Celebrate the 20th Anniversary of Mrs. Murphy's Mysteries!

If you are a fan of Rita Mae Brown, I am sure you have eagerly anticipated the next installment in her "Mrs. Murphy" mystery series which are co-written by her cat, Sneaky Pie Brown! The Big Cat Nap is the Brown's latest collaboration and it is as charming and fun a read as the rest of the series.  Since this story is the twentieth one in the series, the action, plot, characters and story are well developed and fun!  These cozies star Mary Minor "Harry" Haristeen and her pet dog TeeTucker (corgi), Mrs. Murphy (tiger cat) and Pewter (overweight gray cat), her husband, Fair, DVM, and a host of their friends in Crozet, Virginia.  Harry was the postmistress of Crozet until she quit to take up farming on her family's land and has had some success growing ginseng, hay, grapes and sunflowers.  All is well in Harry's world until several of her friends have vehicular mishaps and Harry discovers a murdered mechanic in a local repair shop. Despite numerous warnings from her animals and friends, Harry decides to conduct her own investigation when other mechanics start dying and ends up involved in her own deadly chase!  A self-professed "motorhead," Harry enjoys discovering things about cars, and her love of vehicles is reflected in this book. If you are "put off" by animal characters in books, don't be afraid of this series--the animals do talk to each other and interact with humans, but only in ways that are normal behavior for cats and dogs.  Rita Mae Brown lives in Afton, Virginia and is the author of this series as well as the Sister Jane, a new canine mystery series and several other novels.  She is also an emmy-nominated screenwriter and poet and can be reached at www.ritamaebrown.com.   

The Mayo Clinic Diabetes Diet

The library has received a great new diabetes book, The Mayo Clinic Diabetes Diet! The idea behind this book is that beating diabetes, or improving your blood sugar, involves the basic concept of eating less and moving more.  Now, we all know that is a great theory, but actually putting that into practice is tough! The weight-loss experts at the Mayo Clinic have put together a great combination of diet tips, recipes, good and bad habits, the food pyramid and other ideas to help you lose weight and keep it off. The book is well written and the tips are easy to follow. This book is geared toward all types of diabetics, newly diagnosed or not, and will provide great inspiration for all readers.

Love in a Nutshell

I absolutely adore the humor and effervescent writing of Janet Evanovich!  Her latest book, Love in a Nutshell, is a collaboration between herself and Dorien Kelly.  The story is a light-hearted romance with a bit of a mystery thrown in to make the plot more entertaining.  The story is set in Keene's Harbor, Michigan, where Kate Appleton escapes to her parents'summer home after her husband leaves her and she is fired from her job as a magazine editor.  Kate is desperate to find a job in order to earn much-needed cash to renovate the summer home into a bed-and-breakfast business, but the only job she can find is with Matt Culhane at his local brewery.  Someone is sabotaging Matt's business and he hires Kate to discover the culprit.  The only problem is, Kate begins to have feelings for her employer---will they get in the way of solving the mystery?  This is a great story filled with romantic suspense, small-town antics, secret sabotage and lots and lots of beer.  I especially enjoyed reading all about how beer is made and the "secrets" behind a small-town brewery.  This is a very quick and fun read!

Meet the Duchess of Windsor

I first became interested in the Duchess of Windsor when I read a book about her jewels that were being auctioned.  I had heard the tale of Edward VIII who gave up the throne of England for “the woman he loved,” but did not know much about the woman herself.  I wound up reading two biographies of her and was fascinated.  Now I have a new biography to read.  It is entitled That Woman: the Life of Wallis Simpson Duchess of Windsor by Anne Sebba.  “That woman,” as she was referred to by the Queen Mother, became a hated figure for ensnaring a British King and destabilizing the monarchy.  Born in 1896 in Baltimore, Bessie Wallis Warfield endured an impoverished and comparatively obscure childhood that inflamed a burning desire to rise above her circumstances.  Neither beautiful nor brilliant, she nevertheless became one of the most talked-about women of her generation, and inspired such deep love and adoration in Edward VIII that he gave up a throne and an empire for her.  Wallis lived by her wits, while both her apparent and alleged moral transgressions added to her aura and dazzle.  Accused of Fascists sympathies, having Nazi lovers, and learning bizarre sexual techniques in China, she was the subject of widespread gossip and fascination. In death, the Duchess became a style icon and a symbol of empowerment, a woman whose unequivocal aim was to win the game of life.

Celebrate National Library Week With Us!

National Library Week 2012 is April 8 - April 14, 2012!  Visit the Warren County-Vicksburg Public Library this week and explore one of the many programs the library has available for you!  From learning about Cyber-Bullying to sharing cookies and punch with library staff, this is a great time to come visit us and see what the Warren County-Vicksburg Public Library has to offer.

