As she researched this book, Setzer sampled all these adventures and more. Anyone who attempts all the hikes, bike trips, sea kayaking expeditions, rock climbing adventures, and explorations of interesting communities listed here will run out of weekends before running out of choices.

The book is published by Menasha Ridge Press, 700 South 28th St., Birmingham, AL 35233, (800) 247-9437.

Combs shares coping methods for handling the sense of loss, frustration, helplessness, and guilt in her account of her own struggle with her mother's disease. The text is liberally sprinkled with bracing quotes from writers such as Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry Ward Beecher, and Gerard Manley Hopkins.

The book is published by BookPartners, P.O. Box 922, Wilsonville, OR 97070.

The book includes transcripts of online conversations and details Markham's own evolution as an Internet user as she becomes adept at meeting people online. Markham says that she, like many others, moved along a continuum of experiencing the Internet, from tool to place to way of being.

The book is published by AltaMira Press, 1630 N. Main St., Suite 367, Walnut Creek, CA 94596.

Global Village: Dead or Alive? seeks to answer its title question through a collection of essays. Its editor, Virginia Tech communications professor Marshall Fishwick has his ideas, as do the 14 other contributors.

The communication visionary, Marshall McLuhan, foresaw a global village--a world connected by electronic media--more than 30 years ago. But opinions differ as to whether the Internet makes that vision a reality, or whether the forces of tribalism, regionalism, and fear of change make it impossible to link all people. The opinions even differ on the Blacksburg Electronic Village, which simultaneously connects Blacksburg to the world, and sets it apart as an autonomous location. The paradoxes offered by the cyber-world are examined closely by this diverse set of writers.

The book, which was co-edited with Ray Browne of Bowling Green University, is published by the Bowling Green University Popular Press, Bowling Green, OH 43403.

Brehony interviewed hundreds of people from all over the nation, finding stories of people who take to the most dangerous streets with food and clothing for the homeless and working poor, of an opera singer who taught Harlem kids to bake pies in an abandoned kitchen to keep them out of trouble, and of grieving parents who built the largest, most innovative playground for handicapped children in the country. Tracing the origins of compassion through psychology, religion, and biology, Brehony probes the motivations behind selfless acts and says she has found that grace is more prevalent than evil.

The book is published by Riverhead Books, 375 Hudson St., New York, NY 10014.

Riley has syndicated his own column in the past and still submits occasional tongue-in-cheek commentaries to various newspapers. He examines a wide variety of column typeshumor, opinion, personality, etc.and discusses dozens of individual columnists, non-syndicated, most of whom are only known in the circulation areas of the papers publishing their work.

The book is published by Praeger Publishers, 88 Post Road West, Westport, CT 06881.

Drawing on Robert Gass's own experience as one of the world's best-known leaders of contemporary chant, as well as the wisdom of sound healers and practictioners in the Hindu, Buddhist, Christian, Jewish, Islamic, Shamanic, African, and Native American traditions, the book explores the myriad uses of chant. The book also examines how regular chanting rituals--at meals or upon rising--can fuel everyday activities with purpose and meaning.

The book is published by Broadway Books, 1540 Broadway, New York, NY 10036.

Havana's uniqueness is a constant theme. This picturesque city, home to a vast collection of historic buildings, is one of the oldest cities in the western hemisphere and the largest in the West Indies. Havana's contrary mix of cultural heritages--Spanish colonial, modern American, and Soviet socialist--informs the book's study of the city's architectural development. Numerous maps, drawings, and photographs illustrate the text.

The book's co-authors are Roberto Segre and Mario Coyula. The book is published by John Wiley & Sons, 605 Third Ave., New York, NY 10158.

If you are an alum, faculty member, or staff member and have written or edited a book that you would like to have considered for review in the Virginia Tech Magazine, send e-mail to vtmag@vt.edu. Please include your name, the book title and publisher, and the name and phone number of the person who can get us a review copy.