Christmas Romances to Get You in the Spirit

     Sometimes we need a little push to get us in the holiday spirit. That is why I am featuring three of our newest holiday romance novels to kick your Christmas Spirit into high gear!

     First, we have Evergreen Springs by RaeAnne Thayne. Cole Barrett has a lot on his plate, so it's no wonder Christmas is the last thing on his mind at the moment. His ex-wife died in a tragic accident that has left his two children grieving for their mother. Cole is reclusive and he is in no mood for the peppy disposition of Dr. Devin Shaw. Devin has been studying the curative powers of Lake Haven's mineral waters and, unfortunately, the hot springs are located on Cole's property. Devin decides to strike a bargain with Cole: she'll give Cole's children a wonderful Christmas and Cole will allow her patients access to the springs. Will Devin's holiday magic be able to heal this hurting family?

    Next, we have Snowflake Bay by Donna Kauffman. In this charming story, Fiona McCrae has decided to leave her interior designer job and the fast-paced life of Manhattan and return to her home in tranquil Blueberry Cove. She barely has time to unpack before she gets roped into planning her older sister Hannah's Christmas wedding--less than seven weeks away! Amidst all of the hectic planning, Fiona learns that her first love, Ben Campbell, has moved back to the neighboring town of Snowflake Bay. As kids, Ben continually teased Fiona while pining after Hannah. Fiona never thought of Ben like a brother; and now that she has grown up, her feelings haven't changed. Will the romance of the occasion and the spirit of the season ignite a love between these two that will last for many Christmases to come?

     Finally, we have Do You Believe in Santa? by Sierra Donovan. When she was eight years old, Mandy Reese saw Santa Claus and, now that she is grown, she's not afraid to tell the customers at the year-round Christmas store where she works in Tall Pine, California. They love to hear about her encounter with Saint Nick, but when Jake Wyndham--hunky, charming, and oh-so-practical--comes to town scouting for hotels Mandy has a choice to make. Should she deny what she saw, or let Jake think she's "sugarplum crazy?" Jake has never met anyone quite like Mandy before, but meeting Santa? Really? He's not bah-humbugging on her, but he is definitely a skeptic. Jake realizes, however, that there are a lot of things that he had never experienced until he came to Tall Pine: snow in Autumn, mind-blowing kisses, and falling head-over-heels in love with someone he barely knows.

     These and other Christmas novels can be found at the library. Don't forget that we also have many decorating, cooking, and gift-making ideas here as well. Enjoy, and have a very Merry Christmas!

Food and Great Literature Combined!

Let's start this review off with a warning - this is not a book to read if you're hungry.

In Voracious, author Cara Nicoletti brings her blog Yummy Books to book form with recipes from and/or inspired by books.

The book is divided into three parts.  Part one is Childhood and features sixteen recipes including:

•  Breakfast Sausages from Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House series
• Currant Buns from Frances Hodgson Burnett's The Secret Garden
• Pea and Bacon Soup from E.B. White's Charlotte's Web

Part two is Adolescence and College Years.  It contains seventeen recipes including a fava bean and liver recipe based on Thomas Harris' book The Silence of the Lambs - never fear though.  This recipe uses chicken livers.

Part three is Adulthood, containing seventeen recipes such as:

• Brown Butter Crepes from Gillian's Flynn's Gone Girl
• Red Flannel Hash from Pam Houston's short story The Best Girlfriend You Never Had
• Challah from Isaac Bashevis Singer's story Gimpel the Fool

At the end of the books, there is a listing of the authors and their books that inspired the various recipes.  A great book for those who would like a new way to sink their teeth into their favorite stories.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Our library hours will be as follows for Thanksgiving :

Monday, November 23 & Tuesday, November 24 - Normal hours - 9 am to 7 pm
Wednesday, November 25 - 9 am until Noon
Thursday, November 26 - CLOSED - Happy Thanksgiving
Friday, November 27 & Saturday, November 28 - CLOSED

We will reopen on Monday, November 30 at 9 am.

Remember - our selections of eBooks and digital magazines are available even when we're closed.  We hope all of our patrons have a safe and happy Thanksgiving.

Miscellaneous Non-Fiction for Your Consideration

The library orders and receives more books than we, here at the library, can read and fit onto this blog or into my weekly newspaper column. So, I thought it would be a good idea to highlight some of the less glamorous, but all-together informative non-fiction that we have recently acquired.

