New Large Print Westerns

Winter Counts is a groundbreaking thriller from David Heska Wanbli Weiden about "a vigilante on a Native American reservation who embarks on a dangerous mission to track down the source of a heroin influx. Virgil Wounded Horse is the local enforcer on the Rosebud Indian Reservation in South Dakota.  When justice is denied by the American legal system or the tribal council, Virgil is hired to deliver his own punishment, the kind that’s hard to forget. But when heroin makes its way into the reservation and finds Virgil’s nephew, his vigilantism suddenly becomes personal. He enlists the help of his ex-girlfriend and sets out to learn where the drugs are coming from, and how to make them stop. They follow a lead to Denver and find that drug cartels are rapidly expanding and forming new and terrifying alliances. And back on the reservation, a new tribal council initiative raises uncomfortable questions about money and power. As Virgil starts to link the pieces together, he must face his own demons and reclaim his Native identity. He realizes that being a Native American in the twenty-first century comes at an incredible cost." (from Amazon.com)

The new novel in the beloved New York Times bestselling Longmire series by Craig Johnson is called Next to Last Stand. One of the most viewed paintings in American history, Custer's Last Fight, copied and distributed by Anheuser-Busch at a rate of over two million copies a year, was destroyed in a fire at the 7th Cavalry Headquarters in Fort Bliss, Texas, in 1946. Or was it? When Charley Lee Stillwater dies of an apparent heart attack at the Wyoming Home for Soldiers & Sailors, Walt Longmire is called in to try and make sense of a piece of a painting and a Florsheim shoebox containing a million dollars, sending the good sheriff on the trail of a dangerous art heist." (from Amazon.com)

The latest Aaron Mackey western by Terrence McCauley is called The Dark Sunrise. U.S. Marshal Aaron Mackey and his steadfast deputy Billy Sunday are more than ready to see crime boss James Grant and his murderous cronies stand trial for the mayhem and suffering they have wrought upon the citizens of Dover Station, Montana. With Montana’s statehood fast approaching, cruel and murderous men like Grant can no longer be tolerated in positions of power. Unfortunately, the bigwigs in Helena follow their own set of laws and allow Grant to go free. They also give peacekeeping authority to Colonel Nathan Rigg, Mackey’s former commanding officer during the war. Rigg is just as sadistic and bloodthirsty as Grant, but it seems that Helena’s leaders prefer to keep killers like these under their thumbs, but Mackey and Billy know there is no controlling these monsters and they may just have to appoint themselves judge, jury, and executioners. 

The latest Slash and Pecos Western by William W. Johnstone and J.A. Johnstone is A Good Day for a Massacre. For Jimmy “Slash” Braddock and Melvin “the Pecos River Kid” Baker, life on the straight and narrow is not always easy, but they are determined to make an honest go of it. Their sometime employer, U.S. Marshal Bledsoe, asks them to pick up a shipment of gold from a mining town in the Sawatch Range. A ruthless gang has other ideas for that gold, however, and they ambush Slash and Pecos. Not ones to back down from a fight, the two reprobates go after the bandits and they have a little extra help. A lady Pinkerton named Hatty Friendly—though she’s anything but—is also determined to recover the gold, even if that means teaming up with these two ornery old coots. 

In Luck and a Horse: A Western Duo by Max Brand, both stories center on cowardice. The titular character in “Traynor” is thought by everyone to be weak because he let Dr. Parker Channing steal his love, Rose Laymon, away from him. When the stage he is driving is robbed and his best friend and stage guard, Sam Whitney, is killed, Traynor chases the thief and recovers the man’s dropped Stetson, which was sold to Dr. Channing less than a month earlier. Traynor confronts Channing and the man takes off, but Traynor gives chase even with his physical weakness threatening to overwhelm him. In “Luck and a Horse,” Tommy Grant works on the farm of tyrant and master manipulator Sylvester Train—who hasn’t paid Tommy in nineteen months. Tommy balks when Train orders him to use his horse, Brownie, to plow. Instead, Tommy is sent to Fruit Dale with two wagons of grain and a shopping list. Tommy finds himself in a back room of the saloon playing cards with jailbird Bert Ellis who is in the sites of gunslinger Lefty Lew Hilton. When Ellis is shot in the middle of the poker game, Tommy finds himself on the run from a hundred posse men who have mistaken him as the killer. 

