The Mackinac bridge

At the time of construction in 1957, the Mackinac bridge, at five miles, was the longest suspension bridge ever constructed, with its main span of 3,800 feet. It was a engineering challenge to build the caissons that would support the bridge.

All the details are covered in the book, Miracle Bridge at Mackinac by David B. Steinman and John T. Nevill ( 624 ST). David Steinman is a bridge engineer and John Nevill was a newsman.

In upper Michigan, before the bridge was built, people had to ferry from Mackinaw City to St. Ignace to reach the upper peninsula of Michigan.

In some books that I've read, the authors can get bogged down with too much technical information. These authors do a fairly good job of trying to explain some of the challenges of building the bridge so that the common person can understand it. Interestingly enough, they use the analogy of a can of vegetables to explain building the supports that are underwater.

According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, the record holder now is the Akashi Kaikyo Bridge in Japan with a main span of 6,5332 feet (compared to Miracle Bridge's 3,800 feet). See the following website for more information on the Akashi Kaikyo Bridge:

http://www.tfhrc.gov/pubrds/julaug98/worlds.htm

c Waterloo Public Library 2007

The history of windmills

Growing up on a farm, the windmill was a familiar sight. The windmill was originally for pumping water, but by the time I was born, we used electricity to pump water. (I may be old, but I'm not that old!)

Years ago, it was a ubiquitous, easily recognizable image on the farmland, towering above the trees. No they are almost gone. If you do see windmills, they are more like the ones used to generate electricity that are popping up around the state.

Windmills: An Old-New Energy Source (+ 621.45 MCD) by Lucile McDonald tracks the history. The first wind machines were in the Middle East. They are mentioned as far back as the seventh century A.D. Some of the early ones were quite different from what we're used to seeing. Many had a vertical shaft that resembled a revolving door and they were close to the ground.

This thin book is full of illustrations, demonstrating the diversity of this architecture. Unfortunately, because of the age of the book, current windmills that are being installed across the U.S. are not included.

If you want to look at a book with even more photographs, but they concentrate mainly on ones found in Great Britain, look up Windmills by Suzanne Beedell (621.45 BEE).

c Waterloo Public Library 2007

Dinosaurs in Egypt

The Lost Dinosaurs of Egypt by William Nothdurft with Josh Smith (567.9 NOT) is about two paleontological teams who were separated by almost ninety years - one expedition was in 1911, the other in 2000.

In 1911, German paleontologist Ernst Freiherr Stromer von Reichenbach trekked across an inhospitable desert in Egypt to find evidence of early mammals. He didn't find any mammal bones - the rocks were too old for that. However, he did find the remains of four new dinosaurs. Complications arose when he tried to the the bones out of Egypt to his homeland of Germany. When they finally arrived in Germany and placed in the Bavarian State Collection of Paleontology and Historical Geology in Munich, misfortune befell him again. During World War II, the museum was bombed, destroying all the bones that had been collected.

Fast forward to 2000: American graduate student Josh Smith brought a team to Egypt to find the lost dinosaurs that Stomer so meticulously wrote about in his journals. Despite the shifting sand and no good landmarks to use, Smith's team, amazingly, found the same location. The first bones they found just turned to dust when they tried to recover them. After a more thorough search of the area, they uncovered large, well preserved bones.

This book will appeal to those with various interests. Of course, those who are into paleontology will want to check out this book. This will also appeal to history buffs (especially those who like reading about WWI and WWII) and those who have a fascination with Egypt.

c Waterloo Public Library 2007

He was charming and handsome...a real lady-killer

From the first page, Dying to Get Married by Ellen Harris (364.1523 HAR) reveals the disturbing scene at a murder crime scene. The reader is right there with the police, witnessing what they saw. Police were called to the home of Dennis and Julie Bulloch in St. Louis, Missouri. Julie had died in a fire that destroyed their garage. But, this was completely different from most burn victims.

This was the first time in U.S. history that a woman's burned body was found with over seventy feet of tape securing her to a rocking chair in, what appears to be, some sort of sexual bondage ritual. Because the death was so gruesome, the author included only one photo of the victim - showing her wrist bound to the chair.

The coroner declared that Julie died from suffocation. Two pieces of cloth were crammed so far in her mouth that they blocked her windpipe.

Because Dennis, the husband, was gone, they asked the housekeeper to look over the house for missing items, to see if this was also a robbery. According to her, nothing seemed to be missing. Surprisingly, she found additional items that she had never seen before - sexual manuals.

As the investigation continued, strange facts about the marriage between Julie and Dennis were revealed. After a whirlwind romance, Dennis and Julie got married. They secretly wed - Julie never met any of the groom's relatives. Only Julie's picture was in the wedding photos. Dennis conveniently forgot to tell his boss that he was married. When Dennis would be on many of his company trips, he would buy gifts for his girlfriends - nothing for his wife.

Dennis was one of those controlling guys who believed that all of the marital problems were Julie's fault.

Dennis eventually went to trial for the murder of her husband. Because of one elderly juror who felt that Dennis had suffered enough, the jury's decision was only involuntary manslaughter.

Dying to Get Married, a nonfiction book, reads more like fiction - maybe something that Don Harstad would write.

c Waterloo Public Library 2007

No worker is buried in the Hoover Dam

According to the U.S. Department of Interior website, about one million visitors see the Hoover Dam each year. A few years ago, my best friend, Tom, and I went there. It was the second time for Tom; the first for me. Unfortunately, because this was after 9/11, there was heightened security and the tour was not as extensive as it was when Tom toured it many years ago.

Before I toured the Hoover Dam, I had remembered hearing a rumor that one of the workers was died and was buried in the concrete. Of course, the tour guide set us straight on that rumor, telling us that only five feet of concrete was poured at one time, allowing workers to keep a close eye on what was happening.

In fact, I find it amazing that concrete was poured in such small amounts when you consider the overall size of the project. In Hoover Dam: An American Adventure by Joseph E. Stevens ( 627.82 STE), there is a photograph showing the stair step construction of concrete forms - a very dramatic picture.

Although no one was buried alive in the concrete, there is a story in this book about some construction workers who, as a joke, placed two shoes against the concrete forms. Once the concrete hardened, the workers saw the soles of two shoes, creating a panic within the workforce and getting some workers in serious trouble (page 294).

Built in the 1930s, during the depression, Hoover Dam is one of the greatest architectural achievements in the United States, and this book gives you all the information about the history as well as little known trivia.

Here is the website if you are interested in more information:
http://www.usbr.gov/lc/hooverdam/service/index.html

c Waterloo Public Library 2007

Lou Anne Johnson had her work cut out for her

I still remember when my sister was at UNI with a teaching major many years ago. Before she could graduate, she was required to student teach for a semester. It still holds true today - my nephew had to do the same thing.

