Don't forget our collection of Graphic Novels!

Our collection of graphic novels has been growing.  We now have over 260 graphic novels with over 140 of them in the Adult section.

Our titles include comic collections from both DC Comics and Marvel Comics, graphic biographies, works based on novels and popular TV shows as well as original works.  Several of them have won awards for their story and/or artwork such as Pride of Baghdad.

Graphic novels aren't kid-stuff - come in and see!

Beat the Heat with a Cool Summer Salad

In the steamy Mississippi summer time, I often do not feel like cooking a huge, hot meal for myself.  What better way to enjoy your supper, and celebrate the lovely abundance of summer gardens, than by making yourself a beautiful salad for dinner!  50 Spectacular Salads by Steven Wheeler is a Step-By-Step book that shows the reader how to make fifty wonderful salads, from main courses to special occasion dinners and sweet salads for dessert.  Each recipe is on the left side of the page with a full color picture of the finished product on the right-hand side.  Each recipe step is numbered and clearly marked and includes tips on how to arrange the salad prettily on a plate.  Especially handy is a small set of pictures on the left-hand side of the recipe page, that show what the recipe items look like, in case the reader does not know what arugula, etc. is.  The book opens with sections on salad leaves, dressings, equipment and how to grow a kitchen herb garden.  This is a great book for the beginning chef or an experienced one and it is great for helping you plan your next salad adventure!

Stretch Your Dollars With a New Wardrobe

I just discovered the most fabulous book today!  New Dress A Day:  The Ultimate DIY Guide to Creating Fashion Dos from Thrift-Store Don'ts by Marisa Lynch is a great resource to teach you how to find items at the thrift store and re-vamp them to make cute "new" pieces for your wardrobe.  With just a few well-placed stitches and some creativity, you can update an outdated castoff and make it into something flirty, fun and very comtemporary.   This book is handy, because it teaches you how to "ace" sewing basics and create DIY designer look-alikes.  There are several very clever ideas in this book, including how to make accessories like a garter belt from an old wedding dress, and suggestions for creating a stunning strapless dress from an old bridesmaid dress.  The book includes colored before-and-after photos, sidebars and sewing tips.  This book is a wonderful way to make your wardrobe dollars stretch by remaking flea market/ thrift store finds into something fabulous!

Surviving Disaster

The Disaster Diaries by Sham Sheridan explores how he learned to stop worrying and love the apocalypse.  Sam Sheridan has traveled the world as an amateur boxer and mixed martial arts fighter; he has worked as an EMT, a wilderness firefighter, a sailor, a cowboy at the largest ranch in Montana, and in construction under brutal conditions at the South Pole.  If he isn’t ready for the apocalypse and the fractured world that will ensue, we are all in a lot of trouble.  And yet, despite an arsenal of skills that puts many to shame, when Sam became a father he was beset with nightmares about being unable to protect this son.

With disaster images from movies, books, and the nightly news filling his head, he was slowly driven to distraction:  If an earthquake hit tomorrow and the power grid went down, how much food and water would you need for your family?  If you’re forced outside the city limits, what would it take to survive in the wilderness?  And let’s not even talk about plagues, zombie hordes, and attacking aliens.  Unable to quiet his mind, Sam sets on a quest to learn the things that just might come in handy if our world takes a turn for the worse.

The problem is that each possible doomsday requires a different skill set.  Trying to navigate a clogged highway when everyone has the same bright idea to leave town?  Better prepare by attending the best stunt driving school in the country.  Need to protect your family but have run out of ammunition?  Better learn how to handle a knife.  Is your kid hurt or showing signs of serious mental stain?  Better brush up on emergency medicine and study the psychological effects of trauma.  From training with an Olympic weightlifter to a down-and-dirty apprenticeship in stealing cars with an ex-gang member, from an intense three-week-long gun course in the hundred-degree heat of Alabama to agonizing lessons in wilderness survival, Sam leaves no stone unturned.  Would it be enough if a meteor rocked the earth? Who’s to say?  But as Sam points out, it would be a shame to survive the initial impact only to die a few days later because you didn’t know how to build a fire.

Explore New Family Traditions

The Book of New Family Traditions by Meg Cox examines how to create great rituals for holidays and every day.  Quality family togetherness—everyone wants it, but it seems increasingly harder to get.  In a busy world where kids and parents are bombarded with all sorts of distractions, family rituals can offer a sense of home and identity that is good for the whole family.  In this expanded and updated edition, Meg Cox has gathered hundreds of memorable, meaningful traditions that can make very day special, providing inspiring ideas for mealtimes & bedtimes; problem-solving rituals that soothe squabbles and stop tantrums; milestones, birthday and holidays.  As well as:  tech tips for using social media and other technology to bring the family together; special considerations for divorced families and stepfamilies, and fun craft activities. This book is for a whole new generation of families, and is an essential resource for sparking the fun into family life.

In leafing through this book I read some of the best ideas and wished I had known some of these sooner, most especially in the Hello & Good-bye Rituals.  The Day Care Drop-off Magic Words would have been great when taking my nephews for the weekend.  In the Chore Rituals sections, I loved the mix a duty with a privilege  and the Monster Spray in the Section on Bedtime—pure genius!