In Celebration of Earth Day and National Arbor Day

Simon Winchester, the author of The Professor and the Madman, The Map That Changed the World, and The Perfectionists, explores the notion of property—bought, earned, or received; in Europe, Africa, North America, or the South Pacific—through human history, how it has shaped us and what it will mean for our future. Land—whether meadow or mountainside, desert or peat bog, parkland or pasture, suburb or city—is central to our existence. It quite literally underlies and underpins everything. Employing the keen intellect, insatiable curiosity, and narrative verve that are the foundations of his previous bestselling works, Simon Winchester examines what we human beings are doing—and have done—with the billions of acres that together make up the solid surface of our planet. Land: How the Hunger for Ownership Shaped the Modern World examines in depth how we acquire land, how we steward it, how and why we fight over it, and finally, how we can, and on occasion do, come to share it. Ultimately, Winchester confronts the essential question: who actually owns the world’s land—and why does it matter? (from Amazon.com)

In this impressive anthology, Natalie Baszile brings together essays, poems, photographs, quotes, conversations, and first-person stories to examine black people’s connection to the American land from Emancipation to today. In the 1920s, there were over one million black farmers; today there are just 45,000. Baszile explores this crisis, through the farmers’ personal experiences. In their own words, middle aged and elderly black farmers explain why they continue to farm despite systemic discrimination and land loss. The "Returning Generation"—young farmers, who are building upon the legacy of their ancestors, talk about the challenges they face as they seek to redress issues of food justice, food sovereignty, and reparations. These farmers are joined by other influential voices, including noted historians Analena Hope Hassberg and Pete Daniel, and award-winning author Clyde W. Ford, who considers the arrival of Africans to American shores; and James Beard Award-winning writers and Michael Twitty, reflects on black culinary tradition and its African roots. Poetry and inspirational quotes are woven into these diverse narratives, adding richness and texture, as well as stunning four-color photographs from photographers Alison Gootee and Malcom Williams, and Baszile’s personal collection. As Baszile reveals, black farming informs crucial aspects of American culture—the family, the way our national identity is bound up with the land, the pull of memory, the healing power of food, and race relations. She reminds us that the land, well-earned and fiercely protected, transcends history and signifies a home that can be tended, tilled, and passed to succeeding generations with pride. We Are Each Other’s Harvest elevates the voices and stories of black farmers and people of color, celebrating their perseverance and resilience, while spotlighting the challenges they continue to face. Luminous and eye-opening, this eclectic collection helps people and communities of color today reimagine what it means to be dedicated to the soil. (from Amazon.com)

Darwin's Most wonderful Plants: Darwin's Botany Today is by Ken Thompson. Most of us think of Darwin at work on The HMS Beagle, taking inspiration for his theory of evolution from his travels in the Galapagos. But Darwin published his Origin of Species nearly thirty years after his voyages and most of his labours in that time were focused on experimenting with and observing plants at his house in Kent. He was particularly interested in carnivorous and climbing plants, and in pollination and the evolution of flowers. Ken Thompson sees Darwin as a brilliant and revolutionary botanist, whose observations and theories were far ahead of his time - and are often only now being confirmed and extended by high-tech modern research. Like Darwin, he is fascinated and amazed by the powers of plants - particularly their Triffid-like aspects of movement, hunting and 'plant intelligence'. This is a much needed book that re-establishes Darwin as a pioneering botanist, whose close observations of plants were crucial to his theories of evolution. (from Amazon.com)

Acadia Tucker’s long love affair with perennial foods has produced this easy-to-understand guide to growing and harvesting them. A regenerative farmer who is deeply concerned about global warming, Tucker believes there may be no better time to plant these hardy crops. Perennials can weather climate extremes, promote healthy soil, mitigate drought conditions, and thrive without chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Many can be harvested year round. They taste good, pack lots of nutrients, and require little tending. In short, the world is a better place with more perennials in it and this book intends to get us there. Tucker inspires action by first laying the groundwork for tending an organic, regenerative garden. She highlights the 10 steps she recommends gardeners take to help perennial foods thrive. But most of the book is dedicated to profiles of popular perennial herbs, fruit, and vegetables, with explicit instructions on how to plant, grow, and harvest them. Tucker also offers suggestions on how to store and preserve perennials. Growing Perennial Foods is illustrated with dozens of pen & ink drawings and ends with a short chapter on frequently asked questions. And since this is a field guide, each profile gives readers enough space to write in any additional notes. While designed for gardening novices, this book is also for experienced gardeners who want to grow more resilient crops, and could use a little guidance. (from Amazon.com)

April is National Poetry Month

 

What is National Poetry Month?

