WALKING ON SAND: THE STORY OF AN IMMIGRANT SON AND THE FORGOTTEN ART OF PUBLIC SERVICE, by Rocco C. Siciliano with Drew M. Ross, The University of Utah Press, 324 pages, $25, hardcover. This is a memoir of the first Italian-American to serve in the White House as an assistant to the president, Dwight D. Eisenhower. Siciliano, then 31, was a high achiever who grew up in Salt Lake City and became an executive in a number of U.S. companies.

WINTER FIRE, by Rachel Ann Nunes, Deseret Book, 311 pages, $14.95, softcover. In this romantic LDS novel, Nunes treats the issues of child custody and foster care. Her major character, Amanda Huntington, falls in love with Blake Simmons, an appliance repairman who takes care of two foster children.

WHEN TIMES ARE TOUGH, by John Bytheway, Deseret Book, 160 pages, $14.95, small hardcover. In a formula-five-based advice book for adults, Bytheway, an LDS author, writes five chapters that include five scriptures each to help a person overcome tragedy, strengthen a marriage, improve family relationships, build faith and become motivated to action.

IN QUIET DESPERATION: UNDERSTANDING THE CHALLENGE OF SAME-GENDER ATTRACTION, by Fred and Marilyn Matis and Ty Mansfield, Deseret Book, 270 pages, $15.95, softcover. Fred and Marilyn Matis tell their own story and that of their son, Stuart, who was sexually attracted to other men, and the trials they went through as a family. In addition, Ty Mansfield discusses his own sexual-identity crisis and how it affected his membership in the LDS Church.

MOUNTAIN MEADOWS WITNESS: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF BISHOP PHILIP KLINGENSMITH, by Anna Jean Backus, AJB Distributing Company, 302 pages, $32.50, softcover. This is a re-release of a 10-year-old book about the problems of an LDS bishop who had to face the consequences of his own actions during the infamous Mountain Meadows Massacre of 1857.

MAFIA TO MORMON: MY CONVERSION STORY, by Mario Facione, Cedar Fort, 104 pages, $9.95, softcover. This is a memoir by an Italian-American who was introduced to the LDS Church by two young missionaries while he was deeply involved in the Mafia. He was so impressed with the LDS message that he left behind the illegal activities of his adult life that had made him wealthy and joined the church.

OUT OF THE SHADOWS . . . INTO THE LIGHT, by Candace Salima, Spring Creek, 310 pages, $17.95, softcover. This is an LDS novel about Caroline Duncan, who spends years of her life fighting two difficult battles — maintaining the family's ranch and dealing with the kidnapping of her son by her ex-husband. The story is set in Wyoming amid vicious blizzards. She falls in love with a U.S. marshal who is trying to help her retrieve her son.