The 11:45 Call: An Expository Bible Study of the Book of Jude is by Joel F. Blakely and Brenda Klutz Blakely. The book of Jude is God's last attempt to give humanity His instructions on how to be delivered from destruction and what will happen if we don't listen. The book of Jude zeros in on the instructions that Jesus left his disciples to beware, to be ready, walk in faith and truth, and to testify to the work that God has done in our lives.

Next, we have 5@55: The 5 Essential Documents You Need by Age 55 written by Judith D. Grimaldi, Esq. and Joanne Seminara, Esq. with Pierre A. Lehu. This small, but informative book is for everyone; not just those 55 years old and older. You never know when you may need a will or an advanced health care directive. Illness, disability, and death may strike at any time; yet most people don't have the necessary legal documents in place to safeguard our loved ones and our assets. This book covers the five most important documents you should have: a Will, a Health Care Proxy, a Living Will, a Power of Attorney, and a Digital Diary (which gives authorization for your representative to access your computer and online accounts). These documents will help ensure that your assets go to the right people, your wishes about your medical care will be respected, and that the people you trust will be in charge of your affairs. This is not a difficult book to understand. The authors wrote it for the average layperson to understand, so why not check it out today?

Finally, have you ever thought about writing your memoirs, but have been at a loss at where to begin? Well, perhaps you should check-out Turning Memories into Memoirs: A Handbook for Writing Lifestories by Denis Ledoux. The author leads you through writing your personal or family history step-by-step. He offers practical advice and tips for helping you remember the salient details of the stories you are trying to tell. You will learn proven story writing techniques and strategies to write stories that others will enjoy and you will gain the skills necessary to help you gain access to your life's deeper, inner meaning.


These, and other informative books are readily available here at the library. Come in and check them out!

Origami Day!

Wednesday, November 11, 2015 is Origami Day.  Origami is the Japanese art of paper folding, taking a flat piece of paper and turning it into another form without cutting or pasting.   One of the best known models is the Paper Crane, which has become a symbol for peace.

We have several books in our collection for patrons that are interested in origami.

In 10-Fold Origami by Peter Engel, readers can learn how to create 26 wide-ranging origami models,  The book includes easy to follow diagrams and full color illustrations. (736  E57t)

Origami Sourcebook by Jay Ansill has projects for all levels from the beginning folder to the more experienced.  The wide range of models go from dragons and wizards to paper flower arrangements and napkin rings. (736 A619os)

Origami Boxes : for Gifts, Treasures and Trifles by Alexandra Dirk teaches how to make a range of unique containers that can be made in endless variations by simply altering the color or pattern of paper used to create them. (736.982 D599o)

These and many other crafting books are available for your use in our Nonfiction section (both Adult and Juvenile).  

Going "Off the Beaten Path"

     A lot of people enjoy traveling in the fall. I can't really blame them--the weather is cooler, you can usually find a harvest festival or two, and gas tends to be less expensive. If you're tired of the same ol' restaurants, museums, and festivals; why not check out the "Off the Beaten Path" series of travel books? These guides to the out-of-the-way and unique places in each state may inspire you to go somewhere just a bit different. They also offer tidbits and trivia about each state. Our newest additions to this series are: Kentucky, Mississippi, and Montana.

     The Bluegrass State of Kentucky has tons of natural wonders as well as man-made entertainment. Into horse racing? Visit Lexington which has the Kentucky Horse Park where you can see all kinds of horses; from thoroughbreds to rare breeds. If your sensibilities lean more toward the artistic; why not visit the park's International Museum of the Horse? It boasts fascinating exhibits from around the globe. Or you can visit the second oldest harness-racing track in the United States--the Red Mile Harness Track--and watch a race or two. Not really into horse-racing? Kentucky has more than 1,500 miles of marked hiking trails. A little more adventurous? Spelunk a lighted cave at Carter Caves State Resort Park in Olive Hill, Kentucky. You can view the world's largest know collection of ventriloquist figures at Vent Haven in Fort Mitchell. Why not go to Benton and check out the festivities leading up to Tater Day--the first Monday in April--which celebrates the glory of the sweet potato? You can cheer for your favorite kilt-sporting competitors at the Highland Games and Gathering of Scottish Clans in Glascow. (Kentucky, that is!)