Launched by the Academy of American Poets in April 1996, National Poetry Month reminds the public that poets have an integral role to play in our culture and that poetry matters. Over the years, it has become the largest literary celebration in the world, with tens of millions of readers, students, K–12 teachers, librarians, booksellers, literary events curators, publishers, families, and, of course, poets, marking poetry's important place in our lives. In 2021, the Academy of American Poets looks forward to celebrating the twenty-fifth anniversary of this annual celebration!

 

National Library Week--April 4-10

This #NationalLibraryWeek, check out something from your library’s digital collection like ebooks, movies, free classes, and so much more! Visit http://wcvpl.biblionix.com.

The library has something for everyone! During #NationalLibraryWeek, visit your library online or in person to find everything from audiobooks and virtual story-times to new technology and résumé help. Visit our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/WCVPLibrary

LIBRARIES TRANSFORM (Fun Library Stats)

Libraries strengthen local economies.

• 84% of libraries offer technology training to patrons in computer software use;
• 76.8% of libraries provide online health resources and 60% offer programs to help Americans identify health insurance resources and get better informed on health topics;
• 73.1% of libraries provide programs that assist individuals apply for jobs, create resumes, and prepare for interviews;
• 97% of libraries help people complete online government forms.

Libraries create healthier communities.

• 77% of libraries offer online health resources.
• 59% provide programs on finding health insurance.
• 58% provide programs to help people find and evaluate health information.
• 23% offer fitness classes.

Libraries are the place for lifelong learning.

• 95% provide online homework assistance.
• 95% offer summer reading programs for children.

Library access equals opportunity.

• 100% of public libraries offer access to the Internet.
• 98% of public libraries offer free Wifi.
• 90% help patrons with basic Internet skills.
• 97% help people complete online government forms.
• 9 out of 10 libraries offer access to e-books.

Sources:

Bertot, J.C., Real, B., Lee, J., McDermott, A.J., & Jaeger, P.T. (201). 2014 Digital

Inclusion Survey: Findings and Results. College Park, MD: Information Policy & Access

Center, University of Maryland College Park. Available at http://digitalinclusion.umd.edu/. 

http://digitalinclusion.umd.edu/sites/default/files/uploads/2014DigitalInclusionSurveyFinal

Release.pdf

http://www.ala.org/tools/research/digitalinclusion

Hoppy Easter! New (and Old) Children's Titles

 5-Minute Easter Stories is from Disney Press. "Each of the twelve stories in this collection is the perfect length for reading aloud in about five minutes. The treasury stars beloved characters from the Disney Bunnies and Winnie the Pooh to Monsters, Inc., and Cinderella. With stories about spring-time fun or Easter Egg hunts, every story may be read before bedtime, at story time, or anytime"--Amazon.com. 

Inspire both excitement and reverence for the Easter holiday in this colorful picture book--How to Celebrate Easter: Holiday Traditions, Rituals, and Rules in a Delightful Story--by P.K. Hallinan. "Brightly illustrated in beautiful spring colors, P. K. Hallinan takes the reader from the early discovery of an Easter basket through a quick search for eggs. Then it’s time to jump into brand-new Easter outfits and join the neighbors for church. After church, it’s back outside for games and then home to reflect on the wonderful day. Each joyful activity is brimming with the heart-stirring warmth associated with all of P. K. Hallinan’s children’s books. As always, Hallinan is careful to make fitting transitions from reverie to reverence—he delicately encourages respect for the Easter message, subtly exploring the hope that this favorite holiday brings. Parents have come to expect their children to identify with P. K. Hallinan’s lovable, familiar characters, and they may once again in this delightful look at Easter through a child’s eyes." (from Amazon.com)

Tina Gallo adapts Charles Schultz's Peanuts characters in No Rest for the Easter Beagle. "Get ready for Easter with Snoopy and the Peanuts gang in this special Level 2 Ready-to-Read! It’s almost Easter and Snoopy is exhausted! He still has lots of eggs to color and hide. When Lucy recommends that the Easter Beagle take a break, it’s up to the Peanuts Gang to color and hide all the eggs. Everyone wants to help, but are they up to the task?" (from Amazon.com)

Author Eric James pens a fun Easter Tale with Tiny the Mississippi Easter Bunny.