Lou Anne Johnson writes in My Posse Don't Do Homework (371.1 JOH) that she only student taught for one day before she was asked to teach on her own. From the way she writes it, it didn't sound as if the request was because she was extremely talented at teaching high school. It was out of desperation by the administration.

The previous teacher of the high school English class of thirty-four students suddenly retired due to health reasons. The class had gone through two substitute teachers in a very short time - two people who refused to continue with that class. Of course, the vice-principal if the school left out some of the details for the sudden retirement.

Johnson found out that the class had no text book, she was not given any grades up to that point. Essentially she was starting from scratch. She wasn't allowed to talk to the substitute teachers. She knew something was wrong.

Describing the class as "Saturday Night Live" sophomoric skit, the students are undisciplined, unmotivated, and disruptive. Fortunately for her, she finds a way of getting their attention to let them know that she is there the help them. Her experience in the military helps just as much as the theory classes she took in college.

Johnson's sense of humor and storytelling lightens the mood of a serious problem within some school systems. Through her wit, she was able to get students who thought of themselves as "stupid" and "worthless" to begin to care about their studies. As the subtitle says, it is funny and inspirational.

c Waterloo Public Library 2007

The history of department stores

OK, I admit it, the cover is tattered and old - and not at all appealing. But don't let that stop you from reading A History of the Department Store ( 658.871 FE) by John William Ferry. Because the author is writing about the founding of some of the most prestigious retail stores, the information is still valuable.

Because this book was printed in 1960, many of the current big box department stores we have in the Cedar Valley are not listed. But that doesn't mean you won't recognize many of the names. Author John Ferry devotes a section to the history of each of the stores he feels contributed most to the development of our concept of a department store. Although many of stores featured had their start in New York and London, the author still has quite a few from Chicago and other areas.

The first thirty pages talk about the "current" state of retail (in 1960), so that information is just a little old - OK, really old. Before working at the library, I worked in retail for many years (starting in 1976 or 1977). There are many comments made by the author that were outdated even by the middle of the 1970s. However, it's still a wonderful look at what it was like working in retail.

c Waterloo Public Library 2007

One prison for seven guys

Long Knives and Short Memories by Jack Fishman (364.138 FIS) is about the Spandau prison in Berlin and its seven infamous residents. After their convictions, seven of the top Nazi leaders were sent to prison at Spandau gaol. In a prison that was originally designed to hold six hundred inmates, it now only held these seven people:

Rudolph Hess

Walther Funk
Albert Speer

Baldur von Schirach
Konstantin von Neurath
Karl Doenitz
Erich Raeder

The prison was three stories high. The wall surrounding it rose to thirty feet. There was a 10 feet high barbed wire fence encircling the prison as well. If that wasn't enough of a deterrent to prevent anyone from escaping, it was also constructed with 6 foot high electrified barrier, with a 4,000 volt charge. Built into the wall, 9 machine gun posts.

Considering the number of inmates, the staffing was enormous: 2 officers, 2 sergeants, 6 corporals, and 44 privates. The responsibilities of manning the prison fell on the four superpowers: the United States, Great Britain, U.S.S.R., and France. Coming to a consensus on what the punishment for their crimes should be and how long they should be incarcerated and to what degree was a delicate matter. Some political leaders favored the death penalty, but ultimately, life sentences were decreed.

Reading about the lives of each of the residents is amazing, since some admitted no guilt, and one had such false hopes of reclaiming the German power.

c Waterloo Public Library 2007

If only science text books could be this entertaining!

Author Robert Kunzig, who is the European editor of Discover magazine, has a way of making The Restless Sea (551.46 KUN) an entertaining read. I can't help but compare it to Bill Bryson's A Short History of Nearly Everything (500 BRY), except Kunzig's book isn't about everything - just the world beneath the waves.

Amazingly, the author says that little was known about the bottom of the seas until research was done in the 1980s. Until then, most scientists believed that it was a relative "desert" where little lived. How wrong those scientists were! When soil from the bottom of the ocean was first taken to the surface, they discovered it teaming with life. One of the creatures they found is the largest one-cell, amoeba-like animal that can grow to the size of a human fist.

While reading these various books for the blog, I'm finding that authors list some contribution by some Iowan. This book is no exception. Bruce Heezen, son of a turkey farmer, was going to the University of Iowa in 1947 when he was hired to explore the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Kunzig humorously makes a reference to Heezen not eating turkey for some 20 years after leaving the farm.

I know I'm getting off track, but I can relate to that. I'm the son of a farmer, also. Every year my parents purchased baby chicks in the Spring. Every Fall, we butchered the majority of them to eat during the next year. After I left the farm, I refused to order chicken in any restaurant for many years.

Getting back on track: Heezen became the first person to map the ocean floor in that area, and he proposed the idea that the earth's crust under the ocean was expanding.

Kunzig gives the history of researching the oceans and about the findings in a way that anyone can understand. I think you'll like The Restless Sea.


c Waterloo Public Library 2007

A man of many witty words

Several years ago, my best friend Tom loaned me Anguished English by Richard Lederer, which was laugh out loud funny. Unfortunately or library does not have that book, but we do have A Man of My Words (401 LED), which is also good.

If you enjoy watching British TV, you may have been puzzled by some of their English. You'll enjoy the hilarious contrasts he makes between the two countries' languages. (Even I know the difference between soccer and football - and I'm not into sports.)

Another chapter talks about how we can misconstrue words. His wacky Southern definitions echo those told on "Blue Collar TV" - you know, by that Jeff Foxworthy guy.

Readers who enjoyed the recent bestseller Eats, Shoots, and Leaves by Lynne Truss (428.2 TRU) will enjoy the witty writing of Richard Lederer. If you know of anyone who owns Anguished English, you might consider asking to borrow it - it's well worth reading.

c Waterloo Public Library 2007

Gypsies: people with no country

When I went to see the Holocaust Museum in Washington, DC, a few years ago, I was shocked at the number of people killed during that time in history. Of course, I new about the Jews and a few other groups, but I was shocked that whole communities of Gypsies (also called Romas) were also murdered.

I really didn't know much about their culture until I read Bury Me Standing: The Gypsies and their Journey by Isabel Fonseca ( 909.0491 FON). Fonseca was accepted into the Gypsies' lives, witnessing their daily lives,participating in a funeral and a marriage. Her writing is very matter of fact, talking about their high illiteracy rate - books are unheard of, relying on oral stories to pass down from generation to generation. In fact, their vocabulary is very limited.

