Top shelf. . - Book Shelf - book review

* BILL CLINTON AND BLACK AMERICA (Ballantine, $24) is USA Today columnist Dewayne Wickham's exploration of the enduring and sometimes inexplicable connection between the former president and African-Americans, with essays and insights from such notables as Dr. Mary Frances Berry, William H. Gray and Kweisi Mfume.

NOT GUILTY: TWELVE BLACK MEN SPEAK OUT ON LAW, JUSTICE AND LIFE (Amistad, $25) features 12 original essays by young, Black writers and critics, each of whom offers honest and emotional commentary on what it means to be Black and male in America, edited by Jabari Asim.

COMMUNION: THE FEMALE SEARCH FOR LOVE (William Morrow, $24.95) is the third and final volume in the "Love Trilogy" by writer and cultural critic bell hooks. In this installment, she examines the many ways in which love in America has changed for women over the last 50 years, particularly in light of the changes wrought by the feminist movement.

THE WORDS OF GARDNER TAYLOR: LECTURES, ESSAYS AND INTERVIEWS (Judson Press, $22) is the fifth book in a series that features the inspiring words and writings of the legendary minister who Time magazine once dubbed "the dean of the nation's Black preachers."