What If . . .

Actress/activist/best-selling author Shirley MacLaine is back with her fourteenth book, What If . . . A Lifetime of Questions, Speculations, Reasonable Guesses, and a Few Things I Know For Sure.

In her own unique style, MacLaine explores a variety of topics.  Some of the segments (there aren't any chapters) are only one page with one question, leaving the filling in of the blanks to the reader. For instance, 'What if evolution itself is speeding up?'

With other questions, she spins her own thoughts on everything from 'What if we really don't understand love?' and 'What if Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis hadn't broken up?' to more personal ones like 'What if my memory is going?'.

At 264 pages, the book is a fairly quick read, but one that can leave you pondering some of the more serious questions long after you finish.

The Days of Anna Madrigal

You might have grown up like me, reading the the nine-volume Tales of the City series written by Armistead Maupin.  The books began in 1976 as a serial story in a San Francisco newspaper and the first three books (Tales of the City, More Tales of the City and Further Tales of the City) were made into a television miniseries starring Olympia Dukakis and Laura Linney.  One of Maupin's other books, The Night Listener was also made into a film starring Robin Williams and Toni Collette and a stage-musical version of Tales of the City premiered at San Francisco's American Conservancy Theater in May 2011.  The Tales of the City books discuss the stories of several inhabitants of an apartment building in San Francisco, run by the beloved and fabulous Anna Madrigal.  In the latest book in the series, The Days of Anna Madrigal, Anna is 92 and committed to the notion of "leaving like a lady."  Mrs. Madrigal

has found peace with her "family of choice" and is patiently living her life.  Some members of Anna's chosen family are traveling to Burning Man, the art community in Nevada's Black Rock Desert where 60,000 revelers gather to construct a city designed to last only one week, and want her to travel with them, but she has another destination in mind--Winnemucca, Nevada, her Depression-era childhood home.  Anna hopes to attend to some unfinished business before she gracefully lives out her life, and face some demons she has long avoided. If you wish to read the series, you must start from the beginning, because the each book begins where the last one ends.  Armistead Maupin was the 2012 recipient of the Lambda Literary Foundation's Pioneer Award, and may be contacted at www. armisteadmaupin.com or at www.facebook.com/ArmisteadMaupinAuthor.

Fifth Grave Past the Light

One of my favorite heroines is at it again as she stars in her latest book, Fifth Grave Past the Light by Darynda Jones.  Charley Davidson is the grim reaper---but she's not just your normal, everyday grim reaper.  Charley is a tough, private investigator who sees dead people, solves crimes, and serves as a portal through which dead folks pass through her to reach "the other side."  Her only real problem in life is her attraction to sexy, sultry Reyes Farrow, the son of Satan, who has moved into the apartment next to hers!  Reyes is the main suspect in Charley's unsolved arson case and with the the help of her police detective Uncle Bob, she vows to solve the arson case and clear Reyes' name.  The investigation is at a standstill until Charley opens her apartment door one day and finds 27 dead blonde women hovering around.

Charley deduces that the dead women have been murdered by a serial killer and when Charley realizes her own sister, Gemma, is a target, she is forced to ask Reyes for his help in solving the case.  Reyes agrees to help Charley but at a price...he wants all of her, body and soul.  Is that too big of a price for Charley to pay?  This novel is fast-paced and humorous and has just a few paranormal elements.  I suggest reading this series in order, as the characters grow with each book and the stories build on previous events.  Darynda Jones won a Golden Heart and a RITA for her first novel in the Charley Davidson series, First Grave on the Right. She lives in New Mexico with her husband and two beautiful sons and can be reached on the Internet at www.daryndajones.com.