It's Easter morning in Mississippi,

and Tiny is out for a jog,

but he STOPS in his tracks and discovers

the Easter Bunny STUCK in a log!

"With the Easter Bunny trapped, it's up to Tiny to save Easter in Mississippi! But being a bunny isn't as easy as it looks, especially for an elephant. In this fun and playful story, find out how Tiny uses his own special talents to save Easter!" (from Amazon.com)

Remember, the library will be open the Friday before and the Monday after Easter.

New Biographies for Women's History Month

Grammy-winning artist Alicia Keys lays her life bare in More Myself: A Journey. Since Alicia rose to fame, her public persona has contradicted a deep personal truth: she has spent years trying to please others without realizing or honoring her own worth. She started asking questions of herself after holding back for so long: Who am I really? How can I become brave enough to embrace the answer? Part autobiography, part narrative journey, Alicia’s true self is revealed not only through her discoveries, but through the observations of those closest to her. From her girlhood in Hell’s Kitchen and Harlem to the process of growth and self-discovery that almost everyone goes through, this is a complete look at the beautiful soul and talented spirit of Alicia Keys.

Eleanor--the biography of Eleanor Roosevelt written by David Michaelis--is the first cradle-to-grave, single-volume biography of this major American figure in decades. She was the longest serving First Lady, her husband’s surrogate during his governorship and presidency, a humanitarian, activist, and after FDR’s death, a diplomat. Eleanor Roosevelt is one of the most influential and widely admired American women of all time. She was the orphaned niece of President Theodore Roosevelt and converted her Gilded Age childhood of denial and secrecy into an irreconcilable marriage with her ambitious fifth cousin Franklin. Despite not being able to make one another happy, Franklin transformed Eleanor from a settlement house volunteer on New York’s Lower East Side into his partner in the most important power couple in a generation. When she discovered his infidelity with her younger, prettier social secretary, Eleanor offered a divorce and vowed to face herself honestly. She accepted FDR’s relationship with his executive assistant, and she allowed her children to live their own lives, as she never could. She needed emotional connection, so she pursued deeper relationships wherever she could find them. Throughout her life and travels, there was always another person or place she wanted to heal. Eleanor became a voice for the voiceless and a champion for international human rights.

           

Dolly Parton, Songteller: My Life in Lyrics by Dolly Parton is a celebration of her remarkable life and career in both country music and pop culture. Written in her own down-home words, readers get to hear and explore the songs that defined her journey of stardom. For over 60 years, Dolly has written songs and this work highlights 175 of them and gives listeners the story behind the lyrics. There are personal stories, candid insights, and a myriad of memories shared with the listener. You will learn the history behind classic songs like “Jolene,” “9 to 5,” and “I Will Always Love You.” Dolly is an undisputable icon across generations, genders, and social and international borders. If you are a Dolly Parton fan, lover of country music or music history, then this is a good choice for you. (Available in Audio CD)

Newly elected Vice President Kamala Harris has a new memoir with The Truths We Hold: An American Journey. Covering her life from her upbringing in Oakland, California through her time as a United States Senator, this book seeks to point out the core truths that unite us all and how we can act upon them. Kamala Harris is the daughter of immigrants and civil rights activists who was raised in a community the deeply cared about social justice. Her experiences as she rose to notoriety in the political sphere would become her foundation as she grappled with an array of complex issues and brought a voice to those who had none. In this book, she endeavors to deal with the big challenges that we face together. She draws on her own experience as well as the work of those who have most inspired her to articulate a vision of shared struggle, shared purpose, and shared values as we face the challenges of our times.

