Richard Munson’s splendid biography of Benjamin Franklin provides an insightful view of the statesman’s lesser known accomplishments in science.

Biography, Literature, Nonfiction

Didion and Babitz

Lili Anolik’s Didion and Babitz is a freewheeling and engaging narrative about two iconic literary rivals and their world in 1970s Los Angeles.

Crafts, Hobbies & Home, Nonfiction

Nonfiction Crafts, Hobbies & Home

Garden Wonderland

With its seamless integration of gardening principles with advanced design ideas, Garden Wonderland is the perfect gift for new gardeners—or anyone in need of a little inspiration.

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Judith Krantz

by Sandy Huseby

Religion & Spirituality

Religion & Spirituality

Faith-based gifts offer inspiration and hope

Review by bookpagedev

by Margaret Feinberg

Tis the season for finding great inspirational gifts. Whether your gift is for a family member, friend, in-law or outlaw, a wide variety of titles is available to encourage readers in their faith.

Anne Graham Lotz, daughter of famed evangelist Billy Graham, challenges readers in their personal beliefs with My Heart’s Cry: Longing For More of Jesus (W Publishing, $21.99, 272 pages, ISBN 0849917417). Author of the best-selling Just Give Me Jesus and founder of the Just Give Me Jesus weekend events for women, Lotz takes readers on a journey of desiring God. In 12 well-written chapters, she explores the various attributes of Christ. Chapter five, “More of His Dirt on My Hands,” explores the importance of service, while chapter 10, “More of His Nearness in My Loneliness,” explores God’s omnipresence.

Throughout the book, Lotz draws on her own personal experiences and challenges. She describes speaking to large gatherings of pastors and having some turn their chairs around to face away from her because they disapproved of her speaking and teaching as a woman. She explains how the rejection strengthened her faith and pushed her toward God, rather than away.

Like her father, Anne Graham Lotz has a way of making the Bible, God and the road to life-changing faith interesting, exciting and heart-gripping. This bold woman not only lives but also exudes a contagious faith in her writing.

Another member of the Graham family, Ruth Bell Graham, wife of the well-known evangelist, offers a seasonal title on the special blessings of Christmas. Like any mother, grandmother or great-grandmother, Graham knows the significance and joy the holiday brings to anyone who has watched their child on Christmas morning or has been a child nestled in the warmth of family.

In A Quiet Knowing Christmas: A Joyful Celebration of the Season (W Publishing, $19.99, 176 pages, ISBN 084991762X) Graham presents a new collection of stories, recipes and poems, interspersed with family photos and holiday craft ideas.

As simple as the Christmas story itself, as elegant as such a celebration should be, A Quiet Knowing Christmas culminates in an intimate portrait of how the Graham family honors the name of Christ.

Lotz and Graham aren’t the only women sharing their beliefs these days. Best-selling author and Bible teacher Beth Moore introduces readers to Christ in Jesus, The One and Only (Broadman ∧ Holman, $19.99, 340 pages, ISBN 080542489X). Moore, who has written a number of studies including Breaking Free, takes readers to the dusty roads of Palestine to study the life of Christ. The book is an adaptation of her popular video-based interactive study of the same name.

Moore explores the life of Christ as he lived it long days as a carpenter and tough days traveling and teaching. She records the details, history and culture that are so often missed in a quick reading of the Gospels.

Rather than fall into the trap of giving all the answers, Moore spends time asking some questions of her own. What did Mary experience during her pregnancy? How long was the labor? How much pressure did she feel to be the perfect mother? In the process, the life and example lived by Christ become more personal and human.

For readers who don’t have time for an in-depth study, Charles Stanley offers an easy-to-read devotional, Seeking His Face: A Daily Devotional. The pastor of the 15,000-member First Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia, and president of In Touch Ministries offers daily reading selections that challenge, encourage and inspire.

Each devotion includes a Scripture reading, key verse, prayer and a simple story or message. Reading Stanley’s book is like listening to a sermon in 45-second snippets. Readers are challenged to resist negative thoughts and embrace others with love and offer forgiveness. The writing is simple, direct and enjoyable.

