Get involved!

Questions?
Suggestions?
E-mail webmaster

Christine Ammer, The Facts on File Dictionary of Cliches: Meanings and Origins of More Than 3,500 Terms and Expressions, 2nd ed. (Writers Library): the latest from the author of more than two dozen reference books presents an updated, paperback version of her popular book. Hundreds of new cliches from all walks of life, including the business world as well as popular culture, are provided, as well as an indexed, cross-referenced survey of all.

Andrea Barnes, ed., The Handbook of Women, Psychology and the Law (Jossey-Basse): Experts in jurisprudence, clinical and feminist psychology, ethics and public policy look at how social issues such as abortion, rape, domestic violence, sexual harassment, divorce, poverty, welfare and mental health have affected civil and criminal change.

Kitty Beer, What Love Can't Do (Plainview Press): A novel illuminating the consequences of global warming by focusing on family relationship against a background of devastating climate change.

Bernice Buresh and Suzanne Gordon, From Science to Voice: What Nurses Know and Must Communicate with the Public. Second edition (paperback).

Jan Cannon, Now What Do I Do? The Woman's Guide to a New Career (Capital Books): Women facing mid-life career decisions can use this book to explore their options, deal with real and imagined expectations, and find a job that fits. Used by personal and business coaches.

Stephanie Caruana, The Gemstone File: A Memoir (Trafford): The definitive book on "Gemstone" contains a compelling version of U.S./world history and corporate takeover. Reveals the connections between Onassis, Howard Hughes, JFK, other assassinations, Mafia power plays, Bruce Roberts' secret journal, and the U.S. quest for military hegemony.

Dan Connell, ed., Women to Women: Young Americans in South Africa (Africa World Press). A conversation among South African and American women about race, class, gender, and challenges around building an egalitarian nation in post-Apartheid South Africa. Contributors are Simmons College students.

James Cowan, Desert Father: A Journey in the Wilderness with Saint Anthony (New Seeds). The author journeys to a monastery near St. Anthony the Great's 4th Century Hermitage. Cowan personalizes Anthony of Egypt, the first desert father and anchorite, alongside his own spiritual search, against a background of desert solitude.

Anita Diamant, The Last Days of Dogtown: A Novel (Scribner): The author of The Red Tent imagines the community of cast-offs − prostitutes, ex-slaves, loners and drunks, in the legendary 1800s coastal outpost of Massachusetts' Cape Ann.

Rebecca Kaiser Gibson, Admit the Peacock and Inside the Exhibition (Roundy Wells Press): Two chapbooks of poetry from the Tufts scholar and poet.

Suzanne C. Gordon, Nursing Against the Odds: How Health Care Cost Cutting, Media Stereotypes, and Medical Hubris Undermine Nurses and Patient Care (The Culture and Politics of Health Care Work) (ILR Press). Looks at what's behind the current shortage of nurses, including factors such as temp hiring, hospital restructuring, stereotyped TV medical shows, and dysfunctional RN/physician relationships.

Peter Guralnick, Dream Boogie: The Triumph of Sam Cooke (paperback, Back Bay Books). From gospel music to rhythm and blues and then pop, Sam Cooke was firmly on a superstar track until he was shot dead in 1964. Gurlanick captures the genius of the man who gave us "You Send Me" and realities faced by African-American musicians before and during the Civil Rights era.

Helena Halperin, I Laugh So I Won't Cry: Kenya's Women Tell the Stories of Their Lives (Africa World Press). Topical chapters with women talking about subjects that touch their hearts: child-rearing, husbands, work, self-help; and the troubling: female genital cutting, ethnic tensions, and a government that promised reforms but stumbled badly.

JA Hitchcock, Net Crimes and Misdemeanors: Outwitting Web Scammers, Stalkers, and Con Artists (Information Today). Online opportunists, con artists and miscreants, beware: this book provides a reader-friendly guide to survive against online predators. Details a broad range of abusive practices, and provides tips, strategies, and techniques that can be put to immediate use.

