1.   I like the books, the original books that I had when I was a little rather than the new books.

2.   As usual, most of the new books are instructional.

3.   But in both countries, many schools cannot afford the new books, and still use apartheid- or Soviet-era textbooks.

4.   It is too early to tell whether the new books are making a serious dent in the market share of the older books.

5.   Small-town librarians say the arrival of the new books has a revitalizing effect, increasing circulation and attendance at reading hours.

6.   The new books say, for example, that it was the Israelis who had the military edge in the War of Independence.

7.   The new books are on Venice, Brussels and Scandinavia, including Finland.

8.   The new books are not just criticisms, however.

9.   The new books drop the mask of fiction, buttonholing readers with gory real-life details.

10.   Unlike most of the new books, this one does not have a beautiful, bountiful cover.