Happy Irish-American History Month & St. Patrick's Day

 

Saying Goodbye to Local Historian

Gordon Cotton was an invaluable member of the Vicksburg community. He was an author, educator, and historian whose works helped to tell the story of Vicksburg and the area. The library has many of his works available for checkout:

·         Of prim­i­tive ­faith and order: a his­to­ry of the Mis­sis­sip­pi Prim­i­tive Bap­tist Church, 1780-1974

·         A history of the Waterways Experiment Station, 1929-1979

·         Asbury : a history      

·         Vicksburg: ­Southern Stories of the Siege

·         Vicksburg and the war

·         Yankee Bullets, Rebel Rations

·         From the pen of a she-rebel: the Civil War diary of Emilie Riley McKinley           

·         15 China and other tales

·         Like a hideous night­mare: Vicksburg ­women remember the horrors or the Civil War     

·         Vicksburg       

·         Vicksburg: Town and Country

Vicksburg under glass: a collection of early photographs from the glass negatives of J. Mack­ Moore

Don't Forget About Our Digital Resources

 

And don't forget that you can watch a weekly story time on our Facebook page at:

https://www.facebook.com/WCVPLibrary

More African American Fiction

 

Yellow Wife is a novel by Sadeqa Johnson. Pheby Delores Brown was born on a plantation in Charles City, Virginia and lives a sheltered life. She is shielded by her mother’s position as the estate’s medicine woman and is cherished by the Master’s sister. This sets her apart from the others on the plantation, belonging to neither the white nor the black world. She was promised freedom on her eighteenth birthday, but instead of the idyllic life she had imagined with her true love, she is forced to leave the only home she has ever known. Pheby unexpectedly finds herself thrust into the vileness of slavery at the infamous Devil’s Half Acre, a jail in Richmond where the enslaved are broken, tortured, and sold on a daily basis. There she is not only exposed to her jailer’s cruelty, but also to his contradictions. If Pheby wants to survive, she’ll have to outwit him, even if it means making the ultimate sacrifice.

Luster is the debut novel of writer Raven Leilani. Edie is like most people in their twenties—listlessly going through life, clocking in and out of her admin job, and making a series of questionable sexual choices. She occasionally gives heat and air to the art that is burning inside of her. Edie then meets Eric, a digital archivist with a family in New Jersey. Eric’s wife has agreed to an open marriage—with rules. When Edie finds herself unemployed, she receives an invitation to Eric’s home, but not by Eric. She becomes an uneasy ally to Eric’s wife and a de facto role model to his adopted daughter. This is a haunting depiction of how hard it is to believe in your own self-worth and of the unexpected influences that help us to become ourselves.

Fifty Words for Rain is a novel by Asha Lemmie. Eight-year-old Noriko “Nori” Kamiza’s first lesson is this: “Do not question, do not fight, do not resist.” She is the product of her married mother’s affair with an African American GI and, as such, considered a pariah to her aristocratic grandparents.  So, Nori will not question why her mother abandoned her with only these final words. She will not fight her confinement to the attic of her grandparents’ imperial estate. And she will not resist the scalding chemical baths she receives daily to lighten her skin tone. Obedient to a fault, Nori accepts her solitary life despite her natural curiosity and intellect. That changes, however, when her older half-brother Akira comes to the estate that is his inheritance and destiny, Nori finds in him an unlikely ally with whom she forms a powerful bond. Their formidable grandparents cannot allow this bond, however, because it will forever change the lives they were meant to lead. But now that Nori has had a taste of a world in which there is actually a place for her, she is ready to fight to be a part of it—even if it costs her everything.

Butterfly: Book 3 is by Ashley Antoinette."The hardest thing Morgan Atkins has ever done is let go of love. After losing Messiah, she never thought she’d find someone who understood her again. Until she reunited with Ahmeek Harris and their friendship quickly transformed into something deeper, but there was one problem... she was engaged to a man she didn’t love and he’s holding a deadly secret over her head. If that wasn’t enough, her long lost love Messiah returned to claim her as his own. Three men plus one woman equals inevitable heartbreak. Morgan wants to follow her heart and take the risk of a lifetime, but she risks destroying her family in the process. Will Morgan enter a loveless marriage? Or will Messiah and Ahmeek fix their brotherhood and work together to save the woman they both love?" (from Amazon.com)