She discusses the persecution they have endured in Europe and Asia. Germany, Turkey, Romania are just a few countries mentioned.

Bury me Standing is an intimate look at a misunderstood people with no country to call their own.

c Waterloo Public Library 2007

"Goldfinder" is a treasure to read

Sorry about the bad pun in the title for this article. I couldn't help myself.

As a child I remember spending hours pretending to look for buried treasure. I became so involved with the idea of striking it rich that I proceeded to dig a hole in the grass, figuring that I should start looking. I didn't get very far with digging because the grass roots were too tough for a scrawny kid like me. My parents were not pleased when they caught me with the shovel. I was a naughty, inquisitive child.

Keith Jessop fulfilled his dream of finding gold - but in the ground. He struck it rich with gold he found at the bottom of the sea. In Goldfinder (387.55 JES) he writes how he first became involved with underwater reclamation. His first dives are to bring up the metal from ships to sell for recycling. After getting familiar with the whole, dangerous process of underwater diving, he sets his sights for the H.M.S. Edinburgh, a ship that was bombed by torpedoes and sunk. The process of salvaging the gold from this ship makes an incredible story.

If you find yourself intrigued by stories like this, there's another book I'd like to recommend: Dragon Sea: A True Tale of Treasure, Archeology, and Greed off the coast of Vietnam by Frank Pope (910.45 POP in the New Book Section).

c Waterloo Public Library 2007

History of the Pony Express

Old movies and television shows glamorize the Wild West days. In actuality they weren't that much fun. Especially if you're talking about the Pony Express. Orphans Preferred by Christopher Corbett (383.143 COR) fills you in on all the details.

With the gold rush in California more and more people were moving westward from the east. Before the Pony Express, it could take months for a letter to go across the continent.

The Pony Express route was between St. Joseph, Missouri, and Sacramento, California, a distance of 1,950 miles. The first rider for the Pony Express was Johnny Frey who left St. Joseph, Missouri, on April 3, 1861 at 7:15 p.m. carrying 49 letters, some newspapers, five private telegrams, and many telegraphs. William Hamilton left Sacramento at 2:45 p.m. on April 4. The two met in a small town called Sportman's Hall.

Soon notices were in the newspapers promoting the new business exclaiming that it only took nine days for letters to be sent from San Francisco to New York.

The company paid good money to the riders and bought the best horses. But, the job was extremely treacherous, going through all sorts of nasty terrain and weather.

The history that leads up to the development of the Pony Express is rather fascinating. Different types of transportation were tried. Even camels were imported to the west to be used for carrying supplies. If they worked in the Middle East, why not in the dry Southwest?

Orphans Preferred is the perfect book for readers interested in the Wild West.

c Waterloo Public Library 2007

Written by the founder of Habitat for Humanity

A Simple, Decent Place to Live (363.5 FUL) is about author Millard Fuller's life. He's the founder of Habitat for Humanity, which started in 1976.

In case you didn't know, Habitat for Humanity is a nonprofit organization has built forty thousand homes for people who are living in substandard housing. It's not just a national organization, but international, with chapters in forty-six other countries.

Millard Fuller was a millionaire already in the '70s. He was driven to compete, win, and make as much money as possible - that was until his wife got fed up with him. He was shocked that all the money, homes, clothes, and vacations were not enough for her. What she wanted was to have him home and not working so much. In desperation to save his marriage, he turned over a new leaf.

The book is a very personal examination of the author's life - a very inspiring book.

c Waterloo Public Library 2007

History of television

Erik Barnouw writes a very entertaining book about the history of television in the book, Tube of Plenty (384.554 BAR). He begins with a quick history of the radio.

U.S. companies wanted a monopoly on the field of radio technology, so an American company was formed, called RCA. RCA was a partnership between GE, AT&T, United Fruit, and Westinghouse.

With the quick, incredible success with radio stations, the pressure was on to invent a way of transmitting picture as well as sound.

By 1927, Herbert Hoover appeared in an experimental AT&T telecast. It's also the same year that a new magazine called "Television" was first published. The experimental sets only had a screen 4 inches wide and 3 inches high - what the author calls a "flickering snapshot."

There are all sorts of legal entanglements with GE, Westinghouse, RCA, and AT&T. In 1926, GE, Westinghouse, and RCA form NBC. In 1928,RKO (the movie company was formed by GE, Westinghouse, RCA, and other film interest. All of these joint ventures creates a legal mess later on.

This book continues with new developments and the cultural influences of the television through the mid 1970s.

c Waterloo Public Library 2007

The last wild horses

Throughout the history of mankind, there have always been horses, it's even on ancient cave paintings. Plus, archaeologists have uncovered bones detailing the evolution of horses, showing that horses have been around even longer than humans.

The Last Wild Horse by Morris Weeks (599.6655 PRZ) details the history of of the horse from prehistoric Mongolia to the present.

"The last wild horse" refers to the Prhevalsky horse, a wild horse very seldom seen in the wild in central Asia. Nicolai Prhevalsky was a Russian explorer who discovered this breed in the late 1800s. The horses he found had a large head for the body. It had short, stocky legs and a very muscular body. To survive the harsh winters, it grew a shaggy coat and was so impervious to the cold that he noticed them standing around - even during a blizzard. It molted its hair twice a year.

Now zoos are trying to preserve the animals, and the author discusses how the animals are responding to confinement.

c Waterloo Public Library 2007

"A little TLC? I'm thinking more like CPR."

Lawrence LaRose had some problems after he and his wife bought their very first house in Sag Harbor. It wasn't that old - built in the 1950s - but the previous owners just did hodgepodge work on the house. When Lawrence and his wife saw it for sale, it was called a "fixer-upper."

Lawrence is a free-lance writer, and just as the house was purchased, he became unemployed - really bad timing. But, hey, he could use that free time to fix up the house now (that is if he knew how to do any construction work). To gain experience and money to do repairs, he gets hired for a construction company.

As with many communities, there were restrictions as to the types of remodeling that could be done. Oops, first mistake, ripping into walls before getting the proper permits and having the plans approved by the association.

Even though the poor guy details all of his troubles, he's very good at realizing the humor in his mistakes making Gutted (643.7 LAR) a joy to read - and be thankful he's not you.

c Waterloo Public Library 2007

Ever hear of getting a pet for your pet?

To me, it seems weird that anyone would want to get a pet for a pet. But that's what Philip Gonzalez discusses in his book The Dog Who Rescues Cats ( 818.5403 GON).

Gonzalez is one of those guys who has a kind heart toward animals. He even fed a rat that had babies and made his construction crew remove trash from its home. You don't know of many people who would go that far to save an animal.

