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Author Steve Gagne has been publishing books and articles about “Food Energetics” for almost two decades. His Energetics of Food: Encounters with Your Most Intimate Relationship was published in 1990. This latest work, published by Healing Arts Press, is the third edition of Food Energetics.

Supposedly based on the dietary philosophies of ancient civilizations and the medieval “doctrine of signatures” that suggests the shapes and functions of plants and animals are devine signals indicating their purpose in the lives of men, energetics explains how each food affects a person on a deep spiritual level.

“Food Energetics is about true knowledge, the knowledge that foods impart to you when you eat and experience them,” Gagne explains.

Following introductory chapters that explain the “energetics” concept and how food choices affect our health and behavior, Gagne offers a catalog of foods from meats and nuts to oils and algae. Stone fruits with a solid center, for example, are considered a good fuel for organized thinking:

“The sugar in any fruit, once it reaches the bloodstream, will flow to the brain. If you are unable to stick to or concentrate on a particular idea during an artistic endeavor, stone fruit will tend to have a more organizing effect on your thought processes than other fruits. On the other hand, in the same situation, multiseeded fruits (orange, apple, pear, etc.) will tend to have a more diversifying, dispersing effect on your thoughts. Multiseeded tree fruits have the tendency to connect thoughts loosely with other thoughts. This could be helpful for the individual who might be stuck on one idea.”

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Journalism is in serious trouble. Just 30 year ago, television broadcasts were the primary news source for the majority of Americans, just as radio and newspapers dominated in prior generations. Today, audiences for all three media are fading fast as more and more of us turn to a plethora of online sources for news and information.

How is the journalism profession adjusting to this new reality? In the same sense that anyone can be an actor, with or without schooling, thousands of “citizen journalists” or amateurs have joined the ranks of the professionally trained and some of them have astonishingly large audiences.

“Welcome to the era of SuperMedia and the hero of the age, the Networked Journalist,” writes Charlie Beckett in this thoughtful analysis of change in progress. “Networked journalists are open, interactive, and share the process. Instead of gatekeepers, they are facilitators: the public become co-producers.”

But in order for journalism to be sustained and be able to “save the world,” Beckett argues that its core virtues of critical investigation and independent observation need to be upheld in this new participatory environment.

Beckett is director of Polis, the media thinktank at the London School of Economics.

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Four decades of poet Coleman Barks’ work are included in this retrospective, drawn from seven previously published books and accented by a half dozen new poems. They are presented in reverse chronological order and grouped according to the books in which they appeared: Scrapwood Man (2007), Tentmaking (2002), Club: Granddaughter Poems (2001), Gourd Seed (1993), We’re Laughing at the Damage (1977), New Words (1976), The Juice (1972).

This is the first extensive collection of poetry by Barks, who is better known as a translator of Rumi and other mystic poets of Persia. It includes “Just This Once,” his best-known poem, published and widely circulated online in the days before the invasion of Iraq. Structured as an open letter to President Bush, it makes a poetic plea for peace and offers a poignant alternative to war:

While the themes of Barks’ poetry do not arise from the natural world as much as they do in Mary Oliver’s work, they are nevertheless deeply rooted in the cultures and environments of the rural Deep South. In “The Great Blue Heron” he reflects on his first crane sighting, at the age of 7, before it was shot from its flight by a tack room attendant:

And in the summer of 1945, when two atom bombs were dropped from the sky, he and a friend have a close encounter with a screech owl trapped in a stairwell that connects them to the universal:

While this collection covers a wide range of issues and experiences, the through line is the story of a man like Benjamin Button, aging in reverse and progressing verse by verse toward an understanding of his place in the universe.

• The Nature Pages
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• Nature Writing and Natural Histories

Old West occupations like cowboying and mining were almost exclusively male, but there were exceptions. There were also a few women whose circumstances or inclination led them to become professional gamblers and card sharks.

Author and screenwriter Chris Enss introduces 15 colorful, independent, and exceptional women gamblers of the Old West in this collection of cardsharp profiles.

“Throughout the history of the early gaming days of the Old West, women proved they were just as capable as men at dealing cards and throwing dice,” Enss claims.

Even so, professional women gamblers were a rarity and, according to Enss, “the most successful lady gamblers possessed stunning good looks, which helped disarm aggressive opponents and gave them something pretty to look at as they lost their moeny.”

The women profiled are Alice Ivers, Eleanora Dumont, Lottie Deno, Kitty LeRoy, Belle Ryan Cora, Gertudis Maria Barcelo, Belle Siddons, Kate O’Leary, Belle Starr, Minnie Smith, Martha Jane Canary, Jenny Rowe and Mary Hamlin.

Former Chez Panisse pastry chef and cookbook author David Lebovitz compiled this compact but far-reaching guide to all things chocolate.

“Chocolate, in my biased opinion, is the most universally provoking and addictive flavor,” Lebovitz explains, describing his book as “a gift to all chocolate lovers,” an informed tour of the world of chocolates and chocolate-making that includes cooking tips and recipes.

Lebovitz’s tour includes an introduction to cacao beans and where they are grown, a primer on the different types of chocolates from couverture to white chocolate, some comments on the healthy benefits of chocolate, and some suggestions on choosing a chocolatier. He devotes a full chapter to the chocolates in Paris, which he claims has more fantastic chocolate boutiques than any other city in the world.

