Ex Libris presents holiday gifts and vacation reading. Welcome to the third issue of Raynor Memorial Libraries' newsletter for readers. Our goal is to identify a broad range of contemporary fiction and nonfiction for the general reader.  Staff from throughout the libraries contributed their recommendations, plus we selected some recent prizewinners, e-books, and new books by faculty.  All readers in the Marquette community are invited to suggest books, or better, to write a brief review for Ex Libris.  If you missed an alert, the May and July issues of Ex Libris are available online.

Bono: in conversation with Michka Assayas, by Bono (Riverhead Books, 2005)
Possibly the most well-known rock star in the world today, Bono, frontman of the band U2, converses with his journalist friend, Michka Assayas, about a wide variety of topics. Bono shares his thoughts about the difficulties of his early life-- losing his mother when he was a young teen and the strained relationship with his father. He talks about the early, humble beginnings of U2 and its transformation into one of the most famous rock bands in the world, winning 14 Grammys and selling 130 million albums.  Bono shares how his Christian faith and family have helped ground him in his hugely successful career.  He discusses why and how he has used his international fame to campaign for many issues worldwide, most notably Third World debt reduction and the AIDS epidemic in Africa.  This book provides an intimate look at a rock legend who breaks the stereotype of the "drugs, sex & rock ‘n' roll" type of performer. Definitely worth reading for any U2 or rock music fan.    Recommended by Rose Trupiano, Research & Outreach Services Librarian

Creepers, by David Morrell ( CDS Books, 2005)
Creepers is airless and dark—it'll affect your breathing if you read for long stretches, as you find you may not be getting enough oxygen. It's claustrophobic, agoraphobic, and a little like a live burial. That's effective! Frank Balenger, a reporter with secrets, joins a group of “urban explorers” (creepers) just before they "infiltrate" the Mayan pyramid-shaped Paragon Hotel in rundown Asbury Park, New Jersey. Creepers are obsessed with the past—"take only photographs and leave only footprints" is their motto. But, oh there are secrets. After lying dormant for years, the Paragon has secrets of its own. For they are not alone, and the past and the present will come crashing together in an intensely violent climax that's literally impossible to stop reading. Like his prior anti-hero, Rambo, Morrell's Balenger is a loner with deep scars and levels of motivation. If you haven't already discovered David Morrell (and First Blood, Testament, and The Totem should be required reading for all thriller fans), this is the perfect time. Recommended by Bill Gagliani, Stacks Supervisor

Everything Bad is Good for You: How Today's Popular Culture is Actually Making Us Smarter, by Steven Johnson (Riverhead Books, 2005)
What?  Activities normally seen as a waste of time are actually enhancing our intelligence?  Steven Johnson makes the case that activities such as video game playing help us become smarter by teaching valuable problem solving skills.  In addition, TV reality shows ( The Apprentice, etc.) and complex TV dramas with multi-faceted plots ( The West Wing, 24, etc.) help keep viewers mentally stimulated.  Johnson's theory is the Sleeper Curve—in the past, popular culture played to society's lowest common denominator, but now it is becoming more intellectually demanding. This is a very readable and provocative book.  Pop culture fans, educators, and parents would do well to read it, as many mass consumers are adolescents and young adults. Recommended by Rose Trupiano, Research & Outreach Services Librarian

Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything, by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner (William Morrow, 2005)
Have you ever wondered just what do economists do? If you read the interesting stories in this popular science book, you'll begin to understand. Journalist Dubner illustrates the microeconomic analyses of Levitt and colleagues with narrative description and background. A few chapter titles, most in the form of questions, will give you a taste: “How is the Ku Klux Klan like a group of real-estate agents?” “Why do drug dealers still live with their moms?” and “Where have all the criminals gone?” The latter chapter is based on Levitt's perhaps most controversial study, which correlates crime rate statistics and the birth rate after the legalization of abortion; while disturbing perhaps, it also is fascinating. The book is a quick, easy, and truly enjoyable read, and will give you a new understanding for numbers, and economists! Recommended by Valerie Beech, Business Reference Librarian

Love at Goon Park: Harry Harlow and the Science of Affection, by Deborah L. Blum (Perseus Pub., 2002)
Pulitzer Prize-winning science writer Blum explores the life and sometimes difficult personality of Harry Harlow, professor of psychology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, who pioneered the study of human affection through experiments with laboratory monkeys. Although Harlow broke new ground in validating love as a subject for academic research and highlighted the importance of affection for human development, his controversial experimental methods raised the issue of the ethical limits and implications of primate research and have been characterized by some as inhumane. Blum illuminates this dual complexity. Recommended by Alberto Herrera Jr., Coordinator of Research Services, Research and Outreach Services.

