Nonfiction: September 2007 Archives

I like New York in June .... how about you?

Seriously though, I like New York any time of year. Don't get me wrong. I would never give up the Windy City for the Big Apple. I can say, with honesty and affection, that NYC is a great place to visit but I wouldn't want to live there.

Today's book came off the shelf because NY is still on my mind since I recently returned from one of my annual jaunts there. The World in a City: Traveling the Globe Through the Neighborhoods of the New New York (Ballantine, 267 pages, $25.95) is thoughtfully written by New York Times columnist Joseph Berger, who's been hanging around the city a long time — ever since he immigrated at age 5 ...

Between reading the controversial O.J. Simpson book (reviewed in today's Sun-Times), which brought back memories of the trial's bloody details, and recently becoming hooked on reruns of the original "CSI," today's pick practically jumped off the shelf and into my hands on its own.

Forensics and Fiction: Clever, Intriguing, and Downright Odd Questions From Crime Writers by D.P. Lyle (Thomas Dunne Books, 284 pages, $23.95) is a sequel of sorts to the author's 2003 book Murder and Mayhem. Both books are filled with questions from crime writers who want to make their stories as authentic as possible.

Aside from being a handy reference for crime writers, Forensics and Fiction is interesting reading. Here's a sampling of questions ...

Those of us who as children went to school every day, who had books, pencils, lunchboxes, desks to sit at, etc., likely never thought to stop and think about how lucky we were.

In Jonathan Kozol's Letters to a Young Teacher (Crown, 263 pages, $19.95), the National Book Award winner and former educator bestows the wisdom of his many years teaching in public schools to a first-grade teacher he calls Francesca. When she asks him about his first experience in public school, he tells her about his first job, teaching fourth-graders in Boston's Roxbury neighborhood...

For anyone who has any pre-conceived notions about the nation's growing trend toward "megachurches" — and I admit, I do — Beyond Megachurch Myths: What We Can Learn From America's Largest Churches (Jossey-Bass, 198 pages, $23.95) may help clear things up.

The authors, Dr. Scott Thumma, a faculty member at Hartford Seminary, and Dave Travis, executive vice president of Leadership Network ("the premier church networking organization for innovative churches"), break down such statements as...