Departments Books

The family-owned Belk department store chain, based in Charlotte, North Carolina, is chronicled in this well-written book by Howard Covington. The book contains a wealth of historical information on the Belk chain and some excellent photographs as well, though there are no color photos. It's an interesting and easy read that will please the history buff, the retail fanatic, or the casual reader in most, if not all. This book is out of print but highly reccomended.

Jac Fitz-Enz writes in a dramatic and to-the-point way based on his hard-earned experience in trying to motivate staff organizations. He asks how staffs add value -- surely they do, but often this value gets neglected or misdirected, resulting in a caretaker system rather than a managed company. The author's inspiring words, reminiscent of Deming and Drucker, should be more widely quoted than they are.

The Berlin Haskalah And German Religious Thought is a seminal work of impressive and original scholarship offering a new and fascinating perspective on the Haskalah that will be of immense interest to scholars and students of Judaic studies, Germany history, and the evolution of western religion in an increasingly science oriented and secular Europe.

The book lists several web sites to use and other books, but the tips included in the book are pretty good by themselves. It tells you how to get your scholarship applications noticed, not just how to do it. I won several awards by using the techniques so I'd definitely say it's worth it! My scholarships totalled over 10,000 dollars when you include the recurring one for the 4 years. I really like the chapters about helping students prepare for college - they have some good tips for money management. The author's style seems pretty straightforward, but it doesn't get boring since she keeps giving you so much information and places to go search for stuff. Great book!

In recent years, writing workshops have been the genesis of emerging new talent. An unexpected bonus of World War II and the GI Bill, such workshops have become increasingly popular on campuses, a breeding ground for the blooming talent that develops definition through the rigors of workshop discipline. The famed literary talents of earlier years lured young writers to big cities, where new talent drew from the experiences available on those diverse canvasses. But, increasingly, the respected, established writers are found on college and university campuses, where they conduct workshops, teaching writing skills and the basics of the craft, literally a laboratory where fresh voices are nurtured in an encouraging environment. The craft can be taught- but the most valuable ingredient, creativity, comes from the writers themselves, their particular perspectives of the world they inhabit and the words they use to inject life into their stories.

This is the ninth in a series of Best New American Voices, a collection of short fiction by promising young writers whose work is nominated for consideration; direct submissions are not accepted. Rather, there is a careful vetting process, the submissions read, debated and passed on to the guest editor, in this case, Mary Gaitskill. The result is the outstanding fourteen stories in the 2009 edition. In her introduction, Gaitskill sets the tone for her selections: "Great writing uses words in such a way that they evoke images, feelings, associations and ideas." Within the limits of the short story, the chosen writers offer some of their best work: "Yellowstone" by Baird Harper of The School of the Art Institute of Chicago; "The Monkey King" by Sharon May of Stanford University; "Mules" by Erin Brown of the University of Virginia; "Welcome Home" by Theodore Wheeler of the Wesleyan Writers Conference; "The Still Point" by Lydia Peelle, Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown and many more.

The topics are diverse: "In Thunderbird, Illinois, I get to thinking the world is going to end" (Lydia Peelle, "The Still Point); "This was the easy intimacy of his loveless youth that Jim missed" (Theodore Wheeler, "Welcome Home"; "There was something smug and deadened in his voice- and Isabel knew she didn't want to see the man again" (Suzanne Rivecca, "Look Ma, I'm Breathing"; "Here the boys are at the edge of everything they know" (Mehdi Tavana Okasi, "Salvation Army"). The selections are fresh and provocative, filled with the varied perspectives of these writers of short fiction, the limitless landscapes of their fertile imaginations and carefully honed prose. These bright voices are inspiring, words assembled in search of a particular vision, both satisfying and energetic. Luan Gaines/ 2008.

I received this for Christmas and it's a great book for the child interested in firefighting. It will get kids excited about firefighting and maybe turn some into firefighters later-everyone says kids are most influenced by what they get at home. Of course, if your child is a firefighter hopeful, nothing beats a visit to the fire station.

If you love the Secretary of the Treasury (the position, not necessarily the man) then you'll love this book. This book is organized like a dictionary (duh) with alphabetical entries for each SoT. Everybody gets a 5-10 page bio written mostly by academic historians and economists (with a couple of banker types thrown in). There are around 25 different contributors, so the essays do vary a bit in emphasis and style, but overall the dictionary is a nice, cohesive piece of research. There's a chronological list of the SoT's up front so you can follow the office through time if you so desire.

I bought the book because I'm interested in the history of the Treasury Department. But the odd thing is -- the book is actually pretty interesting just as a history of the United States. Each short essay ends up focusing on a discrete time period and manages to capture many of the political and economic issues of the time. For example, good ol' Salmon P. Chase who was Lincoln's first SoT saw lots of interesting stuff during his career. Originally an officer of state bank, at Treasury he made recommendations for a national banking system (which was really more about establishing a stable currency and selling Treasury bonds than about regulating banks) that was the basis for the National Bank Act. Feeling rather cocky after that success, he ran against Lincoln for the Republican Presidential nomination, was quickly branded a traitor and lost out early. He came back to campaign for Lincoln, though, and as a reward he was made Chief Justice of the United States. In that capacity he oversaw the impeachment trial of President Andrew Johnson. That's the kind of stuff any history buff would enjoy.

The big weakness in the book is the lack of pictures or portraits. How do we know what these old codgers looked like? And the book only goes through Rubin. Come one guys, how about a pocket part update? Wouldn't the entry on O'Neill be worth it?

Thank you for your speedy shipping of my order. The gift recipient was very pleased...A Brief History of the Harvard University Cyclotrons (Department of Physics)

They sure knew how to write books back then. None of the filth and dirty words these authors use today. Just good old-fashioned common sense and wholesome storytelling.

A+++++

I am very familiar with this author and her lifetime achievements. She was a pioneer in the field as the first female marine biologist in the state of Texas in the 1950's. In her work with the Texas Game and Fish Commission, she also used her talents as an artist and photographer. She later had a rewarding career sharing her knowledge with children as a science teacher. She is now enjoying an active retirement in the mountains of North Carolina.