From: mwbookrevw@aol.com

Reviewer's Choice

Why Cops Die (And How to Prevent It)
Gerald W. Garner
Charles C. Thomas, Publisher
2600 South First Street, Springfield, IL 62704
http://www.ccthomas.com
9780398092030 $32.95 amazon.com

Assembled by a police chief who spent 15 years as a sergeant, Why Cops Die (And
How To Prevent It) is a manual filled cover to cover with advice for countering
threats to a law enforcement officer's safety. Although Why Cops Die is written
especially for
police officers, anyone who needs or wants to understand just how dangerous police work is can learn from the anecdotes, case studies, and solid guidelines
that responsible cops use to protect their lives and the lives of others. From the importance of
always searching for the next threat, to properly handcuffing and controlling prisoners, to using light to one's advantage (such as giving one's eyes a chance to adjust to light changes, and not letting light frame one's silhouette
into an inviting
target), to avoiding deadly accidents while cleaning one's firearm and much more, Why Cops Die is brimming with lifesaving information, and is an absolute "must-have" for aspiring and practicing law enforcement professionals everywhere, as well as for
public, college, and police libraries.

Design As Democracy
David de la Pena, et al.
Island Press
2000 M St NW Suite 650, Washington, DC 20036
www.islandpress.org
9781610918473, $40.00, PB, 344pp, www.amazon.com

One of the primary political/social questions of our time is: How can we design
places that fulfill urgent needs of the community, achieve environmental justice, and inspire long-term stewardship? The fundamental answer is that by bringing community
members to the table, we open up the possibility of exchanging ideas meaningfully and transforming places powerfully. Collaboration like this is hands-on democracy in action. It's up close. It's personal. For decades, participatory design practices have
helped enliven neighborhoods and promote cultural understanding. Yet, many designers still rely on the same techniques that were developed in the 1950s and 60s. These approaches offer predictability, but hold waning promise for addressing current and
future design challenges. "Design as Democracy: Techniques for Collective Creativity" is specifically intended to help community members and activists to
reinvigorate democratic design, providing inspiration, techniques, and case stories for a wide range
of contexts. Deftly compiled and edited by six leading practitioners and academics in the field of participatory design, with nearly 50 contributors from around the world, "Design as Democracy" shows how to design with communities in empowering and
effective ways. The flow of the book's nine chapters reflects the general progression of community design process, while also encouraging readers to search for ways that best serve their distinct needs and the culture and geography of diverse places.
Each chapter presents a series of techniques around a theme, from approaching the initial stages of a project, to getting to know a community, to provoking political change through strategic thinking. Readers may approach the book as they would a
cookbook, with recipes open to improvisation, adaptation, and being created anew. Impressively 'user friendly' in organization and presentation, "Design as
Democracy: Techniques for Collective Creativity" is an extraordinary and 'real world practical'
read that is unreservedly recommended for both community and academic library Social Science, Political Science, and Contemporary Social Issues collections. It should be noted for personal reading lists that "Design as Democracy: Techniques for
Collective Creativity" is also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $23.99).

I Will Not Fear
Melba Pattillo Beals
Revell
c/o Baker Publishing Group
6030 East Fulton, Ada, MI 49301
www.bakerbooks.com
9780800729431 $16.99 www.revellbooks.com

I Will Not Fear: My Story of a Lifetime of Building Faith Under Fire is the autobiography of author Melba Pattillo Beals, of one of the black students chosen to integrate Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1957. She was only 15 years old
when she bravely attended the institution in spite of bullying, hatred, and death threats. Her faith in God sustained her through a lifetime of challenges.
She married a white man who loved her and who carried no racial prejudice - yet
cultural (not
racial!) differences led to their divorce; he wanted a stay-at-home housewife, while she longed for a college education and a career. She pursued both as a single mother, and became a writer and an NBC television news reporter. Her story is one of
resourcefulness, courage, and a bedrock of trust in God. I Will Not Fear is highly recommended for both public library collections and personal reading lists.

