New Books This Week

Interested in writing your own music? Check out The Complete Idiot's Guide to Music Composition. It's a great introduction to writing down whatever music is running through your head.

While the ski season has been somewhat disappointing, Go Ski will prepare you for when the white stuff really comes down (unless El Nino really does keep all of it in Colorado). There's a DVD that comes with the book, so you can check your technique with the pros.

Rescues! Ten Dramatic Stories of Life-Saving Heroics by Tanya Kyi will have you gasping and cheering. It's another in the series that brought us Scams and Thieves.

If finding out how things work makes you tick, explore some of these new titles: Return of Gonzo Gizmos: More Projects and Devices to Channel Your Inner Geek, Electronics: MP3s, TVs, and DVDs, Bright Ideas: The Age of Invention in America, and Skyscrapers: Uncovering Technology.

In the field of fiction, be sure to look at Enna Burning and River Burning by Shannon Hale. They pick up the stories begun in Hale's Goose Girl. Dirtbike Daredevils and Skater Stuntboys are a couple new paperbacks from the people who brought you Camp Wild. Rounding out the fiction category is Terry Pratchett's latest novel of Tiffany Aching, the frying-pan wielding witch first featured in The Wee Free Men. This one is called Wintersmith.