The Year of Magical Thinking, by Joan Didion (Knopf, 2005)
This book is Joan Didion's personal account of the sudden death of her husband, John Gregory Dunne, during the time in which their only child, daughter Quintana, was in the hospital on life support. Didion takes the reader on her journey through the grieving process which includes her need to examine every aspect of Dunne's death in order to determine what (if anything) she could have done to prevent it. She reviews her actions and decisions throughout their forty-year marriage, her despair at being unable to keep her child safe, and her search for memories that do not involve her husband or her daughter. Didion effectively weaves past and present and has written a book that is real and heartbreaking. The Year of Magical Thinking is extraordinary—a book you cannot put down and won't soon forget. Recommended by Jean Zanoni, Head of Bibliographic Control

Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith, by Jon Krakauer (Doubleday, 2003)
In 1984, Mormon fundamentalists Ron and Dan Lafferty brutally murdered their sister-in-law and infant niece, the wife and daughter of their younger brother. To this day the brothers attribute their horrific crimes to merely obeying a directive from God.  In Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith, Jon Krakauer, journalist and author of Into the Wild and Into Thin Air, recounts the birth of the Mormon faith, its history, and the shrouded world of Mormon fundamentalist splinter groups. Krakauer makes the point that we may only need to look in our own back yard to find people who are not only willing, but feel divinely justified in causing tremendous violence in the name of God.  Excellently told, thoroughly researched and utterly fascinating, this book is a chance to delve deep into America 's “home-grown” religion and the directions it has taken since its inception. Recommended by Leslie Quade, Bindery Preparation Supervisor, Serials Department

Son of a Witch, by Gregory Maguire (ReganBooks 2005)
Fans of Gregory Maguire's 1995 Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West will be delighted with the newly released sequel, Son of a Witch.  The story picks up soon after the witch's demise, as young Liir follows Dorothy and her accomplices back to the Emerald City, where the Wizard mysteriously abdicates the throne, Dorothy disappears, and Glinda assumes temporary control of the government.  Abandoned and unsure of his own identity, Liir ventures on a near hopeless quest to find the missing girl who may or may not be his sister.  Witnessed in flashback, Liir's adventures lead him to the cusp of death, where a young woman named Candle restores his health and invigorates his spirit.  But there are sins to atone for and a broom to recover, and Liir must confront the Emperor's terrifying new weapon to find some redemption.  Readers will find allusions to the current administration in Maguire's depiction of an Oz controlled by religious zeal, but the heart of the story is a young man's struggle to make sense of his life, as well as the life of the enigma who may or may not have been his mother.  Recommended by Peter Kovochich, Access Services

The Inheritance, by Lan Samantha Chang (W.W. Norton, 2004)
Readers who enjoy Amy Tan's writing will love Inheritance. And like Tan, Chang populates her novel with incidental male characters and strong women--sisters Junan and Yinan in 1930s China. After reading from this book during her October visit to Marquette, the author divulged that the novel, her first, had undergone 14 drafts. Chang, daughter of Chinese immigrant parents in Appleton and recently appointed director of the prestigious Iowa Writers' Workshop, has written a multigenerational story whose setting moves from war-torn China at the time of invasion by Japan through eight decades, narrated by Hong, Junan's daughter from her arranged marriage. War, passion, betrayal, and societal change are some of the memories that Hong inherits from her parents and grandparents. This is a captivating story, lyrically written. Recommended by Susan Hopwood, Outreach Librarian

E-Book Spotlight

The Marquette Libraries purchase digital books, now numbering almost 9,000, through participation in a consortium of Wisconsin libraries. Members of the MU community may browse, read, or check out digital books from netLibrary; just follow the link in the MARQCAT record. MARQCAT also lists digital books by academic subject, such as chemistry – e-books or philosophy- e-books. The netLibrary site offers search tips and FAQs. Here's an example of a new digital book in the Libraries' collection:

The Sacred Neuron: Extraordinary New Discoveries Linking Science and Religion, by John Westerdale Bowker (I. B. Tauris, 2005) Digital book via NetLibrary.