     Did you know that, based on income tax returns documenting charitable donations, Mississippians are the most generous citizens in the United States? This is just one of the bits of Magnolia State trivia you'll pick up when you check out "Off the Beaten Path: Mississippi." Gaze at the multi-million-dollar collection of antique, rare, and celebrity vehicles on display at the Tupelo Automobile Museum. You can also "ooh" and "ahh" at the colorful balloons that fill the sky over Natchez during the annual Great Mississippi River Balloon Race in October. Visiting Biloxi? Swing by the Hurricane Katrina Memorial which stands watch over Biloxi's Town Green off US 90. The memorial stands 12 feet tall which is approximately the same height reached by the water at the Town Green during Katrina's storm surge. Take some time and follow The Mississippi Blues Trail--"a series of historical markers that combine words and images to tell the story of the blues, America's only original music." Mississippi also boasts a great many natural wonders. Black Creek, the state's only National Wild and Scenic River flows through three counties in southern Mississippi. Why not rent a canoe or camp along its banks? Or you could get in your car and hop on the Natchez Trace Parkway which runs from Natchez through Jackson and up through Tupelo in the northeastern part of the state.

     Montana is known as the Treasure State; and it's no wonder. It boasts wide open spaces and towering mountains along with beautiful wildlife. Did you know that there are five varieties of falcons that call Montana home: the prairie falcon, peregrine falcon, kestrel, merlin, and the gyrfalcon. Why not visit the Medicine Lake National Wildlife Refuge which is located a mile south of the town of Medicine Lake? The northern portion of Yellowstone National Park is located in Montana. You can take a three-hour excursion on the Charlie Russell Chew Choo dinner train that departs from the Kingston Junction depot or you can marvel at Bill Holt's incredible collection of celebrity cowboy boots in Lolo. Stay at the magnificent Toad Hall Manor and attend the annual Evel Knievel Days in Butte. Bozeman has the American Computer Museum and the Museum of the Rockies. It also hosts the Sweet Pea Festival in early August and the Bridger Raptor Festival in early October.

These three travel books and more are available for check-out from the library. Enjoy!

Halloween is here!

We've reached the end of October and what better way to enjoy it than a few stories to go with the season?

Here are a few suggestions :

Easy Reader

• A Ghost in the Toy Box by Fay Robinson
• The Haunted Hamburger and Other Ghostly Stories by David LaRochelle
• Pup and Hound Scare a Ghost by Susan Hood
• Spooky and the Ghost Cat by Natalie Savage Carlson
• Whooo's Haunting the Teeny Tiny Ghost? by Kay Winters

Juvenile

• The Berenstain Bears and the Galloping Ghost by Stan Berenstain
• Cowboy Ghost by Robert Newton Peck
• Jeffrey's Ghost and the Fifth-Grade Dragon by David Adler
• Never Hit a Ghost, With a Baseball Bat by Eth Clifford
• The Tightwad's Curse and Other Pleasantly Chilling Stories by Margret Rettich

Young Adult

• Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake
• The Ghosts of Kerfol by Deborah Noyes
• Lights Out by R.L. Stine
• Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
• The Revenant by Sonia Gensler

Adult

• A Catered Halloween by Isis Crawford
• Death of a Neighborhood Witch by Laura Levine
• The Ghost and the Dead Deb by Alice Kimberly
• The Sin Eater by Sarah Rayne
• Vampires, Bones and Treacle Scones by Kaitlyn Dunnett

Horror and Fantasy Titles for Halloween

     It’s almost Halloween and I thought it would be a good idea to highlight some Spooky Reads! There are many different types of scary stories. Some are horror, some are fantasy or science fiction; and others are combinations of all of these. These kinds of stories may be terrifying, weird, or even funny. I’ve tried to list a sampling of books that would appeal to different readers, so, please enjoy!

Classic Horror Stories and Writers

• The House of Seven Gables by Nathaniel Hawthorne
• The Case of Charles Dexter Ward by H. P. Lovecraft (again, anything from Lovecraft)
• Bartlby the Scrivner by Herman Melville
• The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe (really, just about anything from Poe)
• Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
• The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
• Dracula by Bram Stoker                  

More Contemporary Horror Writers and Novels

•  The Hellbound Heart by Clive Barker
• The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
• Under the Dome by Stephen King
• Odd Thomas by Dean Koontz
• The Haunted by Bentley Little
• Figures of Fear by Graham Masterton
• Queen of the Damned by Anne Rice
• Perfect Nightmare by John Saul 

Urban Fantasy Series and Authors

• Vampire Huntress Legend by L. A. Banks
• Vampire Queen Betsy Taylor Series by MaryJanice Davidson
• The Otherworld Novels by Yasmine Galenorn
• Anita Blake Series by Laurel Hamilton
• Sookie Stackhouse Series by Charlaine Harris
• Dark Hunter Novels by Sherrilyn Kenyon
• The Black Dagger Brotherhood by J. R. Ward
• Novels of Count Saint-Germain by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro

Zombie Fiction (Just for the Heck of It!)