The Raftsmen
Ryan Barnett, author
Dmitry Bondarenko, illustrator
Firefly Books Ltd.
50 Staples Avenue, Unit 1, Richmond Hill, ON, Canada L4B 0A7 www.fireflybooks.com
9781770859784, $24.95, HC, 224pp, www.amazon.com

For four French expatriates who escaped the clutches of the Nazi regime to find
asylum in Canada, adventure was to be the antidote to depression brought on by the cruelty of war. In 1956, armed with nothing but the flannel on their backs,
a small stock
of food, and some crude navigation and communication equipment, the quartet set
sail from Halifax. Their goal was to become the first crew to cross the Atlantic by raft. Fashioned from telephone poles and built entirely by hand, the raft they called L'
Egare II would be their home for 88 harrowing days as they crossed the North Atlantic from Canada to Britain. And they made it! Ryan Barnett is a documentary filmmaker and a producer at Historica Canada. Dmitry Bondarenko is a Canadian artist and
illustrator who lives and works in Toronto. In "The Raftsmen" they collaborate to present a dramatic and thrilling portrait of a long-forgotten true adventure
and astounding seafaring achievement set in the aftermath of World War II. An inherently
fascinating read from beginning to end, "The Raftsmen" is unreservedly recommended for the personal reading lists of real life action/adventure fans, and will prove to be a unique and enduringly popular addition to community library collections.

Tortillas, Tiswin, and T-Bones
Gregory McNamee
University of New Mexico Press
MSC05 3185, 1 University of New Mexico, Albuquerque NM 87131-0001 www.unmpress.com
9780826359049, $24.95, PB, 256pp, www.amazon.com

A detailed history that is as informative as it is inherently fascinating for dedicated food buffs, Gregory McNamee explores the many ethnic and cultural traditions that have contributed to the food of the Southwest in the pages of "Tortillas, Tiswin,
and T-Bones: A Food History of the Southwest". McNamee deftly traces the origins of the distinctive southwester cuisines to the arrival of humans in the
Americas, the work of the earliest farmers of Mesoamerica, and the most ancient
trade networks
joining peoples of the coast, plains, and mountains. From the ancient chile pepper and agave to the comparatively recent fare of sushi and Frito pie, this complex culinary journey involves many players over space and time. Born of scarcity, migration,
and climate change, these foods are now fully at home in the Southwest of today
-- and with the "southwesternization" of the American palate at large, they are
found across the globe. McNamee also extends that story across thousands of years to the
present, even imagining what the southwestern menu will look like in the near future. While very highly recommended, especially for both community and academic library Food History collections and supplemental studies lists, it should be noted for
students, academics, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the
subject that "Tortillas, Tiswin, and T-Bones: A Food History of the Southwest" is also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $16.96).

The Dog Who Wouldn't Be
Farley Mowat
David R. Godine, Publisher
Fifteen Court Square, Suite 320, Boston, MA 02108-2536
www.godine.com
9781567926125, $15.95, PB, 224pp, www.amazon.com

Also available for community and academic library Canadian Biography collections, "The Dog Who Wouldn't Be" was originally published in 1957, and became one of those classic dog books that everyone who ever read it remembers.
Much as they remember the
great Canadian novelist and environmentalist Farley Mowat - for his wry humor, his marvelous use of language (his father was a librarian), his passion for animals in all forms and the outdoors in all its glory, and his seemingly endless series of
misadventures. A deftly crafted memoir that still proves after the passage of 50 years to be an inherently fascinating and memorable read from cover to cover, "The Dog Who Wouldn't Be" should be a part of every community, college, and university library
collection.

Cowboy Up! Life Lessons from Lazy B
H. Alan Day with Lynn Wiese Sneyd
www.alandayauthor.com
Morgan James Publishing
11815 Fountain Way, Suite 300, Newport News, VA 23606-4448 www.morganjamespublishing.com
9781683503989 $17.00 pbk / $7.99 Kindle amazon.com

Cowboy Up! Life Lessons from Lazy B is an anthology of true-life stories from award-winning author and modern-day American cowboy H. Alan Day, who grew up on
a southwestern cattle ranch working with cowhands, horses, and the land. Here are tales of
raising an abandoned baby hawk, surviving an unexpected crash of the small airplane he flew around the ranch daily, and trapping quail so his sister attending Stanford could create a memorable dinner for her fellow residents. Lively, adventurous, and
with a dash of wry humor, Cowboy Up! Life Lessons from Lazy B is captivating from cover to cover, and the next best thing to experiencing ranch life in person. Highly recommended!

