As Akron nurse and nursing home administrator V.K. Lynn stresses in her slim book, Finding a Nursing Home (And What You Find When You Get There), being old is not a dysfunction; it is a progression of life. Her common-sense manual provides lists of questions to ask (how often are residents' nails trimmed?) and what to look for on visits.

After choosing a nursing home, families will want Lynn's advice for what to expect. Residents may have to adapt to less privacy, though they may not realize that they are allowed to bring some of their own favorite, familiar items, like furniture, with them. Lynn cautions that residents often mislay eyeglasses and hearing aids, prompting them to pick up the nearest similar item.

Finding a Nursing Home is only 24 pages, but at $7.99, it could allay a lot of anxieties. Lynn's 22-page companion book, Thinking About: Building, Buying, Remodeling or Even Moving Into a Nursing Home, Read This Book First, is more of a professional guide, with floor plans and design suggestions; it costs $11.99. Both softcover, they are available at http://www.booksurge.com.

'V.K. Lynn is a pseudonym.

'How Not to Golf'

Many anecdotes begin, ''There are two kinds of people in this world . . . '' In Louis N. DeToro's world, there are three: golfers, nongolfers and not-golfers. In his book, How Not to Play Golf, Arnold Palmer was a golfer. I am a nongolfer. In between are the not-golfers: the ''rank and file,'' DeToro calls them, who play to get out of the house, among other reasons.

DeToro separates not-golfers into categories: hackers, junkies, timeless wonders and more. When he gets down to the actual advice part of his book, he recommends the usual practice, concentration, confidence . . . but it all boils down to this: Have fun or stay home. How Not to Play Golf (53 pages, softcover) costs $12.95 from http://www.publishamerica.com. DeToro, an economist, lives in Youngstown.

'Computer Essentials'

On the back cover of Stow resident James A. White's book, Just the Computer Essentials, a cartoon shows a puzzled figure in front of two book displays: One offers books ''For Dummies''; one rack is ''for brainiacs.'' White says his book is in the middle, and it's a guide to buying a computer, understanding hard drives and memory, viruses and backups.

The book's information is specific to the Windows Vista operating system, and it definitely is more advanced than a Dummies book. At 275 pages, the softcover lists for $24.95 at http://www.booksbyjim.com.

Book signing

• Cleveland native Evan Fallenberg will sign his debut novel, Light Fell on Monday, at Joseph-Beth Booksellers at Legacy Village in Lyndhurst. On Tuesday, John Billheimer will sign Baseball and the Blame Game: Scapegoating in the Major Leagues. Wednesday's guest is Joan Pagano, author of 15-Minute Total Body Workout. She'll be followed Thursday by John Henry Creel with C-Reel Results: 12 Weeks to Permanent Fat Loss and Weight Management.

• Through a grant from the Ohio Humanities Council, in January the Twinsburg Public Library will host a traveling Smithsonian Institution exhibition called Key Ingredients: America by Food. See http://www.twinsburglibrary.org for the events; the address is 10050 Ravenna Road.
— Barbara McIntyre
Special to the Beacon Journal