After Gonzalez became disabled from a work-related injury, he began to mope around the apartment, losing all desire to see friends or do activities he used to do. Living by himself, of course, only worsened his depression. One of his good friends, Sheilah, said that what he needed was a dog. Reluctantly he did go with Sheilah to the dog pound. Much to his surprise, he fell for an injured female dog, which he names Ginny.

Ginny seems to be able to find cats that have physical disabilities or have been abused. Before Gonzalez knows it, Ginny has "adopted" an abused, homeless cat, a deaf cat, and a cat blind in one eye.

This touching book will warm the hearts of all animal lovers on these chilly Fall nights.

c Waterloo Public Library 2007

Warped world history

Don't check out The 2000 Year Old Man in the Year 2000 ( 792.7 BRO) if you want the history of the world. And...you'll know why once you see who wrote it - Mel Brooks and Carl Reiner. After all, Mel Brooks made of mess of history when he made the movie, "History of the World: Part I." For those of you who live in a cave, you probably remember Carl Reiner from the "Dick Van Dyke Show."

This is a very funny, simple book that can be read very quickly. Believe me, it's just mindless fun.

c Waterloo Public Library 2007

The history of libraries

In just the last 10 years or so, visitors to libraries have seen a huge change. You'll see less space for books; more space is devoted to movies, audio books, and (of course) computers for the public to use.

Libraries have always been evolving ever since they were organized. That's where Libraries in the Ancient World by Lionel Casson ( 027.09 CAS) is so fascinating. This slim book begins with the Near East where clay tablets were found. The fragments contained law decrees, myths, and bookkeeping records. Archaeologists are finding several of these since clay becomes more durable after a fire, which destroyed many of the buildings where they found the tablets written by Sumerians, Akkadians and other cultures that lived in Mesopotamia.

After a while papyrus became the material of choice for books, which moves the story to Egypt, the best location for growing usable papyrus. A chapter is devoted to the famous library of Alexandria. From there, the author takes us to Rome.

This slim book isn't just about the beginnings of the library - it's also about book making and understanding the importance the written language has on society.

c Waterloo Public Library 2007

Carnegie Libraries

Anyone who knows a little Waterloo history knows that this community was lucky to get two Carnegie libraries in this town. Because of the conflict between the West and East sides, Andrew Carnegie agreed to give money to build two libraries.

This is only one of the 99 stories in The Carnegie Libraries of Iowa by John M. Witt (027.473 WIT). Between 1892 and 1917, Andrew Carnegie gave away an incredible $1,565,616.00 to build libraries in Iowa. Before the first Carnegie library was constructed in Iowa at Fairfield, Andrew Carnegie had only donated funds for three libraries - all located in Pennsylvania as gifts to his steel factory employees.

The book is full of photographs to compliment the few pages devoted to each library. This will be of big interest to history buffs.

c Waterloo Public Library 2007

Last minute Halloween costume ideas

In a panic for costume ideas? Easy Halloween Costumes for Children by Leila Albala (646.47 ALB) is for you.

By just using a few things such as panty hose, garbage bags, and other objects found around the house, you can make your child into a Martian, a monster, or some other scary creature.

Here are two other books still available at the library:

Creative Costumes for any Occasion by Mark Walker (646.47 WAL)

Halloween Costumes from the Singer Sewing Reference Library (646.478 HAL)

c Waterloo Public Library 2007

Confessions of an art dealer

Author John Howard Swanson was a very successful art dealer in San Francisco. He has written an autobiography called Confessions of an Art Dealer (709.2 SWA in the biography section).

Before I begin with an overview of his experiences, readers should remember that not all art dealers do inappropriate tactics for selling art. He's only talking about what he had seen in San Francisco.

Before he set up his own art galleries, Swanson worked at a gallery that bought blank paper with only the signature from Salvador Dali and had a local printer print, as needed, a particular image. The gallery sold these as original prints. ("Notice that the artist hand signed it!")

Swanson was one of the few art galleries in the San Francisco area who promoted local artists. During the '60s and '70s (same as now) San Francisco was a thrilling place for new artists to live. Instead of relying on "prints" from the established names, Swanson took a chance with local artists. He even made a promise, which he kept, that he would pay the artists every month for artwork that was sold. Many of the art galleries did not pay the artists on time, sometimes not at all.

Of course, he also had to deal with the egos of the artists who wanted more space or a larger percentage of the sales.

Overall, it's a fascinating look at the art world through the eyes of an art dealer.

c Waterloo Public Library 2007

Focus on the Hocus Pocus

Hocus Pocus! (745.5941 HOC) is another book currently available at the library for those who want to do last minute decorating. Spooky decorations that can be made include:

• Pumpkin place mats
• Pumpkin lantern
• Skeleton banner
• Beaded spiders and webs
• Caldron Candles
• Haunted tree decorations
• Spooky party favors

c Waterloo Public Library 2007

Are you doing last minute Halloween decorating?

If you are like I am, you may be a procrastinator still thinking of decorating for the Halloween season. Have no fear, we still have a few books on quick, fun decorations to "deaden" (not liven) your house.

Appropriately called Halloween Decorating, by Cowles Creative Publishing (745.5941 HAL) has 50 projects and ideas. They range from the usual pumpkin carving and scarecrow to party decorations to picture frames and wreaths.

c Waterloo Public Library 2007

In the cool of the evening, when everything is getting kind of spooky...

Halloween - the time of year when ghosts and goblins come out. To get in the mood of the season, here are two books written about spooky stories of Iowa that have been collected by the authors. These are very short stories; they can be read at a Halloween party in just a few minutes. They aren't really that scary, making them great for the entire family to hear while Mom or Dad reads them around a campfire on a dark, cold night.


Ghostly Tales of Northeast Iowa by Ruth D. Hein
(977.7 HEI)
I thought there would be some stories based in Waterloo or Cedar Falls, but there don't seem to be any. They are in Decorah, West Union, and other places. At least you won't get scared about some location you might frequently go by.

Ghosts of Johnson County, Iowa by Lori Erickson (cover not shown) (977.7655 ERI) Most of the stories are from the Iowa City area.

c Waterloo Public Library 2007

Halloween is fast approaching. Every place you look, there seem to be pumpkins for sale. If you are planning to buy one of them, are you planning on doing the traditional carving of it? This time of the year, Martha Stewart and others promote different ideas for carving.

The library has a fascinating book called Extreme Pumpkin Carving by Vic Hood and Jack A. Williams (745.594 HOO). The authors use non-traditional tools for their creations: toothbrush, a pocket knife, and wood carving tools. There are 20 ideas to spark your imagination. They include a witch and several old men (including Santa Claus himself). The photographs of the finished pumpkins are a treat to look at, even if you don't care to go through the work of carving a pumpkin.