The Best Christian Writing 2002 (HarperSanFrancisco, $15.95, 352 pages, ISBN 0060094834) offers a varied collection of articles on Christian belief today. The series editor, John Wilson, works as an editor at both Christianity Today and Books ∧ Culture. From a myriad of journals and magazines, he has compiled nearly two dozen pieces. One writer wrestles with the negative byproducts of feminism in “Three Bad Ideas for Women and What to Do About Them,” while another examines the tense but treasured relationship between Judaism and Christianity in “Salvation Is from the Jews.” Other highlights include Walter Wangerin Jr.’s “One Man on a Tractor Far Away” and Philip Yancey’s “The Ample Man Who Saved My Faith.” If you’re shopping for a young preteen boy (ages 8-12) you’ll want to consider Zonderkidz’ new 2:52 Soul Gear line of products, which includes The 2:52 Boys Bible (Zonderkidz, $26.99, ISBN 0310703204). The 2:52 designation is based on a Scripture found in the Gospel of Luke: “And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.” Edited by best-selling author and speaker Rick Osborne, The 2:52 Boys Bible features a study system that takes boys through the Bible, highlighting people, stories and verses that show them how to grow.

Using the NIV translation, the Bible includes numerous side notes and boxes of extra information designed to engage young male readers. Cleverly titled, “Make It Stick” is a boy’s version of a journal written on sticky notes; “Get a Load of This” provides interesting and humorous facts about the Bible; and “Grossology” offers some gory facts from the Bible. The cover design (which is reminiscent of the reality television series Survivor logo) is rugged enough to convince boys it’s cool.

And finally, a beautiful new gift book reveals The Peace ∧ Power of Knowing God’s Name by Kay Arthur (WaterBrook, $17.99, 144 pages, ISBN 1578565502). The author explores the ancient meanings of the names of God found in Scripture passages and shows how they expand our understanding and knowledge of God. Co-founder of Precept Ministries International and the author of leading inductive Bible studies, Arthur writes with insight about 15 of the names given to God, including El Elyon meaning The God Most High; El Roi meaning The God Who Sees; and Jehovah-raah meaning The Lord My Shepherd. With a gorgeous cover and crisp photographs throughout, The Peace ∧ Power of Knowing God’s Name offers beautiful visual images along with its inspiring text. Margaret Feinberg is a writer based in Sitka, Alaska. She is author of God Whispers: Learning To Hear His Voice (Relevant Books).

Tis the season for finding great inspirational gifts. Whether your gift is for a family member, friend, in-law or outlaw, a wide variety of titles is available to encourage readers in their faith.

Anne Graham Lotz, daughter of famed evangelist Billy Graham, challenges…

Faith-based gifts offer inspiration and hope

by bookpagedev

Religion & Spirituality

Religion & Spirituality

Faith-based gifts offer inspiration and hope

Review by bookpagedev

by Margaret Feinberg

Tis the season for finding great inspirational gifts. Whether your gift is for a family member, friend, in-law or outlaw, a wide variety of titles is available to encourage readers in their faith.

In A Quiet Knowing Christmas: A Joyful Celebration of the Season Graham presents a new collection of stories, recipes and poems, interspersed with family photos and holiday craft ideas.

As simple as the Christmas story itself, as elegant as such a celebration should be, A Quiet Knowing Christmas culminates in an intimate portrait of how the Graham family honors the name of Christ.

For readers who don’t have time for an in-depth study, Charles Stanley offers an easy-to-read devotional, Seeking His Face: A Daily Devotional (Thomas Nelson, $19.99, 384 pages, ISBN 0785272992). The pastor of the 15,000-member First Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia, and president of In Touch Ministries offers daily reading selections that challenge, encourage and inspire.

Faith-based gifts offer inspiration and hope

by bookpagedev

Humor, Nonfiction

Nonfiction Humor

David Sedaris

Interview by Michael Sims

by Michael Sims

Many of us still remember when we first heard the dry, droll voice of David Sedaris on public radio. He was the only person in the early 1990s more amusing than George Bush. Sedaris talked about his hilarious adventures doing such seemingly innocent tasks as cleaning New York apartments or working as a Christmas elf at Macy's. Gradually, collections of his essays appeared: Barrel Fever, Naked, Holidays on Ice. With these books, Sedaris fans could keep him nearby rather than waiting for a broadcast on All Things Considered.

Fans will rejoice again, because Sedaris is back with a new laugh-out-loud collection, Me Talk Pretty One Day. The book's title, after one of the essays, records Sedaris's first official stroke of genius choosing to present his own garbled English translations of the garbled French uttered by students in an introductory French class. Sedaris's version is the first time this trick has worked since Mark Twain pulled it off with one hand tied behind his back.

"Sometime me cry alone at night," Sedaris laments about his sadistic French teacher. A fellow sufferer replies, "That be common for I, also, but be more strong, you. Much work and someday you talk pretty. People stop hate you soon."

"The school read that story, and I got kicked out," Sedaris said in a recent interview. "And the only thing that saved me was that every word of it was true."

