100 Notable Books of 2007

Have a little time to read?

Need to buy some Christmas gifts?

Want to make a reading list?

Follow the link below to discover outstanding fiction/nonfiction/poetry suggestions from the New York Times.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/02/books/review/notable-books-2007.html?ex=1354510800&en=a3e0be2831179b73&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink

These titles were culled from the New York Times Book Review since December 3rd, 2006.

Enjoy.

American Gospel: God, the founding fathers, and the making of a nation.

This book came to my attention from two campus colleagues. Here's what others have said.

Library Journal: "Newsweek managing editor Meacham here holds that, despite the strong religious differences of the Founding Fathers, religion became a force for unity, not division; it shaped the Constitution and the nation without strangling it. This is quite an argument to make given the history chronicled. Quakers were at odds with Anglicans, and New Englanders engaged in witch trials while building a "City of God." Others massacred Indians. The Virginia charter provided for Christian mission but also for taking land and searching for gold. To boot, early settlers of that state purchased slaves. Meanwhile, deists Jefferson and Franklin looked at Jesus as the great moral teacher. The religious spirit was "more sectarian than ecumenical," the author maintains, yet it was recognized that a moral and religious force that God provided could and would serve as a uniting factor. Meacham provides a balanced account of this "American Gospel" as to how it was formed and how it is shaping our history down to such present-day challenges as holiday displays, prayer in schools, abortion, euthanasia, and gay rights." --George Westerlund, formerly with Providence P.L., Palmyra, VA Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

The title is a bit misleading, since the book chronicles these issues through the late twentieth century. Current and past presidents have struggled with the implications of decisions as they relate to religion and politics. Share your insights here.

Tomorrow by Graham Swift

Friends of the High Library Book Club meets Wednesday, November 28th in the High Library Conference Room at 7pm.

Come join the discussion of this recent book.

"From Amazon: Graham Swift wants to keep us awake with Tomorrow, a monologue in which a mother lies next to her husband, worrying about a revelation that will soon alter their lives."

Graham Swift is a previous Booker Prize award winning author. This novel is written from a woman's point of view and is primarily an interior monologue. Does this writing style work or is it just tedious?

Join the discussion either in person or on the blog. Let us know what you think.

The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell

Malcolm Gladwell's The Tipping Point, subtitled "How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference" could be sub-subtitled, "a paradigm-changing experience." I'm having my first-year seminar read large selections from this book for several reasons. One, as Deirdre Donahue says in USA Today, "it reaffirms that human beings are profoundly social beings influenced by and influencing other human beings, no matter how much technology we introduce into our lives." Two, while Gladwell posits that ideas are viral, I also believe that information is viral in how it gets spread. There's no better way to understand the global information environment and the Internet than via Gladwell's metaphors. Third, Gladwell is able to synthesize phenomena from epidemiology, psychology, sociology and group dynamics, bringing, as Paula Geyh says in the Chicago Tribune, "insights gleaned from these disparate fields together and applying them to an impressive array of contemporary social behaviors and cultural trends. Such knowledge, properly applied, could have enormous potential." I hope that all readers of Gladwell's work will be able to make further connections after they read this book.

Marker by Robin Cook

Physician Robin Cook is a writer of medical thrillers that focus on current technological and/or ethical issues.



Genetic tests for a variety of medical conditions are available to individuals who are at increased risk based on family history or ethnic background. With the completion of the human genome project, Cook explores medical insurance issues related to genetic markers--hence the title.


In this instance an intelligent pathologist notices a pattern of unexpected cases of healthy young adults in the hospital morgue to be autopsied. Soon she has amassed a cohort of cases.



Health insurance is based on pooling risk within specified groups. Since markers have been mapped throughout the human genome, risk can now be determined. "Marker" deals with the negative impact of the ability to predict illness. When confidentiality is breached and the information is obtained or otherwise falls into the wrong hands, patient care could be compromised.

Cook provides an exciting read and thought-provoking content.

Meet the Author: David Downing Wednesday, October 17th at 7pm at the High Library

Professor David C. Downing from Elizabethtown College’s Department of English, has written a popular history of dissent in the South during the Civil War, titled A South Divided. Documenting the numerous examples of exceptions to the “myth of the Solid South,” Downing shows that there were regions as well as individuals in the South that did not agree with the Confederate stance of separation from the Union. One region seceded from Virginia to form an entirely new state, West Virginia. Other examples discussed are of individuals or groups leaving the South to fight for the Union side. Downing states that roughly 200,000 black and 100,000 whites crossed the battle lines to fight for the North. This latter category of dissidents included a regiment of cavalry, the “First Alabama, USA.”

In a very readable prose style, this is an engaging book that helped clarify for me the context and meaning behind the first stanza of Robbie Robertson’s classic song about the Civil War, The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down:

Virgil Caine is the name and I served on the Danville train

‘Til Stoneman’s cavalry came and tore up the tracks again

In the winter of ’65, we were hungry, just barely alive

By May the tenth, Richmond had fell,

it’s a time I remember oh so well.

One of the little written about causes regarding the Confederacy’s collapse, and the accuracy behind the lyrics above, can be found in A South Divided.

Peter DePuydt

Meet the authors of Amish Grace

Amish Grace: How forgiveness transcended tragedy

Donald B. Kraybill, Senior Fellow, Young Center, Elizabethtown College
Steven M. Nolt, Associate Professor, History, Goshen College
David L. Weaver-Zercher, Associate Professor, American Religious History, Messiah College

Tuesday, September 25, 2007
4:00-5:00pm
The High Library , Elizabethtown College

Amish Grace explores the questions raised in the wake of the October 2006 Nickle Mines shooting about the religious beliefs that led the Amish to forgive so quickly. In response to the intense demand for information about Amish ways, the authors got together to create this book. Please join the authors as they discuss the challenges of collaborating on the writing of this book.

From Publisher's Weekly: "the authors establish that forgiveness is embedded in Amish society through five centuries of Anabaptist tradition, and grounded in the firm belief that forgiveness is required by the New Testament. The community's acts of forgiveness were not isolated decisions by saintly individuals but hard-won countercultural practices supported by all aspects of Amish life. Common objections to Amish forgiveness are addressed in a chapter entitled, What About Shunning? The authors carefully distinguish between forgiveness, pardon and reconciliation, as well as analyze the complexities of mainstream America's response and the extent to which the Amish example can be applied elsewhere. This intelligent, compassionate and hopeful book is a welcome addition to the growing literature on forgiveness."

Signed copies of Amish Grace will be available for purchase.

Contact the High Library at 717-361-1451 or hyderl@etown.edu for more information.