Bookshelf

(Cumberland, Maine: Deerbrook Editions, 2021)

The latest collection from the state of Maine’s poet laureate features avant-garde black out poems, “visual poems where the expected and the unexpected meet and become something else.”

(Bloomington, Ind.: iUniverse, 2021).
Described by the author as “a love story fraught with contradictions and potential for betrayal,” this fast-paced thriller continues the story of Peter Binder, a geological explorer and troubled former SEAL, and his lover, Maria Davidoff, a former Russian spy once tasked with Peter’s murder. A Fascist U.S. president, hidden Russian agendas, and a controversial copper deposit in Peru combine to keep readers turning the pages. Previous books in the series include Nuclear Rogue (2016) and Lucifer’s Gold (2019).

(Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2021)

The authors note that the urban centers of New York City, Seattle, and San Francisco have enjoyed tremendous economic success and population growth in recent years. Yet at the same time, cities like Baltimore and Detroit have experienced population loss and economic decline. Drawing from an analysis of economic and demographic trends, they explore how the public and private sectors can craft policies and make investments that create safe, green cities where young people reach their full potential.

(Unionville, N.Y.: Royal Fireworks Press, 2017).
Teen scientists interested in learning about biology and exploring the design of scientific experiments meet the common ant — one of the easiest animals to acquire and use in a scientific setting. Part instruction book, part research notebook, Amazing Ants offers young explorers how-to tips for designing an experiment, collecting and analyzing data, and communicating results. The author is a professor emeritus at Indiana University of Pennsylvania and former chief of the biochemistry laboratory of the Michigan Cancer Foundation.

(ChangeStart Press, 2020)
As noted by the publisher, this book shines a light on an underreported issue — senior leadership’s neglect in preparing bosses to whom they delegate the task of managing the organization’s people. The author introduces readers to a menagerie of bad and ugly bosses, as well as exemplary ones who lead with concern and sensitivity — thoughtful and committed managers who have the wisdom to establish a clear mission, to provide feedback and guidance, and to build an integrated and effective team. D’Aprix is an author, consultant and former corporate communication executive with Xerox and General Electric. In each of his eight books, he has explored people’s connection with their work and the need to make workplaces more receptive to human talent and innovation, both for the individual’s and the organization’s benefit.

(NP: Rogue Phoenix Press, 2018).
This is the second book in the author’s Vena Goodwin murder mystery series. The publisher describes it as beginning with two discoveries — “a murdered woman found on the Arch of Constantine and the revelation of a John Keats’ poem written at the end of his life in Rome, Italy. Disclosure of the invaluable poem causes events leading to murders with bodies deposited at historical sites in Rome. The Vena Goodwin mystery is also an exploration of Keats’ concept of ‘negative capability,’ in which intuition and uncertainty are prized over absoluteness. The speculation refers to light and darkness in the plot, bringing in the European refugee crisis, the Keats’ poem, and why we seek out uncertainties, including mystery. Familiar characters from book one in the series are the protagonist Vena Goodwin and her Italian lover Elio Canestrini.”

(New York: HarperCollins, 2018).
Funny and interactive — what more could young detectives want? Especially when they get to pick which suspects to interview, which questions to ask, and which clues to follow. Middle-grade readers help Carlos and his friends crack the case by figuring out who’s sending the death threats, uncovering a lost treasure, and working to save the Las Pistas Detective Agency.

(Villanova, Pa.: Connelly Press, 2018).
This, the author’s fifth book, is a spell-binding tale set during the precarious days of the Soviet Union’s collapse. In recommending the thriller on Kirkus Reviews, one reader noted: “The double narrative action of the kidnapping and the grand geopolitical drama is compelling. The more these two plotlines intersect, the more intriguing the chaos that ensues.”

(New York: Day By Day Publishing, 2018).
Organized chronologically, this large display book features captivating images — one for each day (it was a leap year) — that take the reader through a year marked by such triumphs as the first manned spacecraft to orbit the moon, to tragedies that included the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. The author prepared the book to accompany a 50th-anniversary exhibit that was displayed at New York City’s Steven Kasher Gallery in January and February. Garfinkel selected the images from a range of press archives and private collections and wrote text that introduces each month. “I was particularly taken with how so many of the concerns which found expression then still resonate today,” he said.

(Lanham, Md.: Lexington Books, 2020)
Part of the series “After the Empire: The Francophone World and Postcolonial France,” this book argues that the identity politics surrounding the immigration discourse of early 21st century France were reflected in the marketing and editing practices of the Metropole’s key publishers, specifically regarding non-white French women’s literature. “Mouflard’s research highlights the discrepancies between France’s official discourse on immigration, and the actual identity formation processes created by the institutions and exploited by influential publishers, in the years leading to the historic 2005 banlieue civil unrest,” the publisher noted.(Lanham, Md.: Lexington Books, 2020)