Get Cooking with the Pioneer Woman

Many of you might be familiar with the "Pioneer Woman Cooks" show on Food Network.  I have to admit, I was a little reluctant to watch it---I was trying to figure out what I had in common with a woman who lives on a ranch and cooks for hundreds of people????  Fear not--the Pioneer Woman is just like your or I!  the Pioneer woman, (aka, Ree Drummond) has an interesting story.  She lived for years in Los Angeles, and then made a pit stop in her small Oklahoma hometown on her way to a new, exciting life in Chicago.  On one fateful night during her visit, she met the Marlboro Man, in her words "a mysterious cowboy with steely blue eyes and a muscular, work-honed body"...and before she knew it, she was in love.  They married and moved to his ranch in the middle of nowhere, where Ree was thrust into taking care of animals, four young children, and often a host of hungry ranch hands.  Ree Drummond calls herself an "Accidental Country Girl and Ranch Wife," and her new book, The Pioneer Woman Cooks is a collection of photos, rural stories and lovely recipes that have defined her experience in the country.  The recipes have full color photos and step by step instructions all with the goal of helping you, and other urban cooks, slow down, remember the joys of family, nature and great food and enjoy life.  Check out more from the pioneer woman at her blog,  www.ThePioneerWoman.com

Mexican Recipes in Your Slow Cooker

I'm a huge fan of my slow cooker---I cook with it at least twice a week at my house!  I enjoy being able to come home to a meal that has cooked safely all day, without me having to lift many fingers to fix it.  The library has many slow cooker recipe books available, but we just received a very intriguing new one-The Mexican Slow Cooker by Deborah Schneider. I must admit, at first glance, the recipes in this book look a little complicated.  Basically, the slow cooker is used in these recipes to perform the "gentle cooking" of the recipe with the cook having to perform "prep work" and "finishing touches."  The slow cooker cornbread recipe looks delicious as well as the Enchiladas Suizas and Mole.  Also included are great recipes to make tasty-looking tortillas that you can fill with one of the meat recipes included in this cookbook.  I believe this recipe book is better suited for the more advanced cook, and there are plenty of authentice recipes to choose from!  

Delve into the Life of Steve Guttenberg

We have the new autobiography of Steve Guttenberg entitled “The Guttenberg Bible.”  At first I was going to give this a mention in my weekly Sunday newspaper column but after flipping through the photo section in the book, I thought Steve deserved more of a mention.  In fact it wasn’t until I was looking at the photos I realized just how long a career he had and how very many big stars he had worked with.  And by now you might be wondering who is Steve Guttenberg.  Do the movies Diner, Boyd from Brazil, Police Academy, Cocoon, Short Circuit, Three Men and a Baby, and The Day After ring a bell?  He even starred in that terrible disco movie from the 80s, Can’t Stop the Music, which also starred Bruce Jenner, Valerie Perrine, and the Village People.      

     Guttenberg tells the unique story of his first decade in Hollywood, as he went from being a complete unknown to starring in some of the most successful blockbusters of all time. He spent his early days sneaking onto the Paramount lot and meeting more actors and casting agents than most aspiring actors ever would. Even before the hit Police Academy—which his manager said would be a flop—he had already worked with such luminaries as Lord Lawrence Olivier, Richard Widmark, and Gregory Peck. Later he shared the screen with actors such as Mickey Rourke and Sharon Stone long before they became household names.

Guttenberg has lived through the addictive pull of show business and worldwide celebrity (you’re no one until you have a stalker, he learns.) With a clear-eyed appreciation for the one-of-a-kind experiences that the celebrity lifestyle has to offer, he knew that his family would keep him grounded throughout it all. And his self-awareness and sense of humor about the ups and downs of fame make this book one of the most candid Hollywood stories to date.

The Casserole Queens Cookbook

I think the subtitle of this book says it all..."Put some lovin' in your oven with 100 easy one-dish recipes"--after reading this book I couldn't agree more! Authors Crystal Cook and Sandy Pollock have written The Casserole Queens Cookbook, one of the most entertaining cookbooks I have read in a while. The cover art is pure "vintage 1950's" with these two savvy women in pearls and dresses holding scrumptious casseroles. Once you open the cookbook, you realize that the book is so much more than 1950's cooking! The casseroles in this collection have a distinctly "contemporary" touch and are family-friendly fare that will appeal to adults and kids alike. I adore the recipe titles (i.e., Pimpin Paella and Frenchy Toast Casserole) and the personal stories that begin each recipe. The stories let the reader know that these recipes are 'tried and true" and mean something to each of the authors. Some of the casseroles are a little fancier than others but I think any home cook will find something to love in this collection. Crystal Cook and Sandy Pollock (aka "The Casserole Queens") started their home delivery business in Austin, TX in 2006. They have been featured on Food Network's Throwdown with Bobby Flay, Bobby Flay Radio on Sirius XM and on other television and radio shows. Check out their website at wwww.CasseroleQueens.com for other tasty meals that can be fixed on any night of the week!