If you're interested in a more basic book on pumpkin carving, check out Pumpkin Carving by Ed Palmer (745.5941 PAL).

c Waterloo Public Library 2007

Richard Chamberlain

You don't hear much about Richard Chamberlain anymore. But this past week, I listened to a pianist who played music from "The Thorn Birds," which she informed me was one of her favorite movies.

I'm too young to really remember Richard Chamberlain in "Dr. Kildare," but I do remember "The Thorn Birds," one of the more prominent movies Richard starred in.

Shattered Love (792.028 CHA in the biography section) is Richard Chamberlain's memoir. Of course he discusses his rise to fame as an actor, becoming a heartthrob in the 1960s. He's much more, though. He's also an accomplished painter.

If you're looking for gossip on other actors and directors, this book isn't for you. Richard doesn't get into all the back biting bitchiness that other performers do.

c Waterloo Public Library 2007

A strange title for a memoir

The Camel's Nose (571.1 SCH in the biography section) is a memoir by Knut Schmidt-Nielsen, a Professor Emertus in the Department of Zoology at Duke University.

Schmidt-Nielsen grew up in Oslo, Norway. He received his education in Oslo and Copenhagen. As a scientist, he traveled all over the globe, from the Brazilian rain forest to the Sahara Desert to the Artic islands. He conducted experiments to understand the lives of animals living under extreme conditions.

c Waterloo Public Library 2007

This book is worth its weight in salt

When I was in high school, all I knew about salt was from chemistry class. It's sodium chloride, two nasty elements that come together to form a tasty compound perfect for sprinkling on french fries. Oh, and that it rusts cars. Maybe I learned more, but if I did, I forgot.


It wasn't until I visited Europe that I really appreciated what people do to produce salt. At Salzburg, Germany, they give tours of a salt mine (at least they did back in the '70s), like a tame amusement ride. It actually quite fascinating.


Author Mark Kurlansky tells you everything you want to know (and more) about this subject in Salt: A World History(333.8563 KUR). Nowadays, salt is common and cheap (unless your buying some of that gourmet, speciality kind). In ancient times, it was a valuable commodity traded between different countries.

To those who haven't read this book, the subject may seem dull. Believe it or not, the author is capable of keeping the book interesting.

c Waterloo Public Library 2007

The radioactive boy scout

Reporter Ken Silverstein writes a true story about a teenager who was clever enough to deceive his parents and the U.S. government to build a nuclear reactor in his back yard.

The Radioactive Boy Scout ( 621.483 SIL in the biography section)centers around a science geek named David Hahn who lived in a suburb of Detroit, Michigan. His interest in science first started with old science books that talked about nuclear power. Passing himself off as a professor, he contacted the U.S. government and industry experts for additional information on radioactivity. Through the use of parts found in common items found in different sporting goods products, junk yards, and antique stores.

The crude nuclear reactor that he did build had to be destroyed by the EPA and buried.

c Waterloo Public Library 2007

Because of my age and not having children, I had never heard of Raffi. It wasn't until I started working in the library that this work became known to me; we have several CDs and videos of his.

For those who are like I was, with no clue, his music is very familiar to millions of children and parents. As told in this autobiography, Raffi (782.42 RAF in the Biography section), Raffi Cavoukian is of Armenian descent and lived his early life in Egypt. His father's photography talents became world-known. The family eventually moved to Canada.

Raffi's own career began as a folksinger in coffee houses. With his rising fame, his concerts began to sell out - even at Carnegie Hall and on Broadway. He has dozens of platinum and gold records - and the majority of the records have been through his own independent record company. When he did negotiate a contract with MCA to sell his music, he was able to get MCA to get rid of the cardboard "longboxes" that were about 12" long that would contain only one small cassette.

If you have an interest in Raffi's music, here are a few of the titles we have in youth: "Baby Beluga," "Raffi in Concert with the Rise and Shine Band," and "Raffi on Broadway."

c Waterloo Public Library 2007

A woman with split personalities

Tell Me Who I Am Before I Die is an autobiography by Christina Peters,who has multiple personality disorder. If anyone has seen the movie "Sybil" or read the book based on it , "The Three Faces of Eve," you know what that is. Because of a traumatic childhood, Christina fragmented herself into five distinct personalities, each with its own name and awareness. Marie was the mother and wife. Linda love to get drunk and high. Charlene came to the rescue of the other personalities. Michael emerged to pull all the personalities together.

c Waterloo Public Library 2007

You know about Anne Frank's diary, but you may not know about another diary that survived - one by Edith Velman who grew up in a Jewish household in the Netherlands and endured the German occupation during WWII.

Edith's Story (940.5318 in the Biography section) is Velman's autobiography using her diary entries as a starting point for talking about her experiences growing up. At first, after the German occupation, she was like any other typical school girl, she didn't notice that much difference. But as time went on, more and more restrictions were put on her family. New rules would crop up one at a time: public transportation was forbidden; a yellow star had to be sewn on her exterior clothes; the family was only allowed to buy food during a certain time of the day; public school was forbidden. She writes in her diary about each new regulation, saying that it's not so bad - it's just one rule. Her personality, even after several more restrictions, was mostly upbeat, saying that eventually the Germans would leave. She was optimistic that Great Britain or the United States would save them.

Edith was lucky to have a courageous Protestant family take her in the same month as Anne Frank, and was passed off as part of the family.

c Waterloo Public Library 2007

Curses! Broiled Again!

This is the book for those who miss the "Weekly World News" since we no longer get it. Curses! Broiled Again! is a collection of wacky stories that fit within the style of that defunct newspaper.

Author Jan Harold Brunvand is a folklorist who collected, classified, compared, and catalogued urban legends. She's published several books on the subject and wrote a column called "Urban Legends." The articles in her column are compiled in this book.

When I was growing up, I remember urban legends told to me that friends swore were true: "New York's sewer system is full of alligators;" "One popular fast-food restaurant served horse meat and not beef." This book is full of stories, some really funny, some really disturbing, that people had sent into the author. Some of them were originally found in newspapers.

After getting the story, Brunvand does a little research, checking for reliable sources, looking for older accounts with the same details, trying to discredit the information. All of this is recorded in this book.

