A fascinating series in our Children's Department is the 'You Wouldn't Want To' series from Scholastic.  Written by a variety of authors, each one explores a part of history from the viewpoint of how it would have been to have had to live in those times.  We currently have twenty-seven books from this line in our collection ranging from ancient history ('You Wouldn't Want to be a Slave in Ancient Greece! A Life You'd Rather Not Have') to early American history ('You Wouldn't Want to be a Pony Express Rider! A Dusty, Thankless Job You'd Rather Not Do') to more modern times ('You Wouldn't Want to Sail on the Titanic! One Voyage You'd Rather Not Make').

All of the books contain a timeline, handy hints for the era in question and a glossary.  The details they pull out of the daily lives of the everyday people that were a part of history brings the past to life in a way that is as interesting to adults as well as children.

Sycamore Row

Sycamore Row is the latest legal thriller written by Mississippian John Grisham  The novel's events take place a few months after the events in Grisham's popular,  A Time To Kill, and stars Jake Brigance and his crew of lawyer friends, in a fiercely controversial trial once again set in the city of Clanton, MS.  The story revolves around the will of Seth Hubbard, a wealthy man dying of lung cancer who trusts no one.  Before he hangs himself from a sycamore tree, Seth leaves a new, handwritten will that disrupts his family, his business associates and the town of Clanton.  The new will drags Seth's two adult children, his African-American maid and

his estranged brother into a civil trial as complicated as the murder trial that made Brigance a famous lawyer.  As Brigance and the will's interested parties gear up for battle, the central questions arise of why Hubbard changed his will at the last minute and whether chemotherapy and painkillers clouded his judgment when he did.  This novel has been my favorite John Grisham novel in a long time.  The plot is riveting, the characters are intense and there are surprise story twists throughout the entire book.  If you enjoyed A Time To Kill, or enjoy cleverly plotted legal thrillers, then you will enjoy reading this novel.  John Grisham is the author of twenty-six novels, one work of nonfiction, a collection of stories and four novels for young readers.  Find out more about John Grisham by contacting www.doubleday.com, www.jgisham.com or on facebook at www.facebook.com/JohnGrisham. 

An Unsuitable Job? I think not!

Recently, the library purchased the DVD version of An Unsuitable Job for a Woman which aired on PBS's Mystery! television series in the year 2000. This British series is based on the book (with the same title) written by author P.D. James, who also wrote the Adam Dalgliesh novels. The series revolves around twenty-something Cordelia Grey (played here by Helen Baxendale).

Cordelia's father died of multiple sclerosis while living in Italy and Cordelia was there to nurse him during his final years. Upon returning to England, she gets a job in the office of private investigator Bernie Pryde. It starts out as a temporary position as secretary, but Bernie sees something in Cordelia and takes her under his wing. Poor Bernie tries to teach Cordelia all he knows about being an investigator. In fact, Bernie used to be a policeman, but he was fired from the force because, as Scotland Yard's Chief Superintendent Ian Fergusson put it "Bernie just couldn't handle being a detective".

One morning, Cordelia comes into the office and finds Bernie dead at his desk. He has taken his own life and left everything he had to Cordelia: house, car, and detective agency. After returning from Bernie's funeral, Cordelia and her secretary, Mrs. Edith Sparshott, find a somewhat distraught woman in the office. She has come to engage Cordelia's services on behalf of her employer/lover Ronald Callender. Mr. Callender is a brilliant medical researcher, or so we are told. His son has also recently committed suicide and he wants to know why. This is just the beginning of the first story in series one. Cordelia goes on to investigate a philandering hotelier, an attempted kidnapping that turns out to be an art theft, and finally, she investigates the doctor-boyfriend of Superintendent Fergusson's daughter. These stories are full of twists and turns and just a bit of that wry British humor. The interactions between Cordelia and Mrs. Sparshott are smart, funny, and touching. Mrs. Sparshott tries to mother Cordelia, but the younger woman stands on her own feet and asserts herself without being a bully.

