avoiding the Worst
--Howard Megdal, author of The Baseball Talmud: The Definitive Position-by-Position Ranking of Baseball's Chosen Players
-- Lee Lowenfish, Branch Rickey: Baseball's Ferocious Gentleman
--Don Eberly, Liberate and Leave: Fatal Flaws in the Early Strategy for Postwar Iraq
--Jodyne L. Speyer, author of Dump 'Em: How to Break Up with Anyone from Your Best Friend to Your Hairdresser
--Michael Phelps, author of How to Train with a T. Rex and Win 8 Gold Medals
--Robert Wright, author of The Evolution of God
--Steve Harvey, author of Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man: What Men Really Think About Love, Relationships, Intimacy, and Commitment
--Douglas Rushkoff, author of Life, Inc.: How the World Became a Corporation and How to Take It Back
--Alan Furst, author of The Spies of Warsaw
--Janet Evanovich, Finger Lickin' Fifteen
--Peter Mancall, author of Fatal Journey: The Final Expedition of Henry Hudson
--Andrew Coe, Chop Suey: A Cultural History of Chinese Food in the United States
--Sarah Garland, Gangs in Garden City: How Immigration, Segregation, and Youth Violence are Changing America's Suburbs
--Elliot Gorn, Dillinger's Wild Ride: The Year That Made America's Public Enemy Number One
--Adam Perry Lang, author of Serious Barbecue: Smoke, Char, Baste, and Brush Your Way to Great Outdoor Cooking
--Jason Kersten, author of The Art of Making Money: The Story of a Master Counterfeiter
--Edward Humes, author of Eco Barons: The Dreamers, Schemers and Millionaires Who Are Saving Our Planet
--John Ross, author of War on the Run: The Epic Story of Robert Rogers and the Conquest of America's First Frontier
--Pat Hickey, Tahoe Boy: A Journey Back Home
--William Forstchen, author of One Second After
--Novella Carpenter, Farm City: The Education of an Urban Farmer
--Justin Fox, author of The Myth of the Rational Market: A History of Risk, Reward, and Delusion on Wall Street
--Edmund Andrews, Busted: Life Inside the Great Mortgage Meltdown
--Robert Glennon, Unquenchable: America's Water Crisis and What To Do About It
--Adam Perry Lang, Serious Barbecue: Smoke, Char, Baste, and Brush Your Way to Great Outdoor Cooking
--Jennifer Taggart, Smart Mama's Green Guide: Simple Steps to Reduce Your Child's Toxic Chemical Exposure
--Craig Nelson, Rocket Men: The Epic Story of the First Men on the Moon
--Dr. D. A. Henderson, Smallpox: the Death of a Disease: The Inside Story of Eradicating a Worldwide Killer
--Seth Jones, In the Graveyard of Empires: America's War in Afghanistan
--Alan Bean, Alan Bean: Painting Apollo: First Artist on Another World
--Jacob Hacker, author of The Great Risk Shift: The New Economic Insecurity and the Decline of the American Dream, Revised and Expanded Edition
--Larry Tye, Satchel: The Life and Times of an American Legend
--Michael Lewis, author of Panic: The Story of Modern Financial Insanity
--Charles Siebert, author of The Wauchula Woods Accord: Toward a New Understanding of Animals
--Chris Anderson, author of Free: The Future of a Radical Price
--Joe Gibbs, Game Plan for Life: Your Personal Playbook for Success
--Patrick Radden Keefe, The Snakehead: An Epic Tale of the Chinatown Underworld and the American Dream
--Matthew Crawford, author of Shop Class as Soulcraft: An Inquiry Into the Value of Work
--Charles Siebert explained The Wauchula Woods Accord: Toward a New Understanding of Animals
--Mark Bittman, author of Mark Bittman's Kitchen Express
--Michael H. Stone, author of The Anatomy of Evil
--John Wray, author of Lowboy
--Lizzie Skurnick, author of Shelf Discovery: The Teen Classics We Never Stopped Reading
--Daniel Asa Rose, author of Larry's Kidney: Being the True Story of How I Found Myself in China with My Black Sheep Cousin and His Mail-Order Bride, Skirting the Law to Get Him a Transplant--and Save His Life
--Zev Chafets, author of Cooperstown Confidential: Heroes, Rogues, and the Inside Story of the Baseball Hall of Fame
--Ben Mezrich, author of Bringing Down the House: The Inside Story of Six M.I.T. Students Who Took Vegas for Millions
--Lizzie Skurnick, Shelf Discovery: The Teen Classics We Never Stopped Reading
--Jeremy Adam Smith, The Daddy Shift: How Stay-at-Home Dads, Breadwinning Moms, and Shared Parenting AreTransforming the American Family
--Barry Mazor, author of Meeting Jimmie Rodgers: How America's Original Roots Music Hero Changed the Pop Sounds of a Century
--Jackie Collins, Married Lovers
--Sally Jenkins, author of The State of Jones
--Zev Chafets, author of Cooperstown Confidential: Heroes, Rogues, and the Inside Story of the Baseball Hall of Fame
--Ben Mezrich, author of The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook A Tale of Sex, Money, Genius and Betrayal
--Helene Cooper, author of The House at Sugar Beach: In Search of a Lost African Childhood
--Elizabeth Norman and Michael Norman, Tears in the Darkness: The Story of the Bataan Death March and Its Aftermath
--Greg Grandin, author of Fordlandia: The Rise and Fall of Henry Ford's Forgotten Jungle City
--Harry Stein, I Can't Believe I'm Sitting Next to a Republican: A Survival Guide for Conservatives Marooned Among the Angry, Smug, and Terminally Self-Righteous

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Here are links to other recent One for the Books columns. More links are available on my blog at http://blogs.dixcdn.com/shine_a_light/one-for-the-books/

Three Fictional Visits to Africa -- http://www.recordpub.com/news/article/4625472

Surprising Adventures in the Lives of Monks -- http://www.recordpub.com/news/article/4616188

Mysteries for Summer Reading -- http://www.recordpub.com/news/article/4606477

Father’s Day Gift Ideas -- http://www.recordpub.com/news/article/4596658

Novels Set in India -- http://www.recordpub.com/news/article/4592641

Books for Mom -- http://www.recordpub.com/news/article/4583126

Historical Thrillers -- http://www.recordpub.com/news/article/4573374

Picture Books for Children -- http://www.recordpub.com/news/article/4563834

WWII Internment of Japanese Americans -- http://www.recordpub.com/news/article/4554807

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“One for the Books” appears the second and fourth Fridays of the month in the Record-Courier. Extra columns may appear on occasion, especially preceding Christmas and Hanukkah.