Being expelled from French class for accurately portraying his teacher is all in a day's work for David Sedaris. About half of Me Talk Pretty One Day deals with family and childhood, and half with his recent move to France and its ramifications in his life, ranging from having to defend the U.S. at cocktail parties to discovering a preference for movies over tourist traps. "I didn't care where Hemingway drank or Alice B. Toklas had her mustache trimmed," he writes. This essay, like most of Sedaris's others, grows out of everyday circumstances riding the subway, working as a furniture mover, seeing a photo of Jodie Foster carrying dog excrement in a plastic bag on the beach. Sedaris likes to make his essays out of the unremarkable strands of his own life.

Not one to propound manifestos, Sedaris is nonetheless articulate about his reasons for this attitude. "It seems like literature, or at least recent American literature," he says in his signature dry voice, "teaches you that unless you grew up living in the back of a car, or unless your folks were in prison, you really don't have a story to tell. It's funny how a lot of rich people and middle-class people think, 'Gosh, if I were poor, I'd have such a good book.' They don't see any value in their own lives," Sedaris notes. "When actually it all depends on how you write about it. Instead of being jealous of these people who had incredibly dramatic lives, who grew up in foster homes and were kept chained in the basement, the notion that if you had bunk beds that just didn't cut it—it took me awhile to realize, 'Well, I took guitar lessons from a midget.' "

Sedaris taught briefly at the Art Institute in Chicago, where he saw these attitudes every day. "To hear my students talk, they had been raised by wolves. Then graduation day would come and their parents would drive up in BMWs, and these kids were dying of embarrassment."

Sedaris doesn't describe himself as an essayist, a humorist, or even a writer. "When I fly back and forth into the country, and I'm asked for my occupation, I just say typist. I would have no problem saying I'm an accountant or a dental assistant, because that's just a job and it's on your W2 form. I mean, it seems like the world can call you something, but don't call yourself that. You know, it's like when you meet somebody and you ask, 'What do you do?' and they say, 'I'm an artist.' I just cringe."

In retrospect, Sedaris also cringes at the memory of his early years as a performance artist in, of all places, North Carolina. His descriptions of the smug posturings of these self-proclaimed artistes is one of Sedaris's most perceptive and heartfelt works not only hilarious and smart, but also candid (and darkly humorous) about his addiction to crystal methamphetamines.

While Sedaris's essays give the sense of ordinary reality, they are unquestionably reflected through the distorting mirror of his outlook. "I've been trying, especially with this book, to pull back a little bit from exaggerating, which of course is my natural inclination. But I found with this last book that what people thought I was making up were the things that were true. I did hitchhike across the country with a quadriplegic."

The stories take place at various times in Sedaris's life, so no matter how solid the bones that are being excavated, some reconstruction is required. "Of course, I can't remember every word of what someone said to me 20 years ago. So that's where I tend to exaggerate the most, in the dialogue, because I want to make it as entertaining as I can."

He mentions a story in Me Talk Pretty One Day in which an American man on the Paris Metro thinks Sedaris is a French pickpocket. Assuming that Sedaris can't speak English, the man loudly catalogues his suspicions to his wife. "Reading it aloud," Sedaris adds, "I could feel the anticlimax. But I didn't want to make up an ending." Actually, the story doesn't feel anticlimactic. It's a vignette, but an astutely observed and funny one, sort of Chekhov meets Thurber.

In Sedaris's world, nothing turns out as expected. Just as she gets off the subway, his sister turns to him and calls out, "Good luck beating that rape charge." He is left to face the hostile stares of strangers and to write up the account for those of us who enjoy seeing the world through the eyes of David Sedaris.

Michael Sims is the author of Darwin's Orchestra (Henry Holt).

The many faces of America, past and present

by bookpagedev

Arts & Culture, Photography

Photography Arts & Culture

Put these treasures under the tree and on the coffee table

Review by bookpagedev

by Julie Hale

Owning an impressive photography book is almost like having a museum in your own home: comprehensive and colossal, hard on the arm, but easy on the eye, these books offer more visual riches per square inch than the most glamorous of galleries. The perfect way to enliven any library, they’re packed with culture from cover to cover, pretty and portable (sort of). So dispense with the seasonal indecision. Tilt the scale in your favor when it comes to holiday gift-giving and pick up one of these treasures for the coffee table they’re a treat for any aesthete and the ultimate indulgence for the art lover on your list. Judging books by their covers There are unimagined beauties hidden deep in your dictionary, and Abelardo Morell has found them. Aiming his lens at the shelves of the Boston Public Library, among other institutions, the photographer has produced A Book of Books (Bulfinch, $60, 108 pages, ISBN 0821227696), a striking collection of black-and-white pictures presenting books as objets d’art, pleasing to the eye as well as the intellect. Re-envisioning the library, Morell finds magic in the stacks, capturing unforgettable images the marbled bottom of a formidable dictionary; gilded spines on a book-lined wall from ingenious angles. Here are venerable survivors (volumes damaged by water and dirt), classics in close-up (A Farewell to Arms; A Tale of Two Cities) and a visitor from the future (a digital text), all coupled with quotes about books from authors like Emily Dickinson, Jorge Luis Borges and Samuel Butler. From an Audubon folio as big as a table to the tiniest of texts a wee book that makes a paper clip look big Morrell has compiled a collection that’s rich in literary delights, abundant with the wonder of words. Nicholson Baker, author of Double Fold: Libraries and the Assault on Paper, provides the preface.

