The Last Dragon, by Jane Yolen, artist Rebecca Guay--A Review

The Last Dragon, Dark Horse Comics/Dark Horse Books, ISBN 9781595827982, September 2011

Ebook isn't the best format for reading a graphic novel, so right up front let's be clear that I didn't get the best of this book. Despite that, the artwork is intricate and lovely, and well worth taking some extra time to enjoy. In print and in color, I'm sure it's immensely better.

The story itself is simple and engaging, with moments of humor. Tansy, one of the three daughters of the local Healer, is clearly the one who got her father's interest and talent--and annoys her sisters and mother by having little interest in chores beyond herbalism.  It's not that she won't work, and willingly, if asked; it just doesn't occur to her. When Tansy finds some dragon's bane, she and her father are puzzled as to what it means--and the Healer goes off to investigate.

Jar Jar Binks Must Die . . . and Other Observations About Science Fiction Movies, by Daniel Kimmel--A Review

Fantastic Books, ISBN 9781617200618, March 2011

First off, in the interest of full disclosure, I need to tell you that Dan and I have been friends for years, and I received a free copy of this book from him. There's no pretending I'm completely objective, here. On the other hand, Dan and I have been arguing vigorously about science fiction, fantasy, and movies for all those years, too.

This is a collection of criticism and commentary about science fiction movies that Dan has written over his years as a movie critic. He's added some updating, new critiques, and some additional material, tying it together into a knowledgeable, educational, and entertaining discussion of science fiction movies, their value, and their significance.

Why the Church Needs Bioethics, ed. by John F. Kilner--Review

Zondervan, ISBN 9780310328520, June 2011

This is a collection of essays built around three case studies, illustrating why the Church needs to study and explore bioethics. Each of the case studies presents a moral and ethical dilemma which the affected parties are not handling well. Each situation is then examined in several essays from a variety of perspectives, by experts from different fields: legal, medical, business, multicultural, bioethics, psychology, pastoral care.

The three case studies are a couple trying to have a baby via egg donation from the  wife's sister; four graduate students who have been told by their very distinguished

Greetings, Technorati

Okay, this isn't the most fascinating post. In fact, it exists solely for the purpose of claiming my blog on Technorati. Let's just hope I'd doing this right.
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Main Street Public Library: Community Places and Reading Spaces in the Rural Heartland, 1876-1956

 University of Iowa Press, ISBN 9781609380670, October 2011

This is a study of four small-town midwestern libraries during what were, outside the northeast, the formative years for public library service. The four libraries are Bryant Library, Sauk Centre, Minnesota; Sage Library, Osage, Iowa; Charles H. Moore Library, Lexington, Michigan; and Rhinelander Public Library, Rhinelander, Wisconsin. Wiegand studies the formation, growth, and development of these libraries, and how they interacted with the communities they served, the wider culture, and the culture of professional librarianship. He notes in his introduction that the USA has more public libraries than it does McDonald's restaurants--a statistic that will surprise some readers. Libraries are a basic, vital service for Americans, strongly cherished and supported. The question is, what exactly are the services valued by library users and the community in small-town America?

Write a Post, Help a Dog

Once again, for the 2011 BlogPaws conference, Pedigree is running its "Write a Post, Help a Dog" campaign. Last year, 391 bloggers participated, and Pedigree donated 20 pounds of its Healthy Longevity dog food to shelters for each post. Let's make it an even bigger success this year!

How you can help:

Cherry Cheesecake Murder, by Joanne Fluke

Kensington, ISBN 9780758273284, May 2011

This is a new paperback edition of Fluke's 2006  eighth entry in her Hannah Swensen mystery series. In the last book, both Mike and Norman proposed to Hannah, and she's still (and will for at least several more books) engaging in her irritating dithering and inability to choose between the two men. As annoying as this is, she is 100% justified in her outraged reaction to receiving a half dozen calls before 6am demanding that she make an immediate decision so that the two men will stop acting like the lovestruck idiots that they are. This nonsense aside, though, this is another solid entry in the series.

Redirect: The Surprising New Science of Psychological Change, by Timothy D. Wilson

Little, Brown, and Company, ISBN 9780316051880, September 2011

Wilson gives us a highly readable account of what we do and don't know about psychological and social psychological interventions--what works, what doesn't, why, and how we tell the difference.

A major concern of Wilson's is many popular, widely accepted approaches to solving, reducing, or preventing problems, such as Critical Incident Stress Debriefing (CISD) counseling for police and firefighters after a traumatic on-the-job incident, or popular and widely-respected anti-drug programs for the schools, have been implemented on a large scale without being scientifically tested first. In some cases, once broadly accepted, these approaches remain unchanged even after scientific testing demonstrates that they are ineffective or even counter-productive.

The Truth About Girls and Boys: Challenging Toxic Stereotypes About Our Children, by Caryl Rivers and Rosalind C. Barnett

Columbia University Press, ISBN 9780231151627, September 2011

Are girls and boys really that different? Are their brains wired differently in important ways, leading to very different abilities and needs? Rivers & Barnett take a hard look at claims that the brains, and therefore the abilities, of boys and girls differ in major ways, making it necessary to teach them in very different ways. First they look at the claims, the proposals based on them, and the studies claimed to support them.

The 11 Laws of Likability: Relationship Networking. . . Because People Do Business With People They Like, by Michelle Tillis Lederman--A Review

AMACOM, ISBN 9780814416372, September 2011

How can you network more effectively? Be more likable.

And while that may seem a bit flip, it really is the key. As Lederman says, "People do business with people they like." If you are not likable and reliable, people will find someone else to do business with.

The good news: you can learn how to be more likable, how to make your likability more visible and apparent to others, and Lederman provides a nifty little primer for getting started. And she starts with a personal revelation: Some years back, when she was giving a presentation to students on, amongst other things, making sure every professional interaction has a clear purpose or goal, she asked them what they thought her purpose in that presentation was--and one student said, "You want us to like you." In the moment, she thought to was a ridiculous answer; of course she wasn't concerned about being liked! The comment stuck with her, though, and over time she realized that, in fact, not only do we all want to be liked, but being liked is essential to networking effectively, both personally and professionally. In the years that followed, a growing understanding of what makes us likable and how it works for us led to the need to articulate these lessons for others.