Books make good gifts, especially at the holidays. Here are 13 new titles, all published by UC Davis faculty, alumni or staff during the past year (with two 2007 exceptions). Included are books that will appeal to beer lovers, bike enthusiasts and science fiction fans as well as soccer nuts, farmers’ market regulars and Wikipediacs. Three of the books, in addition to being written by authors with UC Davis ties, also focus on the campus: One is a photographic tribute to the arboretum; another is a full-color catalog of works by Wayne Thiebaud and other renowned art department faculty; and the third is a novel set on campus in the ‘60s.

For beer lovers. Or wine lovers. Or beer-and-wine lovers: “Grape vs. Grain: A Historical, Technological, and Social Comparison of Wine and Beer” by Charles Bamforth, chair of food science and technology and the Anheuser-Busch Endowed Professor in Malting and Brewing Sciences at UC Davis. Says Alan Tardi, author of “Romancing the Vine”: “‘Grape vs. Grain’ offers a thorough, comparative look at mankind's two most beloved and culturally significant beverages (and) will surely change the mind of anyone who thinks of beer as wine's less-sophisticated 'poor relation.’ (The book’s) jovial approach to the subject is as clean and refreshing as a Blanche de Bruges on a hot summer day ... I'd love to sit down and share a pint with its author!”

For California history and Chinese American history buffs: “Marysville’s Chinatown,” co-authored by Brian Tom (’70, law). While enrolled in law school at UC Davis, Tom led a coalition that established the Asian American Studies Program, the first student-founded academic program in the university’s history and one of the first Asian American studies programs nationwide. Tom went on to practice law in San Francisco for more than 25 years and now directs the Chinese American Museum of Northern California, which he also founded. “Marysville’s Chinatown,” part of Arcadia Publishing’s “Images of America” series, provides a wealth of information about one of the most important Chinatowns in America.

For poets and painters: “Myself Painting: Poems” by prizewinning poet, painter and novelist Clarence Major, a professor emeritus of English. Like a painter, Major evokes form and color to communicate images: "Desire, artichoke green ... leaves all radiant, / creating the thickness of blue shadows." He also “paints” sounds. Major is a National Book Award Bronze Medal finalist, winner of the National Council on the Arts Award and the New York Cultural Foundation Prize. He is the author of numerous books of poetry as well as critically acclaimed fiction and nonfiction.

“The Global Game: Writers on Soccer,” includes poetry and prose from Ted Hughes, Gay Talese, Eduardo Galeano, Günter Grass, Giovanna Pollarolo, Mario Vargas Llosa and Elvis Costello, among others. The volume is edited by Alon Raab, a lecturer in religious studies, together with freelance soccer writer John Turnbull and Thom Satterlee, an associate professor of English at Taylor University. Andrei Markovits, author of “Offside: Soccer and American Exceptionalism,” praises the book’s “wonderfully rich essays” and “deeply nuanced literature.”

“YOU SEE: The Early Years of the UC Davis Studio Art Faculty” will catch the eye of art lovers on your holiday gift list. The softbound volume is a full-color catalog of works in the campus’s permanent collection by Robert Arneson, Roy De Forest, Manuel Neri, Wayne Thiebaud and William T. Wiley, five of the most significant artists to live and work in Northern California. The catalog, published in 2007 and available only at the UC Davis Bookstore, was created to accompany “YOU SEE,” an exhibit of the works held last summer at the Nelson Gallery on campus. The collection is now on a two-year tour of four other cities in California and Nevada.

Weight-conscious readers, slogging their way through holiday feasts and dreading the perennial News Year’s diet resolution, may find welcome relief in “Health at Every Size: The Surprising Truth About Your Weight,” by Linda Bacon, a UC Davis nutritionist and independent nutrition consultant. Bacon encourages readers to emphasize healthy living rather than dieting or exercise programs, and to pay more attention to internal body cues that signal hunger and fullness than to calorie-counting. Her research has shown that obese women who follow this strategy make significant improvements in both metabolic and psychological health.