• Death Warmed Over: Dan Shamble, Zombie P.I. by Kevin J. Anderson
• I Saw Zombies Eating Santa Clause by Scott G. Brown
• Severed Souls by Terry Goodkind
• Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Seth Grahame-Smith
• Zombie Island: a Shakespeare Undead Novel by Lori Handeland
• Apocalypse Cow by Michael Logan
• Strands of Sorrow by John Ringo

Inter-library Loan services are available to our patrons

Is there a book you've been wanting to read that isn't a part of our library's collection?  We can request that book for you from one of the many libraries associated with us.

To request a book, you must have a current library card with Warren County-Vicksburg Public Library that is in good standing.  Simply request a blue Materials Request card from either the Circulation Desk or the Reference Desk, then fill out the information and hand it back in.  As multiple books can have the same title, the name of the author is required to assure we will request the book that you want.

Please note that only physical books are available through this service (no audio books, CDs, DVDs or videos) and that not all titles might be available for loan. However, we have a very good history of being able to borrow books from other libraries for our patrons use.  It will take between one to six weeks to receive a book through the system if it is available.

When using our inter-library loan service, please keep the following in mind:

• Books that have been released within the previous six months cannot be requested through inter-library loan.  Most libraries keep new books in-house for the first six months to a year to allow their own patrons the opportunity to check them out first.
• Books borrowed from another library are sent by mail.  While most titles that are available will come within two weeks, it can take up to six weeks for a request to be fulfilled depending on availability of the item and distance.
• Books will have a wrapper on them that has the due date of the material on it.  These must remain on the books.  The due date will depend on the lending library's policy and will therefore vary by case. Inter-library loans cannot be extended past their due date.
• Inter-library books must be signed for and, when returned, taken to the Circulation Desk.  Never put an inter-library loan book in any of our drop boxes.

Can Ghosts Commit Murder?

     Sheriff Dan Rhodes has learned to put up with a lot from the folks of Blacklin County, Texas; not to mention the barrage of teasing and gossip he gets from his dispatcher, Hack, and his jailer, Lawton. Rhodes handles everything with a cool head and a good bit of compassion. Although, Rhodes is not what you would imagine when you think of a Texas sheriff. He doesn't wear a cowboy hat or boots; there isn't a six shooter strapped to his hip. In fact, he prefers the Kel-Tec he keeps in his ankle holster.
   Rhodes is a very logical and methodical investigator, so when Hack calls him in the middle of the night to back up Deputy Ruth Grady who is on a "shots fired" call at the local haunted house, Rhodes doesn't give it a second thought. After sloshing through the rain to the back of the house, he and Ruth find Neil Foshee, local meth dealer, face-down in one of the rooms. A cursory search doesn't turn up much else. The suspect list includes Neil's former girlfriend, Vicki, who happens to be friends with Rhodes's wife. There is also the nephew of Clearview's mayor, as well as Neil's partners in crime, his cousins Earl and Louie.
     Complicating his investigation is the fact that the house is said to be haunted. The former owner--a  man named Moore who also taught at the local high school--died in the house of a heart attack nearly forty years ago. (The house has remained empty since the owner's death; with only local drug dealers and vandals daring to venture inside.) By all accounts Moore was a bully of a teacher and he would use a BB gun to kill any animals that came onto his property.  Rhodes doesn't believe in ghosts, but his "friend" Seepy Benton, the community college math professor who fancies himself an unofficial investigator for the sheriff's department, does. Though Rhodes himself has had some creepy feelings of being watched while visiting the house, Rhodes is still a skeptic.
    Many folks--Hack and Lawton included--believe that the ghost has something to do with Neil's death. After the scene of Neil's death has been cleared, Benton wants Sheriff Rhodes to let them investigate the house. Knowing he won't have any peace until he lets the professor look around, Rhodes takes Benton and his partner through the house and they find a skeleton in a closet in the attic--a room Rhodes neglected to clear the night of the murder. Whoever the woman was--Benton can tell from the shape of the pelvic bones--Rhodes can see from the skull fracture that she must have been murdered or at least fallen and hit her head on something hard. But then, how did she get into the closet in the attic where she was found?
     On top of these two bodies, Rhodes has to deal with copper thieves, a runaway bull, a county commissioner who wants to arm the sheriff's department for WWIII, and the rest of the characters that occupy Blacklin County. What is a small town sheriff to do?