Bookshelf: Winter 2009

Seven Steps to a Rewarding Transitional Career: Getting Work in a Tough Economy (HRD Press) is a workbook that shows readers how to manage and embrace a “transitional career”: a work-life cycle that comprises a series of job engagements. The author is Richard Pinsker ’56, MS’59, of Pinsker and Company in Granite Bay, California.
Business Mensch: Timeless Wisdom for Today’s Entrepreneur (Wolfeboro Press) says, in a warm and wry way, that what’s good for the soul is good for business, too. And its author, (Norman) Noah Alper ’69 of Berkeley, California, should know: he founded the Noah’s New York Bagels and Bread & Circus natural-foods chains.
Thoughts of a Scientist, Citizen, and Grandpa on Climate Change: Bridging the Gap between Scientific and Public Opinion (iUniverse) warns forcefully against backsliding in environmental improvement efforts due to the difficulties they’ll cause. It’s the work of Eric Grimsrud PhD’71 of Kalispell, Montana.
Sweet and Sour Pie: A Wisconsin Boyhood (University of Wisconsin Press) evokes, as one reviewer wrote, an “enviable Wisconsin childhood.” The teller of the tale, a former spokesperson for the state’s DNR, is Dave Crehore MA’72 of Green Bay.
Tango: The Tale of an Island Dog (Bloomsbury) is the debut novel of Eileen Larsen Kittelsen Beha ’72, MS’75, PhD’79 of Minneapolis. Intended for tween readers, it’s the story of a brave little dog who “risks all to find his way back home” after a shipwreck on Prince Edward Island.
“I’ll Remember This Trip”: Fifty Years of Study Abroad at UW-Madison (UW Division of International Studies) chronicles the program’s faculty champions, student pioneers, and direction over a half-century. “It was a great project to have as my ‘swan song,’ ” says Madisonian Joan Raducha ’72, MA’76, PhD’82 about writing the book before her 2008 retirement from the UW.
When a stigmatic priest bleeds to death on Good Friday in front of his parishioners in Bleeder (Sophia Institute Press), is it a miracle — or murder? Author John Desjarlais ’76 teaches English and journalism at Kishwaukee College in Malta, Illinois, and recently re-released his medieval thriller, Relics (Thomas Nelson).
Healing Parties (Xulon Press) begins with a trip that Gail Mosley Conner ’82 took to Africa in 2006, but then it takes the reader on a longer, more intimate journey through the author’s life. Its message is one of healing and hope through reconciliation, no matter how readers or their ancestors arrived in America. Conner is the president of G&C Environmental Services in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania.
Radio’s Hidden Voice: The Origins of Public Broadcasting in the United States (University of Illinois Press) fills in what most histories of the medium leave out: public radio’s early development during the 1920s and ’30s. Author Hugh Richard Slotten MS’85, MA’86, PhD’91 is a senior lecturer at the University of Otago in New Zealand.
The Prometheus Project: Trapped and The Prometheus Project: Captured (both DNA Press) are fast-paced, science-fiction thrillers for tweens that offer accurate science to boot. They’re written by San Diego, California, biotech executive Douglas Richards MS’87, who also writes science pieces for National Geographic Kids.
World War II: 365 Days (Library of Congress/Harry Abrams) is drawn from the vast collections of the Library of Congress, and picture editor Athena Angelos ’88 of Washington, D.C., has drawn them all together. More than five hundred images — action shots, editorial cartoons, posters, maps, combat art, and more — blend with a timeline and excerpts from letters, diaries, speeches, and memoirs to create a “vivid mosaic of the battlefield and home-front experiences.”
A Taste of Heaven: A Guide to Food and Drink Made by Monks and Nuns (Tarcher) by Madison journalist Madeline Scherb ’89 is part travel guide and part cookbook: a survey of delicious consumables made by Catholic religious orders in America and Europe; a sense of the spirit, work, and history that go into them; and recipes from notable chefs incorporating the products.
Called to Account: Fourteen Financial Frauds that Shaped the American Accounting Profession (Routledge Publishing) chronicles some of the most egregious financial frauds in an entertaining (yes!) and educational way. Author Paul Clikeman PhD’95 is an associate professor of accounting at the University of Richmond [Virginia].
Couldn’t we all use a little more Prudent Decision Making in an Imprudent World: Better Decisions at Home and Work (Praeger)? This new work by Patrick Gould PhD’06 combines research-based principles, practical advice, and many examples of good and bad decision-making. He’s a retired U.S. Marine Corps officer, former UW educational researcher, and founder of Major Decision Consulting in Middleton, Wisconsin.