Inside of a dog : what dogs see, smell and know

 by Alexandra Horowitz. Dogs have no sense of time; don't see in color; don't learn by observation-or do they? Cognitive scientist Horowitz (psychology, Barnard Coll.) explains that to understand the dog, we must understand his umwelt, his perception of his surroundings based upon anatomy, physiology, experience, and evolution. Debunking long-held misconceptions about the dog's sensory and emotional life, Horowitz gives dog lovers who have always believed that dogs can learn through example or anticipate an owner's return a wealth of current scientific information to confirm their perceptions. Verdict An essential read for pet owners and students of animal behavior who have followed developments in the emerging field of comparative psychology in Stanley Coren's How Dogs Think, Temple Grandin's Animals Make Us Human, and Patricia B. McConnell's Tales of Two Species. --Library Journal (Check Catalog)

Who loves you best : a novel

 by Tess Stimson. Clare and Marc Elias always planned on having children, so while the birth of their twins comes as no surprise, Clare's struggle to adapt to motherhood does. When trying to bond with her two infants proves just as difficult as balancing the career she refuses to give up, Clare hires a nanny named Jenna, despite Marc's protests. Although Jenna is dealing with her own personal drama, she soon gets entangled in the lives of the Elias family as things begin to unravel. In Who Loves You Best, Stimson manages to weave mystery, suspense, romance, and family into one exciting, emotionally honest story. Told in alternating narratives by the central characters, the story overlaps, revealing the different points of view of what is unfolding it is virtually impossible to know who to trust until the final page. The result is a very suspenseful story about a mother's love and what being a family ultimately means. --Boklist (Check Catalog)

Unbearable lightness : a story of loss and gain

 Portia De Rossi. Anorexia was my first love, de Rossi declares in her memoir of her early Hollywood career and the eating disorders that went along with it. Her unflinching self-portrait depicts a cripplingly self-conscious young Australian in LA overwhelmed by the pressure to be thin. Never comfortable in her own skin, a by-product of her status as a closeted lesbian, de Rossi was sure if she ever gained weight (or came out as being gay), the shooting star she'd been cultivating would turn to lead. Weight loss was the key that allowed de Rossi to feel powerful and in control, until dieting became a sickness that nearly killed her and devastated her family. De Rossi's story and words are not revolutionary, but they are frank, brave, and revelatory of the unhealthy trends that stardom can generate. Although more development of de Rossi's happy ending (her eventual complete recovery, self-acceptance, coming-out, and marriage to Ellen DeGeneres) would be welcome, the book succeeds as it's intended: a journal of her sickness and a provocatively sad love affair with dieting. --Booklist

The slap

 by Christos Tsiolkas. Although this is Australian author Tsiolkas' fourth novel, it is the first to be published in the U.S. With its raw style, liberal use of profanity and racial epithets, and laserlike focus on the travails of suburban life, it is a down-and-dirty version of Tom Perrotta's best-selling Little Children (2004). At a barbecue in a Melbourne suburb, a man loses his temper and slaps the child of the host's friends. This incident unleashes a slew of divisive opinions, pitting friends and families against each other as the child's parents take the man to court. Told from eight different viewpoints, the novel also deftly fills in disparate backstories encompassing young and old, single and married, gay and straight, as well as depicting how multiculturalism is increasingly impacting the traditional Aussie ethos. For good measure, the author also throws in male vanity, infidelity, and homophobia. Tsiolkas' in-your-face style is sure to alienate some readers the child's parents, for example, are among the book's most unlikable characters but his novel, which won the 2009 Commonwealth Prize, fairly radiates with vitality as it depicts the messy complications of family life. --Booklist (Check Catalog)

The mind's eye

 by Oliver W. Sacks. Sacks, famous for combining his knowledge as a physician and his compassion for human stories of coping with neurological disorders, offers case histories of six individuals adjusting to major changes in their vision. A renowned pianist has lost the ability to read music scores and must cope with the fear of an ever-shrinking life as her vision worsens. A prolific writer develops word blindness and is unable to read even what he himself writes, forcing him to develop memory books in his mind, adaptations that he later incorporates into his fiction writing. Sacks recalls his own struggle to cope with a tumor in his eye that left him unable to perceive depth. He includes diary entries and drawings of his harrowing experience. Sacks, author of the acclaimed Musicophilia (2007), among other titles, combines neurobiology, psychology, and psychiatry in this riveting exploration of how we use our vision to perceive and understand the world and our place in it and how our brains teach us to see those things we need to lead a complete, fulfilled life. --Booklist (Check Catalog)