The Great Halifax Explosion
John U. Bacon
William Morrow & Company
c/o HarperCollins Publishers
195 Broadway New York, New York 10007
97800626666536 $29.99 www.harpercollins.com

The Great Halifax Explosion tells of a 1917 cataclysmic eruption of a freighter
that held some six million pounds of explosives, on its way to fueling the Great War. The freighter's explosion was the most powerful ever experienced by a human population,
involving some 2.9 kilotons of TNT. The ship was vaporized in less than a second, the shockwave leveled the city, and a tsunami finished off the job. John Bacon's survey covers not only the events before and after the disaster, but illustrates the
lessons about mass destruction that were learned from the event by military men
and scientists alike. From survivors to all affected by the explosion, this book provides a history like no other and makes for riveting, engrossing reading by lay and
military audiences alike.

Eat Like Walt: The Wonderful World of Disney Food
Marcy Carriker Smothers
Disney Press Editions
9781484782293 $35.00 www.disneybooks.com

Eat Like Walt: The Wonderful World of Disney Food is not a cookbook; instead, it takes an unusual approach in examining the food choices and evolution of Disneyland, and covers everything from originator Walt Disney's personal culinary tastes to how food
became an entertainment attraction in its own right. Walt Disney didn't dream of becoming a restaurateur, but he did hold the vision of entertainment extending from Disney characters and productions into the food realm, and this history follows both Walt
Disney's personal and family food traditions to how inns, cafeterias, and events came to be part of Disney's vision. The result, packed with vintage photos, is a lively culinary history with a special focus on Disney that no culinary or entertainment
library should be without.

My Four Strokes
Leanne Overbeek
CreateSpace
4900 LaCross Rd., North Charleston, SC 29406
www.createspace.com
9781548047177, $9.95, PB, 94pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: "My Four Strokes" by Leanne Overbeek is a raw, vividly honest account
of the harrowing, life-threatening illness experienced by one too young and yet
not young enough, woman.

Experiencing four strokes at age 27, fighting to gain control both physically and mentally only to wake up from brain surgery on her 28th birthday, Leanne pens her difficult experience for others to derive hope.

Though the storm did surge threatening to render her helpless, Leanne was miraculously spared from certain death and wants to share her true story of hope for others to gain new strength. Fighting may seem too much, too exhausting, too seemingly hopeless,
and yet, all one can do to stay afloat.

But, there is always hope through God, our creator, who is able to grant us healing. If it is not His will to grant physical healing, He can and will grant
our souls that cleansing, saving grace if, and only if, we turn to Him in honest, sincere
repentance. Deuteronomy 31:6 - Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the LORD thy God, he [it is] that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.

Critique: Candid, inspired, and inspiring, "My Four Strokes" is a truly memorable read from beginning to end, and a choice pick especially for anyone in the Christian community beset with their own serious health issues. Highly recommended.

Morning Coffee at the Goldfish Pond
David Zurick
Shanti Arts
193 Hillside Road, Brunswick, Maine 04011
www.shantiarts.com
9781947067028, $19.95, PB, 234pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: In "Morning Coffee at the Goldfish Pond", David Zurick (winner of the
2006 National Outdoor Book Award) recounts an event in his life that seems exceedingly uncomplicated: he built a goldfish pond in his backyard.

Yet, there is more to a goldfish pond than meets the eye.

Zurick's compelling story travels the world, encompassing places of extraordinary beauty and rich cultural traditions, but the core of it is in Wolf Gap Holler, Kentucky, where he lives among hard-working and community-minded neighbors, cuts firewood to
keep warm in the winter, and enjoys morning coffee by his goldfish pond -- often with his neighbor George.

"Morning Coffee at the Goldfish Pond" at first seems so simple that one barely notices its treatises on the sacred qualities of place, the contemplative virtues of nature, the dilemmas of sustainability, and the spiritual framework that undergirds life.
Yet, this is what "Morning Coffee at the Goldfish Pond" is about: a sacred and seamless landscape that extends from the highest mountain plateaus in Tibet to the deepest hollers of Kentucky.


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