Arboretum fans will recognize some of their favorite places in “A Walk through Nature at the University’s Arboretum in Davis, California.” Photographed and written by Carol Chandler, an administrative assistant at UC Davis’ Crocker Nuclear Laboratory, the 52-page, full-color tribute to the 100-acre refuge was published in 2007.

“California's New Green Revolution: Pioneers in Sustainable Agriculture,” by cooperative extension specialist Desmond Jolly, profiles a cross-section of farmers and marketers who use and seek out innovative methods to protect natural resources while building community links with consumers through farmers markets and community-supported agriculture. Jolly, former director of the Small Farm Program, wrote the book with Isabella Kenfield, a former staff member. The full-color volume is available from the Small Farm Center, at http://www.sfc.ucdavis.edu/docs/publications.asp?view=17.

“Delancey’s Stapler: Love, Lust, Duty, Doom, Rage, Revelation and Pizza,” a novel by 1966 alum Dave Veith, is a flashback to UC Davis in the ’60s, when draft boards loomed, “guys had to sign out the girls from their dorms” and female students “wore nylon stockings to the pizza parlor." Veith, now retired, lives with his wife in Northern California. His book, based on his undergraduate years on campus, is available at http://www.daveveith.com.

“The Bike to Work Guide: What You Need to Know to Save Gas, Go Green, Get Fit,” by Paul Dorn, assistant director of marketing for campus recreation, and Roni Sarig. The paperback guide is for cyclists who want to extend the fun they have biking on weekends to their daily commute. Those who haven't been on a bike in years but want to start saving on fuel and car costs will also find useful information.

For scientists and science fiction lovers: In “Nanovision: Engineering the Future,” Colin Milburn, assistant professor of English, argues that nanotechnology theories, laboratory instruments and research programs are inextricable from fictional narratives. Davis-based science fiction writer Kim Stanley Robinson has this to say about the book: “There has been so much hype and controversy surrounding nanotech that it has been hard to figure out what it really is or might become. This wonderful book spectacularly clarifies matters … That Colin Milburn is also often wickedly funny is much appreciated, and a very appropriate response to nanotech’s constant evocations of paradise or apocalypse.”

For Wikipedia users (and who isn’t one?): “How Wikipedia Works: And How You Can Be a Part of It,” by Phoebe Ayers (user=phoebe), a librarian at the UC Davis Physical Sciences and Engineering Library and organizer of Wikimania conferences; Charles Matthews, a mathematician who has taught at Cambridge and Harvard; and Ben Yates, a technical editor who writes a blog about Wikipedia. In “How Wikipedia Works,” the trio offers insight, anecdotes and tips for finding information and evaluating the quality and reliability of articles; contributing to existing articles; adding new articles that conform to Wikipedia’s guidelines and best practices and therefore won’t be deleted; and communicating with other Wikipedians.

For science fiction fans who also appreciate poetry: “25¢ Rocket Ship to the Stars.” Written by Gary Osgood Clark, the book is slim enough to fit in any stocking. Reviewer Paul Di Filippo, writing in Asimov’s Science Fiction, calls it “enchanting.” Clark, retired after 25 years as a library assistant at UC Davis, has published three other collections of poetry. He lives in a Davis mobile home with his cat, Ariel.

About UC Davis

For 100 years, UC Davis has engaged in teaching, research and public service that matter to California and transform the world. Located close to the state capital, UC Davis has 31,000 students, an annual research budget that exceeds $500 million, a comprehensive health system and 13 specialized research centers. The university offers interdisciplinary graduate study and more than 100 undergraduate majors in four colleges -- Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Biological Sciences, Engineering, and Letters and Science -- and advanced degrees from five professional schools: Education, Law, Management, Medicine, and Veterinary Medicine. The UC Davis School of Medicine and UC Davis Medical Center are located on the Sacramento campus near downtown.