For Your Little Fashionista

I stumbled across the sweetest blog today!  It's all about a 4 year old girl (Mayhem) that likes to make paper dresses with her mom (Angie).  Now, you might think that these are just plain, simple frocks---but you'd be wrong!  This little girl likes to look at pictures of dresses from award shows, project runway, Hollywood galas and other events and helps her mom recreate

them from construction paper, toile, tinfoil, sheets and other pliable materials, fastened together with clear tape and glue.  Take a look at http://instagram.com/2sisters_angie and see for yourself how extraordinary these dresses are!  I love the creative talent of both the mom and the daughter.  I learned about the blog from an article located here http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/02/26/4-year-old-paper-dresses-fashion-by-mayhem_n_4855545.html?utm_hp_ref=fb&src=sp&comm_ref=false.  Do you have your own fashionista?  The library has several books to help her create her own stylish outfits!  Cute Clothes for the Crafty Fashionista by Tina Dybvik and Stylish Shoes for the Crafty Fashionista by Mary Meiniking.  These two books describe how to make cute new clothes from repurposed items and are the perfect way to spend an afternoon designing clothes with your fashion conscious girl!

The Lone Ranger and...Johnny Depp Being Weird

I just finished watching "The Lone Ranger" with Armie Hammer as the titular character and Johnny Depp as his sidekick, Tonto. (Although, to be fair, in this movie, Tonto is more a partner than a sidekick.) I was a little apprehensive about watching this movie because it got so many bad reviews, but I checked it out anyway. I have to admit that I was pleasantly surprised.Keep in mind that this is not your grandparents' version of the Lone Ranger. The story is dark at times, yet, there is a bit of humor and a lot of action.

The story is presented as a flashback and the movie opens in the 1930's with a young boy dressed as the Lone Ranger at a fair. He enters the exhibit for the Wild West and finds himself in front of a display with a native American standing in the desert. Thinking it's just a display, the boy takes off his mask and that is when the man with a dead crow on his headdress speaks. "Never take off the mask," he tells the child. And with that, he proceeds to tell the story of how the Lone Ranger came to be and how Tonto became his friend and accomplice.

The movie tended to drag in a couple of places, but once you got to the action sequences, the story progressed a great deal more and was fun to watch. This movie isn't for little children; the action got quite violent in some places. My favorite character was Silver, the noble (I use the term loosely) steed. At one point, the horse winds up in a tree wearing the Lone Ranger's hat. Over all, I quite liked this movie and if you like a little mindless entertainment every now and then; you may like it as well. I did get tired of Tonto feeding the dead bird on his headdress,but, frankly, I just think that was Johnny Depp being weird. Remember Edward Scissorhands, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Alice in Wonderland? If you want a movie with some humor and a lot of shoot-em-up action, then this might be a good choice for you.

Takedown Twenty!

Janet Evanovich's latest book in her Stephanie Plum series, Takedown Twenty, is another hilarious entry in a very entertaining series!  New Jersey bounty hunter Plum understands the value of family, but her "back is up against the wall" when her job requires her to apprehend mobster Salvatore "Uncle Sunny" Sunucchi.  He has been charged with murder for running over a guy (twice) and no one in Trenton wants to turn him in!  Besides hiding out at various rental properties, girlfriends' houses, and private clubs, Uncle Sunny even takes turns spending the night with the parents of his godson, Stephanie's almost-fiance', cop Joe Morelli. Other than hunting down Uncle Sunny and evading being shot or thrown off a bridge by his bodyguards, security specialist (and hottie) Ranger enlists Stephanie's help in solving the bizarre death of the mother of one of his client's, who plays bingo with Stephanie's Grandma Mazur.  Mix in a giraffe who keeps appearing to Lula and Stephanie on the streets of Trenton and you have the ingredients for another madcap adventure.  This title in the series has some very funny moments and Grandma Mazur is as zany as ever as she goes on dates with some of Trenton's most eligible Senior Citizen bachelor's.  Stephanie even considers changing jobs---and you'll never guess what she tries her hand at next.  It's best to start reading this series at the beginning (One for the Money is the first one) as the characters' stories build on each other throughout the series. Check out what Janet Evanovich is doing by visiting her website at www.evanovich.com, at Facebook/JanetEvanovich or by writing her at P.O. Box 2829, Naples, FL  34106.

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.