I highly recommend this series if you like detective fiction. Cordelia and her secretary are both more than suited for their jobs as detectives. Cordelia is warm, charming, and whip-smart. Mrs. Sparshott is wise, kind, and every bit as capable as Cordelia in the sleuthing department. These DVDs also include the Mystery! opening sequences with actress Diana Rigg's commentary on the stories.

The Minor Adjustment Beauty Salon

The latest novel in Alexander McCall-Smith's "No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency" series is another fun, entertaining entry in this popular series.  The novels are cozies set in Botswana, and the star of the series is Precious Ramotswe, owner and lead detective at the agency.  In this installment, Mma Makutsi has to be away from the office for a few weeks due to personal reasons, and Mma Ramotswe feels the loss as she tries to solve cases without the helpful advice of her associate detective.  Meanwhile, her husband, Mr. J. L. B. Matekoni, has his own hands full with his errant mechanic apprentices and his own desires to become a "modern husband" for Mma Ramotswe.  Mma Ramotswe's main cases are trying to find the person making threats against Mma Soletti and her Minor Adjustment Beauty Salon and discovering if the boy set to inherit his Uncle's farm is who he says he is.  One of the best parts of these books is the character development.  The books' characters are charming and the reader truly gets a taste of what it means to live, today, in Botswana.  These books are one of my favorite mystery series, because the country of Botswana figures as prominently as the mysteries explored.  The series needs to be read in order, so start out with the "No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency" if you want to begin the series.  Alexander McCall Smith is Professor Emeritus of Medical Law at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, who was born in Zimbabwe.  He has taught law at the University of Botswana and lives in Scotland.    

The Heist!

Janet Evanovich and Lee Goldberg have hit a home run with their latest book, The Heist.  Starring FBI Special Agent Kate O'Hare, whose job is chasing down the world's most wanted criminals.  She is tenacious and ambitious and has been obsessed with apprehending international criminal, Nicolas Fox, for a large portion of her career.  Nicolas is a natural con man--handsome, dangerously charming and notorious for running successful and elaborate schemes on very high-profile people.  Kate finally captures Nicolas and then is confronted with an edict from her boss--she must let Nicolas go in exchange for him working with the FBI to capture a corrupt investment banker hiding on a private island in Indonesia and recovering the millions he has stolen.  To accomplish this task, Nicolas asks to hire his own team of ragtag criminals including Agent O'Hare.  They stage an elaborate heist to capture the banker, that is hilarious to watch.  If you enjoy reading Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series, you will also enjoy this madcap adventure.  I hope that this is the first of many collaborations between Evanovich and Goldberg.  Visit Janet Evanovich's website at www.evanovich.com and Lee Goldberg's at www.leegoldberg.com for more information on the authors.

One Big Happy Family by Lisa Rogak is a feel-good book about animals that have fostered infant animal outside of their own species.  Most of the foster parents featured are dogs that have helped raise everything from a kangaroo joey to a pygmy hippo, but other animal surrogate parents get in on the act as well such as a male orangutan helping with a pair of frisky lion cubs.  In all, fifty stories of inter-species relationships are shared along with photos of the mixed families.  One of the most fascinating pairings shown is a wild lioness that began taking care of an antelope calf shortly after that same lioness and another had killed and eaten the calf's mother.  A quick read at under 150 pages, this is one that is likely to fascinate adults and children alike.

Welcome 2014!

It's hard to believe, but 2013 has ended and 2014 has arrived!  We wish you a happy and prosperous new year and all the wonderfully exciting things you have to look forward to.  The library is closed today, but please come visit us tomorrow, during our normal hours of 9:00 AM-7:00 PM.

The Warren County-Vicksburg Public Library will be closed on Christmas Eve, December 24, 2013 and Christmas Day, December 25, 2013.  Our Board of Trustees and staff wish you a safe and happy holiday season!