A Grown-Up Kind of Pretty

Joshilyn Jackson has written another wonderful mother/ daughter drama in her new novel, A Grown-Up Kind of Pretty.  The author of Gods in Alabama, the novel is both bittersweet and elegant as it explores the life of "Big," who had her daughter Liza when she was fifteen and Mosey, her granddaughter, who Liza had when she was fifteen.  They all live in a small town and are looked down upon because of their young births, and Big works hard to make a life for all of them.  Liza is a flirtatious play girl until she suddenly has a stroke and Big is forced to care for her as well as Mosey.  The book is a tense mystery, when a baby's bones are dug up from under the willow tree and the whole town begins guessing whose baby it was.  Mosey and her friends decide themselves to try to solve the mystery so they can figure out who their family members really are.  The book is told in alternate chapters by Mosey, Liza and Big and this makes an interesting read.  The challenging part is that Liza is unable to speak, so she is stuck trying to figure out how to communicate what she knows, to her mom and daughter.  It's a fascinating story and an example of great writing!  If you love Jodi Picoult, try also reading Joshilyn Jackson--you won't be disappointed!

Fabulous Slow Cooker Meals

I have been using my slow cooker a lot lately, because it's an easy way to cook great meals while being away at work and it does not heat up the house as much as using the oven.  The library has many wonderful slow cooker recipe books, and one of the latest ones we've received is wonderful!  The Everything Healthy Slow Cooker Cookbook by Rachel Rappaport contains 300 recipes fit for any cooking occasion.  I really enjoy this cookbook because it has a lot of "foundation" recipes that can be used as the basis for other recipes (such as roasted vegetable stock, poached chicken, roasted garlic and carmelized onions.)  The recipe book opens with a great chapter on how to cook healthy meals in the slow cooker, and includes a section on how to adapt your favorite meals for the challenges of the slow cooker.  The recipes in this book are diverse---from appetizers and snacks, dips, chili, meat and vegetable main dishes, to desserts and recipes for a couple or a crowd.  The book ends with two appendices discussing slow-cooking tips and how to make your favorite recipes lower in fat. This book is great for anyone who is an "old hand" at using their slow cooker or a beginner.   If you like this book, try alos Dana Carpender's 300 Low-Carb Slow Cooker Recipes. 

Red Mist

Red Mist is the latest book by Patricia Cornwell in the series featuring Chief Medical Examiner Kay Scarpetta.  Kay Scarpetta is a tough, no-nonsense, brilliant forensic doctor who is the director of the new Cambridge Forensic Center in Massachusettes.  With her connection to the Department of Defense, Scarpetta has urgent reasons to learn more about a string of grisly killings that she feels are somehow linked to her former deputy chief, Jack Fielding's, murder six months ago.  Most of the stories' action takes place in Savannah, GA, where Scarpetta visits in order to meet with a convicted sex offender at the Georgia Prison for Women.  Kay Scarpetta senses there is a connection to Fielding's death, the murder of a Savannah family years ago and several deaths at the GPFW.  The action is tense and the book is filled with cutting-edge technology.  Fans of Patricia Cornwell will especially love this book as it's an excellent installment in the Kay Scarpetta series of novels. 

St. Patrick's Day Murder

This Saturday, March 17, 2012, the United States will be celebrating St. Patrick's Day, which

began as a Catholic feast day to celebrate the life of St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland.  Observed by the Irish for 1000 years, it is now a holiday celebrated around the world.  If you are wondering how to celebrate your own St. Patrick's day, try reading a St. Patrick's Day mystery! Leslie Meier's St. Patrick's Day Murder takes place in the town of Tinker's Cove, Maine, when the body of barkeep Old Dan Malone is found floating in the town's icy harbor.  This forces Lucy Stone, the Pennysaver newspaper's intrepid reporter, to solve this murder before the town's St. Patrick's Day celebrations begin.  Isis Crawford's A Catered St. Patrick's Day  is centered around Bernie and Libby Simmons, the owners of "A Little Taste of Heaven."  When Mike Sweeney is found floating in a vat of green beer, and the nephew of of one of their best customers is accused of the crime, the Simmons' set out to find the real killer.  Both of these mysteries are cozies, and are centered around food.  They are both great books to curl up with and celebrate the joy of St. Patrick's Day!


    

Real-Life CSI

You might be as big a fan of the show, CSI, as I am.  If you are, I know how you feel on certain weekday evenings when you settle down in front of your television, anticipating solving the mystery along with your favorite CSI characters!  If you enjoy the show, you might also enjoy reading the biography of Anthony E. Zuiker, Mr. CSI, the mastermind behind the most popular televsion show in history, CSI:  Crime Scene Investigation and its spin-offs, CSI:  Miami and  CSI:  NY.  Zuiker was a balding, overweight guy driving a tram in Las Vegas in 1990, dreaming of fame and fortune while telling all his friends about the screenplay he was writing.  Zuiker grew up in Las Vegas, the son of parents who were actively employed in the casino life and seedy underbelly of the city.  Zuiker's rise to fame is chronicled in this book, which begins with an honest examination of his dad's suicide, which occurred in 2005 when he was writing a script for CSI:  NY.  The book is a deeply personal story which shows how Zuiker became interested in writing about crime, and shows what he gained through his experience.  This is a great book for fans of any of the CSI shows or crime fiction!