Oh, and by the way, the title refers to an urban legend that a woman who was desperate to get a fake tan as quickly as possible. Because tanning salons only allow so many minutes a week under the tanning lights, she signed up at several salons to speed up her tanning. After doing this, she complained of burning sensations and discovered that her insides were cooked. Like I said, this is full of weird stuff.

c Waterloo Public Library 2007

A collection of stories by a staff writer for the "Washington Post's" Style section

Hank Stuever has a way of finding offbeat stories around the U.S. Off Ramp (973.92 STU) is a collection of some of those.
Here are some of them:

He follows the crew from the hit TV show, Changing Rooms, recording his experiences with Douglas Wilson and Hildi Santo-Tomas as they destroy and reconstruct two rooms.

He visits the home of Dan DeCarlo, who is most prominently known for creating and drawing "Josie and the Pussycats", and modernizing Betty and Veronica after Bob Montana, the creator of Archie, retired.

He goes to a scifi convention where Star Troopers from Star Wars congregate.

He interviews Phil Jimenez, who writes and illustrates DC's "Wonder Woman," giving new life to an old icon created by a psychologist by the name of William Marsden.

He tries to understand those who go camping at the Kampgrounds of America franchise, talking to everyone from RV grannies and European college students.


c Waterloo Public Library 2007

More books that have been banned or challenged

The Tall Man From Boston by Marion L. Starkey (+133.4 STA)
Set in 1692 in Salem, John Alden is accused of being a witch simply because he was "a tall man from Boston." This book was challenged at the Sikes Elementary School media center in Lakeland, FL, in 1985 because it contradicts the teachings of the Bible.

School Girls: Young Women, Self-Esteem, and the Confidence Gap by Peggy Orenstein (305.235 ORE)
In 1990, the American Association of University Women conducted a poll about the low self-esteem young girls have once they reach adolescence. This is the conclusion from that study. Challenged in 1996 at the Courtland, Ohio, High School because of bad language.

When I Was Puerto Rican by Esmeralda Santiago (974.7 SAN)
A true story about Santiago's life in Puerto Rico with 10 brothers and sisters - a harsh life with a battle between the sexes and poverty. It was challenged in 2001 in the Newark, California, Unified School District because of sexually explicit language and in 2002 in the Fairfax County, Virginia, elementary and secondary school libraries because of profanity.

The source for this information is Banned Books by Robert P. Doyle
(025.213 DOY).


c Waterloo Public Library 2007

More books that have been banned or challenged

With the help of Banned Books by Robert P. Doyle (025.213 DOY), I have a list of four more books that have been banned or challenged in the United States.

Final Exit by Derek Humphry (362.28 HUM) Nonfiction
This New York Times best-seller discusses a very controversial issue: offering people who are terminally ill choices on how and when to end their lives. This book was challenged at the Cook Memorial Library in Libertyville, IL, in 1991 because it discusses assisted suicide and drug use.


Never Cry Wolf by Farley Mowat (593.773 MOW) Nonfiction
Mowat, a biologist for the Canadian government spent an Arctic summer watching and tracking a family of wolves. Banned from the Panama City, FL, school classrooms and libraries in 1987 because of bad language.


In the Spirit of Crazy Horse by Peter Matthiessen (305.897 MAT) Nonfiction
The author researched thousands of pages of documents from both the FBI and the Indians to reveal the treatment of the Indians in 196s and '70s. South Dakota Governor William J. Janklow sued three bookstores for not stopping the sale of this book in their store.


365 Days by Ronald J. Glaser (959.7 GLA) Nonfiction
The author is a former Major, United States Army Medical Corps stationed as a pediatrician in a Japanese hospital which averaged six to eight thousand patients a month. This book was banned in Baileyville, ME, in 1982.

c Waterloo Public Library 2007

Banned Book Week: September 29 - October 6

Across the nation, "Banned Book Week" is being promoted starting today. The Waterloo Public Library has a lot of books that have been challenged or banned in different parts of the country. Some of the titles will be very familiar to many of you. Here are just a few of titles you may, or may not know:


Hollywood vs. America by Michael Medved (302.23 MED) - Film critic Michael Medved writes a scathing report on Hollywood, portraying religion unfavorably, glamorizing violence, and celebrating immorality. It was withdrawn from the Greencastle, IN, High School because of graphic language.

Reviving Ophelia by Mary Pipher, Ph.D. (305.235 PIP) - Psychiatrist Mary Pipher has worked with teenagers for more than a decade before writing this book about the violence and sexism toward female teenagers. This book was challenged in Richland, WA, high school English classes because it talked about "suicide, illicit sex, violence, and hopelessness."


Children in the Holocaust and World War II: Their Secret Diaries by Laurel Holliday (+940.5318) - This is anthology of diaries written by children all across Nazi-occupied Europe. This book was only allowed in seventh grade or higher in Columbus, OH, because of reference to sex, abortion, and drug use.


Source for this information: Banned Books by Robert P. Doyle (025.213 DOY)



























c Waterloo Public Library 2007

He hears dead people

After all these years, psychic and author Sylvia Browne seems to be as popular as ever. In fact, I think we have some books by her that just arrived over the last year.

Sylvia's son, Chris Dufrestne has written My Life with Sylvia Browne (133.092 DUF in the Biography section). It's quite obvious that Sylvia is the major influence in Chris's life. His father left the family when he was very young, and Chris feels that it's no major loss. Chris is also psychic, so some of the book talks about his abilities and his appearances with his mother on various television programs.

All of his life he was used to strangers hanging around the house - in the porch, kitchen, wherever - waiting for there turn for a reading by his mother.

If you're looking for a tell-all book, airing the dirty laundry, you won't find it here. His writing style is very calm, matter-of-fact, and caring style. It's a loving tribute to his mother who raised a well-grounded son.

c Waterloo Public Library 2007

Mauricio Lasansky: one of the premier Iowa printmakers

Mauricio Lasansky. Many may not know the name, but you have probably seen his work around Iowa. UNI has several of his pieces. The Cedar Rapids Art Center has done at least one solo exhibition of his work, as well as the Des Moines Art Center. University of Iowa also has quite a collection of his work.

Lasansky was born in Argentina, and later moved to New York City. For over 30 years, his home was in Iowa City where he taught at the university.

He's internationally know for his large (some as large as 6 feet) portraits that are done in a variety of printmaking techniques: engraving, etching, soft ground, and scraping. Many of his later works incorporated several plates for just a single print, allowing him to change the look of one image.

Lasansky: Printmaker (769.924 LAS) is a catalog of his prints from 1933-1973.

c Waterloo Public Library 2007

The battle over chocolate

Author Joel Glenn Brenner is quite a reporter. In The Emperors of Chocolate (338.766 BRE), he reveals the dedication it took on his part to get the scoop on the two US chocolate giants: Hershey and Mars. In the introduction, this reporter said that he never had this much trouble getting information from any company before doing research for this.

