News In Brief

CALL WAITING In Kennedy Meadows, Calif., at 4 p.m. last Saturday, Jan Grant picked up a telephone and dialed a friend in Texas. So what, you ask? Well, only that her act was historic - the first from the tiny hamlet in the Sierra Nevada via anything other than a cell phone. You see, 123 years after the speaking device was patented, Kennedy Meadows became one of America's last places to be wired for service.

DISAPPEARING ACT And on the subject of rural places, if you're trying to find Grainton, Neb., it's not there anymore. Or, rather, it won't be after tomorrow - at least officially. At the request of the 20 or so folks who still live in the unincorporated community, state cartographers have literally wiped it off the map.

Monthly favorites list issued by independent booksellers The American Booksellers Association has announced the launch of Book Sense 76, a monthly list of "provocative" works selected by 1,000 independent members. It consists of current, forthcoming, and even backlisted titles in 13 categories from children's to science fiction to poetry. The 13 winning the most votes for the September list (in alphabetical order):

"The Gary Snyder Reader"

"Girl In Hyacinth Blue'' Susan Vreeland

"Homestead" Rosina Lippi

"I Capture the Castle" Dodie Smith

"Isaac's Storm: A Man, a Time,

and the Deadliest Hurricane in History" Erik Larson

"Kindred" Octavia Butler

"The Last Life" Claire Messud

"A Little More About Me" Pam Houston

"The Mark of the Angel" Nancy Huston

"No One You Know" Bruce Eric Kaplan

"Plainsong" Kent Haruf

"Poisonwood Bible" Barbara Kingsolver

"Quiltmaker's Gift" Jeff Brumbeau

illustrated by Gail de Marcken - PR Newswire

(c) Copyright 1999. The Christian Science Publishing Society

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