The recipes includes riffs on the classic brownie and Lebovitz’s signature Rocky Road as well as Chocolat Tarte de Rue Tatin, Triple-Chocolate Parfait and Black-Bottom Cupcakes. There are 30 recipes in all preceeding a resource section of chocolatier websites.

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• Chocolates

“Ten miles north of Ojai, at the end of a very long road in Matilija (pronounced Ma-til-i-ha) Canyon, lies Blue Heron Ranch. It nestles within the Los Padres National Forest in southern California. Here we, the Natali family, have faced fires, floods, bears, mountain lions, and rattlesnakes. We built a home, raised a family of three children, and have run a modest Zen center and fed a myriad of visitors for twenty-five years,” writes Nadia Natali in the preface to this cookbook, a sequel to Cooking Off the Grid, produced and published by the Natali family in 2006.

“This cookbook was inspired by the many individuals who visited our center and encouraged me to write about the meals prepared for our retreats.

“Interspersed with the recipes, I’ve included stories about Blue Heron’s beginnings and how it has evolved. In addition to the recipes and stories, I’ve offered tips on cooking for a crowd and fresh ideas that you can use for weekend visits of friends or family members. Or perhaps you’re starting your own retreat center! You’ll find a good sequence of meals to serve to a small group over a weekend, along with helpful shopping lists.”

The recipes, like the Natali’s unique retreat, have a welcoming homemade feel and produce hearty meals of healthy and tasty dishes. Accented by the delightful color illustrations of Marica Natali Thompson, the book is spacious, clear and easy to browse. Menus for family gatherings and retreats are outlined in the front of the book, followed by lists of recommended foods and supplies.

Personal stories about the Natali’s arrival in California’s in 1980, the floods and wildfires they endured, the teepee they constructed and lived in, homeschooling their children, the loss of their youngest son, and the Zen Center they founded are interspersed throughout the text.

Initially skeptical about Zen retreats, Nadia Natali eventually agreed to attend a family-oriented retreat near Santa Clara and became enamored of the experience:

“I learned that sitting is an opportunity to watch yourself while in a dilemma. It is very clean. It took a while to learn not to judge my mental antics. I discovered another part of me that is almost impossible to find under the usual noise of everyday life. There is a larger me who can include all the various aspect of my ordinary self. This discovery is not a one-time thing, nor is it the same each time. It changes and develops as long as I give it the space and attention it needs.

“By the end of my few days I was so ‘up’ that I said to Enrico (her husband), ‘Let’s start our own Zen center.’”

The small Zen retreat center that resulted, Blue Heron Ranch, became both the inspiration and proving ground for the recipes in this cookbook.

• Recipe: Blue Heron Ranch Potato Leek Soup
• The Book Stall

Today, chocolate may be a popular confection, but in the region of its origin — ancient Mesoamerica — it was a sacred substance, literally a food of the gods.

This illustrated history of chocolate documents the importance of cacao and its derivatives in Mexoamerica cultures across some 3,500 years. Its images and stories provided the basis of a 60-minute documentary film by the same title that accompanies the book on a DVD insert.

“The seduction of cacao has always resied in its consumption,” the authors explain. “Modern chemical analyses of pre-Columbian ceramics prove that Mesoamericans have been eating and drinking chocolate since at least 1500 BC.

“Early Mesoamericans were not only enamored with the taste of this drink but also understood it was good for body and soul. Chocolate has been one of the world’s favorite curatives and stimulants throughout time. Long hailed as an aphrodisiac, chocolate has an allure that has created a cascade of myths about this ‘food of the devil’ and matters of the heart. As it turns out, there is a connection to the heart: modern chemical analyses have isolated the heart-saving antioxidants within dark chocolate confirming what the ancients knew intuitively.”

In separate chapers the authors discuss chocolate’s supernatural associations in ancient Mesoamerica, rituals related to fertility and life cycles, the political and economic importance of cacao, the artifacts used to serve and celebrate chocolate, folk medicine and pharmacological traditions and, finally, chocolate’s role in the rainforest ecology.

Begun as a project to popularize the archaeological evidence of chocolate’s long and rich history, the book and DVD will sweeten any reader’s (or viewer’s) appreciation of its sacred importance to both ancients and moderns.

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• Chocolate
• Chocolates direct from the chocolatier

The world’s hottest poker player (aka Kid Poker) reprises his Hold’em Wisdom for all Players , published just a year ago, with this collection of Texas Hold’em strategy tips for players of all levels.

A book of advice on the most popular poker game in the casinos of North America and Europe by its most successful practitioner obviously enjoys a wide audience. This one offers suggested approaches divided into four parts: tournament strategies, adjusting to your opponents, betting and bluffing effectively, and how to think like a pro.

Negreanu knows the percentages of his game and how to use them to his advantage. In discussing “How Much to Bet,” for instance, he explains that a smaller bet can sometimes get a play more “bang for his buck” than a larger one.

“When you actually have a good hand and want your opponents to play with weaker hands, they’ll be more likely to call a bet of one-half the pot than a full pot-sized bet. If you have a monster hand and are looking for action, betting half the pot will get you a few more loose calls, and that’s exactly what you want.”

Other tips in the book cover:

• The Stop-and-Go Play
• When to be Aggressive in Tournament Play
• Kamikaze All-In Plays
• Dummy It Down
• Coming Over the Top
• Five Ways to Spot a Bluff
• Limping in with Pocket Aces
• Why Professionals Hate to Play A-Q

For beginners or intermediate players, Negreanu’s wisdom bits will certainly help their game. More advanced players, however, may find his revelations familiar.