From School Library Journal
Lewis (Near Eastern studies, emeritus, Princeton Univ.; The Crisis of Islam) and Churchill (former president, World Affairs Council of Philadelphia) offer an accessible introduction to Muslims and their faith. In clear language, the authors cover the faith’s development, its five pillars, Scripture and tradition, law, the mosque, diversity, sectarian divisions, government, economics, women, dress, language, war and peace, and radicalism. There are three particular strengths. First, Lewis and Churchill insist that Islam cannot be reduced to extremes as either a bloodthirsty creed or solely a message of peace. The Qur’an advocates a range of responses according to specific circumstances. Second, the au (more…)

Technorati Tags: Hardcover, Islam, People, Religion

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From Publishers Weekly
First-time author Lax delivers an entertaining and sometimes zany look at the first year of law school. Although he dreams of being a professional magician, Lax realizes after college that being a lawyer—like his father and most of his relatives (he provides a family tree showing the remarkable number of lawyers who are relatives)—is inevitable. After being accepted into the DePaul School of Law in Chicago, where passenger trains screamed past the classroom every ten minutes, he finds that the world of torts and criminal law is both like and unlike everything he had imagined. The workload is still brutal—as a professor tells him, For the next year, the American legal system will be your girlfriend. (more…)

Technorati Tags: Case, Growing, Hardcover, Lawyer, Study

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From Publishers Weekly

This ambitious, unwieldy “novel theory” by philosophy professor Lloyd (Simple Minds) sets out to explore paradigms of consciousness while solving the murder of a stodgy instructor at fictional Whaleard University. When graduate student Miranda Sharpe makes an early morning raid on her adviser’s office to take back her dissertation, she is horrified to find philosophy professor Maxwell Grue hunched over his desk, presumably dead. Later in the day, his body has disappeared, and Miranda begins “Sherlocking.” After the firewall protecting the college computer network is breached and the system crashes, she sifts through Grue’s e-mails, CD-ROMs and jargon-laden “virtual world” Web site to find clues. A numb (more…)

Technorati Tags: books, Bradford, Consciousness, Cool, Hardcover, Novel, Radiant, Theory

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