AMONG THE BOOKS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLV, Issue 13647, 15 January 1908, Page 9

AMONG THE BOOKS.

Mr. Marion Crawforo has written a Christmas story entitled The Little. City of Hope," which ; ,has been published by' Messrs. Macmillari and Co. The tale is concerned with a man's struggle against great odds, and the love of his wife, which saves him when in desperate case.

In " The Pulse of Asia," Mr. Elsworth Huntingdon describes a " journey in Central Asia, illustrating the Geographical Basis of History.' Mr. Huntingdon has been an explorer in the Euphrates Valley, ho has been in Transcaspia and Eastern Persia, ho has travelled in Tibet, and spent a year in the deserts of Chinese Turkestan. His book should prove of great ■ interest to those who desire to • understand the ethnology of Asia and to read an exciting narrative.

A fresh edition of Mr. Justin McCarthy's " History of Our Own Times," which Messrs. Chatto announce, will, in some ways, be almost a new book. He has thoroughly revised the contents and added a hundred and fifty pages, bringing the work from 1880 to the accession of King Edward. The book, of which there is to be a school edition, has also been reset.

A " Ruskin Guide-Book" is announced by Messrs. George Allen and Sons for publication early this year. It is intended to give what Ituskin has written about the scenery, buildings, or pictures of any place where a traveller may chalice to be. This does not refer to elaborate writings, sav. on Venice, Verona, or Padua, but rather scattered references. These are very numerous throughout his works and; in 'the published portions, of his letters and diaries. ' •

It was not to bo expected that J. J. i Bell would remain satisfied with his extremely clever sketches of city and provincial life. For some time past he has been at work on a long novel which will be published by Messrs. Hodder and Stoughton. " Thou Fool," as might be expected from the title, is a story of the mockery of riches. There is something ot the spirit of the age in this powerful book, and it will come, we believe, as a great surprise-, to the many who only know of Mr. Bell as the author of "Wee Megreegor.'J,

Mr. Werner Laurie is issuing an interesting volume to be culled " The Building of a Book." It is a series of practical articles by experts in the various departuients of book making and selling, and has an introduction by Theodore L. De Viiine. The volume contains in practical and, as far as possible, non-technical articles the story of how a book is made and sold. Not a- step and the lay reader will be surprised at the number of —through which books must pass in their making and distribution has been omitted. v

Writing in the Grand Magazine, a book reviewer says :— " A little while ago I had a batch of 10 novels to review. They were mostly by well-known authors, and in no fewer than seven out of the ton there were scores of incidents quite unfitted for the perusal of the young person. For the most part these incidents were quite unnecessary to the story; but, evidently, the authors had felt that it was the right thing to do, and they had shoved them in. The most popular of the batch was full of rather horrible suggestion; another was full of modern intrigue. None of the unfortunate incidents in any of these novels could by any stretch of the imagination be possibly deemed 'proper.' It was not as if the writers of /the novels had been women, because we all know that when the woman novelist Jets herself loose she lets herself very loose* indeed. -Out of the ten only one was by a woman, and she, alas! was by far the worst of the lot,"