Spirit of Steamboat

     Legend has it that Steamboat was the greatest bronco of all time. He never let any cowboy ride him: tough as nails. This horse was so famous that Wyoming put an image of him bucking a rider on its license plates. At least, this is the story Craig Johnson tells in his newest Walt Longmire novella. Sheriff Longmire is sitting at his desk on Christmas Eve reading A Christmas Carol by Dickens. (It's a tradition.) His under sheriff is in Brazil with her mother and his daughter is in Pennsylvania; ready to have a baby. His dispatcher, Ruby, tells him there is someone there to see him. A small wisp of a woman with porcelain skin and dark hair carrying a black garment bag walks into Walt's office and asks if he is the sheriff. She speaks to him like she knows him and she asks about the previous sheriff, Lucian Connally. Walt takes the woman to the Durant Home for Assisted Living where Lucian has just shot out the T.V. in the rec room. Lucian answers the door to his apartment wearing nothing but his boxers, a wife beater t-shirt, and only one leg. After all the pleasantries are out of the way, Lucian asks her what the reason for her visit is. She replies, "Steamboat."
    With that, we flash back to 1988 when Walt has just been elected sheriff for the first time and his daughter, Cady, was only 9 years old. Again, it is Christmas Eve and Walt is anxiously awaiting the med-evac flight of a little girl who has just lost her parents and great-aunt in a fiery car crash. There is a blizzard blowing their way and no one is sure that the helicopter carrying the severely burned girl will make it to Denver. It is slow and unable to maneuver in the high winds and icy conditions. Walt asks if the old B-25 34030 sitting in the hangar could make the trip. Yes, no, maybe is the answer he gets. Even if it could there is no one to fly it. But Walt knows someone; Lucian Connally flew one of these very planes in WWII over Japan. So, with the EMT & pilot of the med-evac helicopter refusing to fly in the gathering storm, and a little girl's life hanging in the balance; Walt enlists, Lucian, a reluctant co-pilot named Julie, and Doctor Isaac to help get the B-25 in the air and the little girl to Denver's Children's Hospital. Walt goes along for the ride, as does the little girl's grandmother; who doesn't speak any English. The harrowing ride that follows tests them all in ways they could not imagine, but the little girl gets to her destination and twenty-five years later, she comes back to Durant to get the whole story and to return a memento to Lucian. Why the mention of the bronco? The name of the plane: Steamboat.

Dexter's Final Cut

I finally was able to read Jeff Lindsay's latest novel, Dexter's Final Cut, the next in the Dexter Morgan series.  Lindsay's series inspired the Dexter Showtime series that ended its run in October 2013.  From what I have read, this book is the final Dexter book, but I am hoping that Jeff Lindsay will write at least one more in the series before he hangs up the Dexter Morgan character.  Dexter Morgan is a blood splatter expert with the Miami-Dade Police Department and a serial killer.  Dexter, however, only kills bad people such as rapists or child molesters who "fall through the cracks" and end up escaping justice.  He has a strict code he follows,  which was given to him by Harry, his policeman step-father.    Dexter does

not function with the ability to empathize with other "humans," so he has spent most of his days studying others around him and trying to fit in.  He is married to Rita, and has one kid with her and two step-kids, Cody and Astor, in whom he sees fleeting images of "Dark Passenger" behavior.  The book opens with a scene in which you finally figure out that Dexter is NOT dead, but acting in a television show.  From there, the book starts over from the beginning and details the events leading up to the television show scene.  Dexter and his sister, Sergeant Deborah Morgan, are chosen to be the folks that several as the "technical advisors" for a forensics television series that is being shot in Miami.  Dexter is delighted when the beautiful actress, Jackie Forrest hires him to be her personal bodyguard after she reveals she has received some stalker-type fan mail and women around Miami that look uncannily like Jackie start dying.  Dexter gets caught up in the high-flying actor lifestyle---will this lead to the end of his life with Rita?  A definite twist at the end involving Astor, truly shakes up the book and the ending is truly topsy-turvy.  I adore Dexter Morgan's character because he truly makes the reader root for him---how bad can he be if he helps rid the world of bad people?  It's a great series that is not easily forgotten.  Jeff Lindsay lives in South Florida with his wife and three daughters and may be contacted at www.Dexter-Books.com, www.facebook.com/jefflindsayauther or at www.doubleday.com.