Fly away home : a novel

 by Jennifer Weiner. Weiner (Good in Bed; In Her Shoes) started writing this novel long before the parade of philandering politicians filled our national consciousness. Who knew that Sylvie Serfer's fictional life as a politician's wife would mirror reality so closely? Far from being an overwrought tale of the wronged woman, this is an honest narrative about the expectations of being a woman with a capital W: standing by your man, being a mother, and wondering where one's dreams have gone. Even though this could have simply been the ballad of Sylvie Serfer, daughters Lizzie, the self-described "basket case" and recovering addict, and Diana, a driven emergency room physician with a seemingly perfect life, enliven the novel even more. At times, the up-to-the-minute cultural references distract one from the story but not enough to mar what is otherwise a funny, heartfelt read. Verdict Sylvie, Lizzie, and Diana are complex characters who never slip into the shallow stereotypes of the good girl or the bad girl. Highly recommended for Weiner's fans and readers who enjoy women's fiction. --Library Journal (Check catalog)

Must you go? : my life with Harold Pinter

 by Antonia Fraser. Fraser is a highly regarded British biographer, and the late Harold Pinter, her husband, was a Nobel-winning British playwright. So, the circle they generally traveled in was made up of not only fellow writers but also, because of their individual and combined celebrity, fellow celebrities. Fraser's latest book is both joyous and sad. The former because she shares diary entries concerning her relationship with Pinter (they lived together from August 1975 until Christmas 2008), and it was obviously a stimulating love-match. And sad because the book ends when it does because of Pinter's death from cancer; his struggle with the disease had been years-long. As expected, given their fame and the fame of their associates, lots of name-dropping goes on here. This is not, of course, the story of two starving artists trying to scratch together a living in some cold-water flat. But privileged as they were, they nevertheless experienced the normal highs and lows together, and the result is a poignant read. Serious readers will generate demand for this title, and they will respond with gratitude to Fraser's intimacy. --Booklist (Check Catalog)

The distant hours : a novel

 by Kate Morton. Morton (The Forgotten Garden) has quickly established herself as a master of modern gothic, producing complicated and completely satisfying historical mysteries. Her third novel solidifies her dominion. As a wartime evacuee from London at the time of the Blitz, 13-year-old Meredith Baker is in awe both of the ancient Milderhurst castle where she is staying and of its inhabitants, the Blythes-sweet and maternal Saffy; her shrewd twin, Percy; and the wild and talented Juniper, who becomes Meredith's best friend. Fifty years later, a lost letter arrives to remind Meredith of her time at Milderhurst, even though she has long tried to bury the memory. It falls to her daughter, Edie, to begin to untangle her mother's secrets. The trail leads back to Milderhurst and the -Blythes and into an even thicker nest of hidden mysteries that Edie is determined to uncover. VERDICT Featuring a fresh and thrilling gothic mystery, cinematic storytelling, and fully developed characters who possess layers of deliciously surprising secrets, this complex story is developed at a leisurely but compelling pace that keeps readers hooked. Recommended for a wide readership, including mystery lovers and historical fiction fans. --Library Journal (Check Catalog)

Atlantic : great sea battles, heroic discoveries, titanic storms, and a vast ocean of a million stories

 by Simon Winchester. How does one attempt to write a biography of a subject as old and vast as an ocean? Driven by a lifelong fascination with the Atlantic, Winchester (The Professor and the Madman) found inspiration in viewing the ocean and our relationship with it through the categories of Shakespeare's seven ages: infant, schoolboy, lover, soldier, justice, old age, and second childhood. Employing a mixture of history, science, and anecdotes from both sides of the Atlantic, he envisions the ocean's birth and eventual death and explores how its boundaries were discovered and defined, the many ways it has affected the development of human society (artistically, militarily, industrially), and humanity's effect on it in turn. Though the sheer size of the subject obviously limits how much of the Atlantic's "life" can be related in a single volume, Winchester does an excellent job at presenting an extensive collection of the most interesting parts of its existence. VERDICT Winchester is in fine form, and his typically engaging style creates a vibrant portrait of an ocean that remains endlessly fascinating. Highly recommended, especially for those who have enjoyed the author's previous works. --Library Journal (Check catalog)