Even though Hershey is a publicly traded company, his phone call requests would be blocked. Because Mars is still a privately owned business, he understood their hesitation to answer his questions.

All this secrecy made him more determined to get answers. What he discovered is that the rivalry between these two is actually greater than the one that exists between Coke and Pepsi (competition that has been consistently written about and even promoted in their ads).

I think you'll find their histories quite intriguing. So grab your favorite candy bar - whether it's a Milky Way or Reeses Pieces - and get ready to read about the battle over chocolate.

c Waterloo Public Library 2007

Prisoner of the Vatican

Prisoner of the Vatican by David I. Ketzer ( 945.63 KER) is a fascinating look at a part of European history that is not discussed in general world history or humanities courses.


The country of Italy as we now know it, was not formed until the late 19th century. Before this time, Italy was a series independent Italian states. After uniting the states King Victor Emmanuel, he began taking away the vast land held by the Vatican. Pope Pius IX, denounced this and began plotting a way of getting back his power and land. Over the next twenty years the pope tried to enlist the help of other European countries.

c Waterloo Public Library 2007

A child called Noah

A Child Called Noah (362.7 GR) is a diary written by Josh Greenfeld. Josh's writes his first entry on July 1, 1966, the day his second son, Noah, is born. In addition to Noah, the household includes his Asian wife, Foumiko, and his firstborn, Karl, who is roughly a year older than Noah.

At the age of one, Noah begins to talk, however his motor skills aren't progressing as well, but he still seems to be a normal child to Josh. Noah seems to have a charming disposition, but he's very slow with rolling over, sitting up, and attempting to stand. Before Noah's third birthday, he stops talking. On a regular schedule, Josh and Foumiko have been taking him to the doctors. Different doctors diagnosed Noah differently - creating a lot of stress for Josh. Noah was finally diagnosed as autistic after a series of tests.

Josh's heartfelt entries will resonate with any parent.

c Waterloo Public Library 2007

The Business of Blood

I'm one of those squeamish people who practically faint at the sight of blood. But I was still fascinated by Blood: An Epic History of Medicine and Commerce by Douglas Starr (call # NAMES 362.1784 STA).

Starting with the 17th century, this book discusses the concept of bloodletting to remove the poisons in the body to the AIDS crisis in the 1980s. He talks about the experimental blood transfusions between animals and humans. During WWII, the Germans were racing to improve the quality of transfusions on the battlefield.

Some of the information is very disturbing, but worthwhile to fully appreciate what the medical profession offers to patients today.

c Waterloo Public Library 2007

Billy Bean's secret is out

If you've ever seen the newer TV game show "I've Got a Secret," you probably recognize the guy on the cover of this book, Going the Other Way (796.357 BEA in the biography section). In case your not familiar with the show, it's a remake of the old classic where four panelists try to guess the secret talent. Billy Bean plays it "straight" compared to the other panelists.



In Billy Bean's autobiography, Going the Other Way, he writes about his personal field of dreams. He was able to spend many years earning a living in baseball. He earned the nickname "Roy Hobbs" by his teammates. There was one secret that he had which could ruin his career. He was a gay man working in a brutally anti-gay world. He kept his life hidden for many years, "dating" women to keep his cover. He even married, thinking this would solve his problems. Of course, anyone who has known






c Waterloo Public Library 2007

To catch a crook

While reading this book, I had to stop to get a map of New York City. I've only been there once and that was a few years ago. TriBeCa is one of the locations discussed a lot, and, if memory serves me correctly, I spent time there going to different art galleries. I also wanted to find out where 507 E. 11th Street was, since that address played a prominent role in this book.

These two locations are discussed over and over in Frank Bose and Bob Barchiesi's book Rock Solid ( 364.177 BOS). They are cops who were playing cat and mouse with a powerful drug lord named Alejandro "the Man" Lopez in 1985. The apartment building on 11th Street was one of his main locals for moving as much as an estimated $50,000 in solid cocaine every day. His operation was so sophisticated and well-known that "the Man" called his brand of cocaine "Rock Solid." This guy was clever, setting up his business in buildings with trap doors, underground corridors, and secret hideaways.

"The Man" was one of those ruthless guys who thought nothing of killing associates who squealed on him. Ralph Rodriguez was one of the unlucky ones who ended up with six slugs after he talked to the police about the cocaine ring. Others who did spill there guts to save themselves from jail time were lucky enough to have the police provide alibis for talking to them - alibis that were realistic enough to save their lives.

Anyone who's interested in a true story about the techniques used by policemen to catch criminals and get them to talk should read this book. It's fascinating and troubling to read that this happened in an area I casually walked through 20-some years after these events took place.

c Waterloo Public Library 2007

A trip to the see the Amish

I had mentioned last week, that my father enjoys visiting the Amish community. Visiting them was something he has done for many years. I still remember all the road trips we took on Sundays. We would finish milking and feeding the animals early. My mom would pack a picnic lunch, and off we'd go to some place like LaCrosse, Wisconsin. It didn't matter where we went; Dad always took the country roads, and we always seem to end up going through a section of the country where houses would periodically have many buggies in front. We knew we were in the Amish country.

Some of the Amish traditions are quite different from other religious groups. They don't have churches. A group would meet at one of the parishioners' homes.

The Amish Wedding and Other Special Occasions of the Older Order Communities (289.73 SCO) talks about various holidays and important events, including Sunday worship.

For anyone not familiar with their culture, this book is a good, easy-to-read beginning book about the Amish way of life.

c Waterloo Public Library 2007

A true story of a troubled girl

Torey Hayden accepted a job as a grade school teacher for special needs students in a very small town. Unfortunately, she was hired in the middle of the school year. For many weeks before Hayden came, her students were taught by several substitute teachers - one of them didn't even last a day.

Her class consists of only four students, but even they were a handful. Jeremiah is the nightmare student, full of energy and a vile mouth. Philip is a cowering, whimpering child. Reuben is constantly on the go. Jadie is a selective mute, meaning that she can talk when she wants to but just refuses to talk in school. From the very first day, Hayden had a lot of work to do with these youngsters, and the fact that they did not have a regular routine did not help any.

The title of Hayden's true story is Ghost Girl, referring to Jadie. Jadie has her share of problems. She's hunched over, almost doubled over with her arms folded against her stomach. It's very difficult for Hayden to see her eyes, because of her posture. Although she is well behaved and does her school work, she refuses to talk in class.

