New & Recommended New & Recommended (May 05, 2004)

This month's picks by Frank Sanchez, head book buyer at Kepler's, include a new book on the dangers of overpopulation by Paul and Anne Ehrlich of Stanford, a stunning illustrated novel on Auschwitz, a biography of James Audubon, and more.

"One with Nineveh: Politics, Consumption, and the Human Future" by Paul Ehrlich and Anne Ehrlich is a continuation of themes Paul Ehrlich has been writing about since his groundbreaking book, "Population Bomb." The dire predictions of the consequences of overpopulation are coupled with a look at depleted natural resources and economic inequities. The title, by the way is a little obscure and comes from a Kipling poem about former Mesopotamian cities: "Lo, all our pomp of yesterday/is one with Nineveh and Tyre."

"Auschwitz" by Pascal Croci is a graphic novel, told in illustrations and words, of one of the darkest stories in history, which makes the book's beauty all the more stunning. Croci is an editorial illustrator who researched the Nazi death camp and then spent five years on his drawings and story.

"Audubon's Elephant: America's Greatest Naturalist and the Making of The Birds of America" by Duff Hart-Davis is a biography of the 19th century naturalist whose book of 435 species of birds was a monumental undertaking of the time. The book took years, hence the title "elephant." His "The Birds of America" was published in England between 1827 and 1835.

"A Death in Brazil: A Book of Omissions" by Peter Robb is part travelogue, part history and part harrowing tale of the dangers of living and traveling in the beautiful but troubled South American country. It's written by the author of the highly regarded "Midnight in Sicily."

"The Little Black Book of Stories" by A.S. Byatt is a collection of five new stories by the Booker Prize-winning author of "Possession: A Romance." In her new book, Byatt writes of two women examining childhood fears and of a physician encountering the new ideas of a woman who is an artist.

"William Sloane Coffin Jr.: A Holy Impatience" by Warren Goldstein is a biography of the Yale University chaplain who spoke out for civil rights and against the war in Vietnam. Coffin also helped mentor a young student, Scotty McLennan, who is now dean of religious life at Stanford.

"Good Grief" by Lolly Winston is a darkly comic novel about a women who becomes a young widow and the difficulty she has adjusting. The woman loses her job, drinks too much, moves to Oregon and in an act of desperation, gets involved in a big sister program. But instead of a sweet little girl, she gets saddled with a 13-year-old delinquent.

"The Shadow of the Wind" by Carlos Ruiz Zafon is a novel, first published in Spain, set in 1945 post-war Barcelona. In the story, a young man takes an interest in rare books and finds that all the books of a certain author are being mysteriously destroyed. The man's life is then threatened because of his copy of the author's book. --Don Kazak

E-mail a friend a link to this story.

[an error occurred while processing this directive]