Jane Holtz Kay, Lost Boston (Univ. of Massachusetts Press). Paperback edition of the 1990 revised version of the 1980 classic, by The Nation architect critic. Kay describes, in words and images (photographs, maps), beautiful buildings and squares that have been destroyed by fire, bulldozer, and neglect.

Maxine Kumin, Jack and Other Poems (W.W. Norton). The poet's 14th book includes poems inspired by the death of a horse, war and patriotism, the "zen of mowing," a rapist, hospice workers, and relatives killed in the Holocaust.

Betsy Leondar-Wright, Class Matters: Cross-Class Alliance Building for Middle Class Activists (New Society Publishers). A lively, readable guide that the author developed by getting people to converse online about their personal experiences around class.

Joyce Levine, Breakthrough Astrology: Transform Yourself and the World (Weiser Books). A practical and insightful guide to uncover your innate strengths and weaknesses, written by a professional in the field for more than 30 years. Includes step-by-step advice on how to get a chart, and how to glean the information useful for everyday living.

Lynda Morgenroth, Boston Firsts: 40 Feats of Innovation and Invention That Happened First in Boston and Helped Make America Great (Beacon Press). Original essays on firsts, including the first lighthouse, newspaper, subway, school desegregation court case, public library, madam, gay marriages, ready-made suit, automatic bargain basement, and the first black army regiment in US history.

Gina Ogden, The Heart and Soul of Sex (Trumpeter). Sex researcher and therapist Ogden sees sex as more than physical sensation: her survey of women's experiences shows connection as ecstasy. Her book functions as a guide to locating a woman's sexual center. Includes chapters on chakras, tantric sex, and creating ceremonies for sacred lovemaking.

Susan Oleksiw, A Murderous Innocence (Thorndike Press/Five Star Mystery). Two drug-related deaths draw Police Chief Joe Silva into the underworld of small-town Mellingham, Mass. For mystery fans who straddle the fence between cozy and hard-boiled, its twists and turns lead to a final chilling outcome.

Paul Scheckel, The Home Energy Diet (New Society Publishers). Practical advice and entertaining "tales from the basement" on how to save energy and money in your home. The book gives hows and whys of energy issues, from global to personal viewpoints.

Jean Trounstine, co-ed. with Karen Propp, Why I'm Still Married: Women Write Their Hearts Out on Love, Loss, Sex, and Who Does the Dishes (Plume).Twenty-four women writers offer their experiences about marriages that endured from a single year to several decades. Contributors from a broad cross-section of ages, geography, ethnicity and sexual orientation.

Elijah Wald, Riding With Strangers: A Hitchhiker's Journey (Chicago Review Press).Weaves the history of hitchhiking into the author's tale of one particular cross-country trip. Also, Global Minstrels: the World of World Music (Routledge): Explores the breadth of world musical experience through the voices of musicians themselves.

Miriam Weinstein, The Surprising Power of Family Meals (Steerforth Press). The new paperback edition offers advice on balancing obligations, and making family dinner-time productive, stimulating, and relaxing. The author draws from psychology, anthropology, nutrition, and education to show the benefits of eating together.

Margot Welch, Promising Futures: The Unexpected Rewards of Engaged Philanthropy (Font and Center Press). The book describes the very surprising rewards that come to philanthropists who make and maintain long-term promises to support the growth and education of a large group of low-income children.

Linda Weltner, co-author with Laura Plunkett, The Challenge of Childhood Diabetes: Family Strategies for Raising a Healthy Child (iUniverse). The former "Ever So Humble" columnist and her daughter share their three-year journey from crisis to confidence as they seek successful strategies for dealing with the emotional, nutritional, and practical challenges of caring for 7-year-old Danny. Written for families who have children with diabetes.

Howard Zinn, Original Zinn: Conversations on History and Politics (Harper Perennial). Eight radio interviews on art and civil disobedience as political tools, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the Iraq war, the Kennedy brothers, etc. Ends with Zinn's 2005 commencement address at Spelman college, titled "Against Discouragement."