Algonquin Area Public Library notes

Algonquin Area Public Library To register or for information, call the library at (847) 658-6060 or visit Web site aapld.org.

For adults

New Books: Readers may seek clues for improving communications in the New Book Section of the Algonquin Area Public Library.

• Improve canine-human relationships through better use of hand signals, voice and facial expressions with Su Harvey's "Bodyspeak." This step-by-step illustrated guide offers training tips, a thorough checklist for preparing your home for a dog and general information on dog behavior.

• Margalit Fox, a western linguist and journalist, shares a story of "Talking Hands: What Sign Language Reveals About The Mind." Middle Eastern linguists studying an isolated Bedouin village, a very special community of deaf and hearing people who speak a traditional sign language unlike any other sign language, have revealed fascinating information about language and brain function.

• Travis Bradberry's "Personality Code," a list of character types, is based on the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging. By learning your traits, you may use your strengths, work more intelligently with others and avoid inherent weaknesses of your type.

• Readers who wonder how new words or metaphors develop and why certain words are taboo in our culture will want to explore the workings of our minds in Steven Pinker's "Stuff of Thought: Language as a Window into Human Nature."

World War II buffs will find the New Book Section of the Algonquin Area Public Library of great interest.

• Phil Nordyke's "All Americans In World War II" is a lavishly illustrated history of the fiercely independent American paratroopers of the 82nd Airborne Division from their training through the campaigns in Salerno, Holland, Normandy and the surrender of Germany.

• Approach World War II from the Eastern Front in Isabel Denny's "Fall of Hitler's Fortress City: The Battle For Konigsberg, 1945." Events are presented as seen by the civilian and military population of both sides of the conflict from just before the war until the Soviet take over.

• At the beginning of World War II Major William Orlando Darby was given the task of forging the first American commando battalion, the Army Rangers. H. Paul Jeffers' "Onward We Charge" paints a vivid portrait of the highly individualistic team, Darby himself and of their exploits in the European theater.

• In the hills of Yugoslavia 512 American airmen were hidden and protected by partisans while they waited, hoping to be rescued and returned to the war. The "Forgotten 500" by Gregory A. Freeman is a heart stopping account of how they ended up abandoning their planes, surviving on the ground and their clandestine return to the safety of Italian bases.