The genius of Stieglitz The work of a master photographer is celebrated in Alfred Stieglitz: The Key Set (Abrams, $150, 1,100 pages, ISBN 0810935333), the hefty, comprehensive companion to the Stieglitz collection at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. Spanning five decades, from 1886 to 1937, the two-volume edition contains more than 1,000 images and provides a thorough survey of the New Jersey native’s work. From portraits and cityscapes, to studies of his wife, the painter Georgia O’Keefe, The Key Set collects the work of a man who captured America and Europe on film with an expert eye, applying painterly concepts to the picture-taking process and becoming the first photographer to be exhibited in American museums. Released just as a traveling exhibition of the Stieglitz collection is set to begin in the U. S., the handsomely boxed volumes include a chronology and bibliography, along with an introductory essay by Sarah Greenough, curator of photographs at the National Gallery of Art.

History in pictures Two centuries after the fact, we’re still feeling the repercussions of the War Between the States. A moving testament to the conflict that redefined the lines of color and kin in America, The Civil War in Photographs by historian William C. Davis is a remarkable pictorial account of the era. More than 300 classic images show the major arenas of battle and the men who participated, from bold, beardless youths to intrepid leaders like Lee and Sherman. Taken on the front and in the studio, these pictures gleaned from the work of 2,000 photographers evoke the drama of the first war to be extensively captured on camera. Documenting the famous and the anonymous, depicting life in camp and in the trenches, the volume combines portraits of soldiers and citizens with startling scenes of destruction, including images of Atlanta laid waste. Putting it all in perspective is Davis, director of programs at the Virginia Center for Civil War Studies, whose lucid, lively text accompanies the photographs.

Mike Wright

by Michael Sims

Arts & Culture, Photography

Photography Arts & Culture

Put these treasures under the tree and on the coffee table

Review by bookpagedev

by Julie Hale

The genius of Stieglitz The work of a master photographer is celebrated in Alfred Stieglitz: The Key Set, the hefty, comprehensive companion to the Stieglitz collection at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. Spanning five decades, from 1886 to 1937, the two-volume edition contains more than 1,000 images and provides a thorough survey of the New Jersey native’s work. From portraits and cityscapes, to studies of his wife, the painter Georgia O’Keefe, The Key Set collects the work of a man who captured America and Europe on film with an expert eye, applying painterly concepts to the picture-taking process and becoming the first photographer to be exhibited in American museums. Released just as a traveling exhibition of the Stieglitz collection is set to begin in the U. S., the handsomely boxed volumes include a chronology and bibliography, along with an introductory essay by Sarah Greenough, curator of photographs at the National Gallery of Art.

History in pictures Two centuries after the fact, we’re still feeling the repercussions of the War Between the States. A moving testament to the conflict that redefined the lines of color and kin in America, The Civil War in Photographs (Carlton, $39.95, 256 pages, ISBN 1842226363) by historian William C. Davis is a remarkable pictorial account of the era. More than 300 classic images show the major arenas of battle and the men who participated, from bold, beardless youths to intrepid leaders like Lee and Sherman. Taken on the front and in the studio, these pictures gleaned from the work of 2,000 photographers evoke the drama of the first war to be extensively captured on camera. Documenting the famous and the anonymous, depicting life in camp and in the trenches, the volume combines portraits of soldiers and citizens with startling scenes of destruction, including images of Atlanta laid waste. Putting it all in perspective is Davis, director of programs at the Virginia Center for Civil War Studies, whose lucid, lively text accompanies the photographs.

Put these treasures under the tree and on the coffee table

by bookpagedev

Arts & Culture, Literature

Literature Arts & Culture

Books for the studious and the scholarly

Review by bookpagedev

by Julie Hale

Are you struggling to summon gift ideas for the intellectual in your life? If so, you can un-furrow your brow starting now. This holiday season, let BookPage help you shop for the studious and the scholarly those lovers of learning who emerge from their erudite pursuits hunch-backed and bleary-eyed but triumphant.