Bowker is a well-known contemporary writer on religion and retired professor of religious studies at Lancaster University and Trinity College, Cambridge. In his new book, he examines recent research in the neurosciences that shows how reason and emotion work together in forming human opinions. Bowker shows how advances have changed our understanding of ritual, human understanding of God, and the relationship between different religions and cultures. As the book jacket points out, “In the twenty-first century, when there are people who have made their beliefs a justification for acts of violence and terror, it is more important than ever to understand why they believe what they do, and how faith and belief can be rooted in reason."

Speaking of digital books, residents of Milwaukee County might want to check out the new audiobook collection offered by CountyCat, thanks to a public library consortium. Dubbed “ OverDrive,” the collection of downloadable audiobooks includes hundreds of fiction and non-fiction, bestsellers and classics. All may be played directly on your pc or MP3 player and, depending on publisher agreements, most may be burned to CD. A quick start guide, FAQs, and documentation on supported portable devices explain how to get started.

Spotlight on Prize-winning Books and Authors

The 2005 Man Booker Prize, perhaps the most distinguished prize for English-language literary fiction, named six finalists in September and set off much speculation about which would win. John Banville was awarded the $92,000 prize Oct. 10 for his novel The Sea (Picador, 2005), a story of an Irish widower who returns to the seaside vacation place of his childhood, where he recalls life-changing events of that summer, his wife, and his marriage. One of the judges called The Sea “a masterly study of grief, memory and love recollected.” The Irish-born Banville, former literary editor of the Irish Times, is the author of 13 other novels, including The Book of Evidence, which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 1989.

The Booker shortlist included 5 other noteworthy books: Arthur & George by Julian Barnes, A Long, Long Way by Sebastian Barry, Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro, The Accidental by Ali Smith, and On Beauty by Zadie Smith.

The Orange Prize has awarded its “Best of the Best” award to Andrea Levy for her novel Small Island (Review, 2004). The Orange Prize was established to recognize English-language fiction written by women anywhere in the world. The Small Island was selected from among the first ten years' fiction winners and tells the story of a Jamaican couple who begin a new life in post-war England.

Ann Beattie was recently named the winner of the 2005 Rea Award for the Short Story. Her eight published collections include Follies: New Stories (Scribner, 2005), Burning House (Ballentine, 1983) and Perfect Recall: New Stories (Scribner, 2001). The judges said “ Rarely neat, her narratives explore the way men and women struggle with new emotional territory, the gray areas of love and vulnerability. In her prolific investigation of character there is an intelligence and compassion that is ultimately affirming, not because it is hopeful toward any upturn, but because we respect the utter intensity of its seeking to find out what makes us ache and care for the people in the lives next to ours.”

Ex Libris congratulates faculty authors of new books. This round-up of English-language books has been gleaned from MU Writes .  The Libraries' Department of Special Collections maintains an archive of publications by faculty, staff, and alumni and encourages their donation to the Libraries for future generations.  See more about the collection or call Archivist Matt Blessing at (414) 288-5901.

Click on the link to see the MARQCAT record, including location, call number, and more about each title.   Please alert the Libraries to your new publications by entering the bibliographic information in the “MU Writes” section of “ News From You ”.

Daradirek Ekachai, Associate Professor, Department of Advertising and Public Relations. International and Intercultural Public Relations- A Campaign Case (Pearson, 2005)

Tim Machan, Professor and Chair, Department of English. Sources of The “Boece” (University of Georgia Press, 2005)

Angela Sorby, Assistant Professor, English Department. Schoolroom Poets: Childhood, Performance, and the Place of American Poetry, 1865-1917 (University Press of New England, 2005)

Andrew F. Tallon, Professor, Philosophy Department and Director, University Press.  Communities of Emergent Persons (Marquette University Press, 2004)

Roland J. Teske, S.J., the Donald J. Schuenke Professor, Department of Philosophy. Henry of Ghent: Quodlibetal Questions on Moral Problems ( Marquette University Press, 2005)

Lynn H. Turner, Professor, Communication Studies. Understanding interpersonal communication: Making choices in changing times ( Wadsworth, 2006)

Ex Libris is published online occasionally

Managing Editor:   Susan Hopwood
Co-Editors:    William D. Gagliani & Leslie A. Quade
Intern: Tiffany Wait
Graphics & Layout: Jim Lowrey

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© 2005 Marquette University -- Last Update: November 14, 2005
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