As time goes on, Jadie trusts Hayden more and more. The author's background is doing research on selective mute children, so she's successful at getting Jadie more involved in class. Jadie does begin to talk a little in private, but what she says seems to make no sense - it's very confusing and cryptic. Hayden begins to have strong suspicions that something is really wrong in the family.

If you enjoy a book with an ending where everything is explained, Ghost Girl is not for you. There are a lot of questions raised by the author, but that doesn't mean that the book isn't worthwhile. By the end of the story, your heart goes out to Jadie with all of her troubles. I think it will change your perspective on how you behave around someone who is as unresponsive as this young girl.

This book can be found on the second floor under the Dewey # 362.1989 HAY.

c Waterloo Public Library 2007

The Good Ol' Days

One of my 93-year-old father's favorite activities is traveling with my sister and brother-in-law through the Amish territory by Fairbank. It's all he'll talk about for several days afterwards. And he's ready and willing to go back again every two weeks.

A little background on my father: He's been a farmer all of his life. Even after retirement, he still kept informed about the changes occurring in farming. He was a farmer's son. He worked as a farm hand after he left home. When he married, he and my mother (a Waterloo city girl) moved to the farm that he still owns. He's lived through a lot, including the Great Depression and World War II. Because they had land for crops and animals and little money, they weren't affected by the Depression and the war as much as others.

Bob Artley's Seasons on the Farm ( 741.597 ART) is the perfect book to show Dad. The whimsical, sentimental cartoons will bring back a lot of memories for him. Artley writes about all of the activities farm kids used to do years ago: thrashing the oats, going to the one-room school house, plowing with horses, milking by hand, gathering chicken eggs, cleaning out the hog house, etc.

I'm sure that once I show this book to Dad, he'll remember a lot more stories to tell me about his own childhood and farming.

c Waterloo Public Library 2007

I heard "Tie a Yellow Ribbon..." and now I can't get it out of my head.

Remember "Tie a Yellow Ribbon 'Round the Ole Oak Tree" sung by Tony Orlando and Dawn? I just heard that lately. I'm old enough to remember when the song came out. I think that it was around 1973 when people started putting yellow ribbons on trees to show there support for the military in Vietnam. Rows of trees could be seen with yellow ribbons. It was quite a sight. Of course this was decades before the yellow ribbon car magnets that you see all over the place became popular.

Tony Orlando has written an autobiography called Halfway to Paradise (biography section, #781.64 ORL). I didn't even know that the book title is the title of his first hit in 1961. I only remember him from the 1970s, beginning with his song, "Candida." In fact, he was popular enough to travel the concert circuits with Gene Pitney, Brian Hyland, Ray Stevens, and Bobby Vinton back in the '60s.

After touring, he settled in to work as an executive at Columbia working under Clive Davis. Even though he was not recording at Columbia, it did not stop him; he secretly recorded music for another company (Bell). After "Knock Three Times" became a big hit, even reaching #1 in England, he decided he should leave Columbia and concentrate on his singing career. Several bands claimed to be the original Tony Orlando and Dawn. He wanted to make sure that he did not lose control of his music career by having someone else gain legal access to the name.

As with many famous people, he's had his share of drug addictions. At times they were bad enough, that he ended up in a facility. Lindsay Lohan had it easy compared to what Orlando describes in his book.

This book is an easy read and will delight anyone who wants to reminisce about the good old days of music during the '60s and '70s.

c Waterloo Public Library 2007

Three generations of women in China

Some of you may already be familiar with a new novel written by Lisa See called Peony in Love. I have wanted to read this novel, since it discusses women's role in ancient China. The story revolves around a 15-year-old girl whose parents arrange a marriage for her. Unfortunately, I have not read it yet, since it's always checked out.

That book description piqued my interest in what it would be like for a woman growing up in China. Most of my education in world history concentrated on Europe. Very little was on Asia.
When I saw Wild Swans by Jung Chang (951.05 CHA), I had to read it.

The book tells the story of three Chinese woman: Jung Chang, her mother, and her grandmother.

The story begins in the early 1900s with her grandmother. As a young child, Chang's great-grandparents bound her feet, causing her a tremendous amount of pain. Her feet were broken on purpose and bound to make them more dainty, lady like. That was a common practice at the time, resulting in woman taking very small steps and walking every so carefully. Regular sized feet were considered an embarrassment. At the age of fifteen, her grandmother was given to a warlord general as a concubine. (It was not unusual for rich people to have a wife and several concubines.) This gave Chang's great-grandparents more prestige and wealth. Her life was extremely lonely during that time, and she was despised by the wife of the general. Fortunately she was able to escape the cruelty of that household. While she was in her twenties (considered old for marriage), an elderly doctor fell in love with her and married her, providing some years of happiness.

Chang's mother was more of a free spirit, only wanting to get married when she was in love. During her childhood, the Japanese ruled Manchuria, where she lived. When the Japanese were defeated during WWII, political and economic unrest occurred. There were two opposing sides vying for power, practically destroying the town she lived in. As an adult, she joined the Communist party.

Jung Chang does a great job of incorporating a tremendous amount of personal material about her family history and at the same time writing about the dramatic changes in women's rights that have occurred during the last three generations.

c Waterloo Public Library 2007

He has rocks in his head

Now, I've heard of people spending their entire vacation looking at stones in Egypt, going from one incredible monument to another. I've heard of people going to Great Britain to visit the extremely popular site known as Stonehenge, but I've never heard of anyone spending an entire long vacation looking at stones across the island.

Before reading this, I had three reasons for wanting to look at this book. I have a fascination with prehistoric structures (I studied them in art history). My brother Michael publishes a magazine (KMT) that features all types of man-made stone structures. Several years ago, there was an exhibit at the Waterloo Center for the Arts. A series of beautiful, richly colored large paintings of megaliths were on display. Ever since I saw the first photograph of a pyramid, I was hooked.

M. Scott Peck and his wife did just that, and it's chronicled in his book, In Search of Stones (#150.92 PEC). Supplied with a guide book and a map, go on an expedition looking for stones. These aren't ordinary stones, though. These are stones that for some unknown reason have been moved and placed in particular patterns or locations. Some are carved onto specific shapes, some are decorated with fanciful animals and abstract shapes.

Although he does talk about the excitement of finding another site, it's more than just a journal of his travels. On this trip, he does a lot of thinking. This is one of those books that takes a while to get through. I have to read this in segments, not because I'm bored, but because he gives me something to reflect on. He's able to find all sorts of relationships between disparate ideas. He openly reveals several aspects of his life: religious beliefs, addictions, marriage, and infidelity are just a few. Even though he is the first to admit that he's far from perfect, he's a person I would really like to know.

Who knew a book about stones could be so fascinating?

c Waterloo Public Library 2007