In anticipation of your Christmas quandary, our industrious editors closeted themselves with publishers’ catalogues and unearthed the following quartet of titles, each of which should be pleasing to the academician on your list.

Show what you know A word of wisdom to the aspiring litterateur: Never enter into a conversation unarmed. Your best defense is Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations (Little, Brown, $50, 1,472 pages, ISBN 0316084603) a veritable arsenal of razor-sharp repartees and potent turns of phrase. Now in its 17th edition, the newly revised anthology of famous prose and verse quotes, edited by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Justin Kaplan, has become one of the world’s most treasured references.

The origins of this indispensable volume date back to 1855, when Cambridge, Massachusetts, bookseller John Bartlett released A Collection of Familiar Quotations a compilation of smart sayings and their sources. That humble compendium has since evolved into a comprehensive source of outrageous remarks, classic literary passages and unforgettable pronouncements. International in scope, the new edition includes material from more than 25,000 notables (Princess Di, Bob Dylan and MLK, to name a few) and offers quotes from contemporary cultural arenas such as music, television and movies. The volume is revised every 10 years, so now’s the time to untie your tongue. Let Bartlett’s help you show what you know.

The beloved Bloom is back With his Falstaffian girth and formidable reputation as a cultural critic, Harold Bloom is a scholar who does nothing on a small scale. His new book, Genius: A Mosaic of One Hundred Exemplary Creative Minds is a milestone of research and inquiry, a broad-minded examination of the nature of genius and how (and in whom) it has manifested itself during the centuries.

Through evaluations of classic literary works the poetry of Shelley, the drama of Ibsen, the fiction of Tolstoy Bloom examines the forces that have shaped the great writers of every era, as well as the qualities shared by each author. “The study of mediocrity, whatever its origins, breeds mediocrity,” he writes. Thus, this collection a kaleidoscopic look at a group of superior individuals that blends biography with literary criticism. Author of The Western Canon and How to Read and Why, the best-selling Bloom has assembled a fascinating exhibit of remarkable intellects. Genius is inspiring, accessible and provocative a generous survey that will enlarge the reader’s comprehension of art, as well as his understanding of the role of the creative mind throughout history.

Keillor plugs poetry One of America’s most esteemed humorists and radio personages has put together a treasury of verse that’s sure to delight any lover of words. Garrison Keillor, the man behind the popular NPR spot The Writer’s Almanac, has compiled Good Poems (Viking, $25.95, 480 pages, ISBN 0670031267), a collection that’s broad in scope and full of the unforgettable imagery and skilled craftsmanship that make a poem, as the title puts it, good.

Divided into categories like Music, Lovers, Failure, and Sons and Daughters, the volume offers a poem for every occasion. A who’s who of literary lights, the index lists works by top-notch contemporary authors like Galway Kinnell, Billy Collins and Sharon Olds, as well as venerable favorites such as Emily Dickinson, W.H. Auden and William Butler Yeats. “To be interrupted mid-stampede by a beautiful thing is a blessing indeed,” Keillor writes of the force of poetry. The genre may be overlooked and underrated, but there’s no denying its power. Poets, it can be argued, are prophets, and Keillor’s collection reflects their ability to bolster our spirits and lighten our hearts.

The best in books for little readers A terrific gift for those interested in raising little readers, The Essential Guide to Children’s Books and Their Creators (Houghton Mifflin, $28, 542 pages, ISBN 061819083X) is the literary equivalent of a Leonard Maltin movie guide comprehensive, easy to use and instructive. Compiled by Anita Silvey, former editor in chief of Horn Book Magazine, who has written and published children’s literature for three decades, this practical volume, also available in paperback, is packed with info on all the best authors, illustrators and titles.

With more than 475 listings, The Essential Guide covers the top books of the past century and includes profiles of beloved writers, from Lemony Snicket to Margaret Wise Brown. Silvey also provides a basic reading list, contributes thoughtful and perceptive essays on genres such as science fiction, young adult novels and Holocaust literature, and examines timely themes like multiculturalism. Entries titled “Voices of the Creators,” written by Lane Smith, Gary Soto, Virginia Hamilton and others, offer insights into the artistic process. An invaluable aid in selecting the best books for youngsters, The Essential Guide is a must for parents who hope to instill a love of literature in their kids.

Mary Karr

by Ellen Kanner

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Maria Ressa’s book is a political history of the Philippines and an intimate memoir, but it’s also a warning to democracies everywhere: Authoritarianism is a threat to us all.