Gaiman's gods

(This blog entry was written by one of the library's patrons, Ashley N., who really enjoyed this book and wanted to share her opinion with you . Keep checking the blog for more entries by guest writers!)
American Gods is a novel about a man named Shadow, his unknown past, and his not so clear future. It’s filled with plenty of alliterations, flashbacks, and mystery. Written by Neil Gaiman, the book delves into the ancient world of mythology and the modern up-rise of technology. In the book, there is a war going on between the ancient gods and the progressive gods, as immigrants that came to America also brought forth their beliefs, cultures, and their gods. This book tells how these ancient gods came to be and how they’ve all but vanished in the modern world. These ancient gods are fading away because the people of America no longer believe, nor worship these gods. American people are more consumed with technology: computers, cell phone, and the internet. Meanwhile, Shadow is dealing with the loss of his wife and his best friend. His dead wife comes to visit him several times and Shadow tries to figure out the visions of his dreams. Mr. Wednesday, a very shady character, enters the book in order to offer a job to Shadow and together, they journey across America, visiting Wednesday’s “friends” and gathering support for his cause. This novel will take you into a world meshed between fantasy and fact. Which side will you take or will you be forgotten? Neil Gaiman is also the author of Stardust, Neverwhere, and the Sandman graphic novels. Check out his website at www.neilgaiman.com.

Shhh....it's a Grave Secret

I am a big fan of Charlaine Harris' Sookie Stackhouse "Southern Vampire Series." Even though that series (and the HBO series "True Blood" which is based on the books) has made Harris more popular, I am pleased to note that she is still writing new books in her "Harper Connelly series." The newest title is Grave Secrets, and the book traces the events of the lives of Harper Connelly and her stepbrother Tolliver. Harper and Tolliver are not related by blood-- Harper's mom and Tolliver's dad were married after Harper and Tolliver were born. Harper and Tolliver have a unique relationship, as they banded together to survive their horrible childhood with drug-addicted parents, struggling to attend school and work enough so that they could take care of their little sisters Gracie and Mariella. Harper was a normal girl, until she was struck by lightning--ever since then she has been able to "hear" the thoughts of dead people by standing on their graves and using her "extra sense" to learn their last thoughts before they died. This talent is especially helpful when it comes to finding murderers and other types of secrets. When Grave Secrets opens, Harper has been hired by a Texas rancher family to discover how the patriarch of the family died. The police were satisfied that it was an accident, but at least one of his children believes it could be foul play. When Harper puts her talents to work, she finds plenty of secrets in this Texas family, that eventually bleed into her own life and add to the mystery of her oldest sister's disappearance. I love the character development in this book! Harper and Tolliver are very "real" to me and I enjoy the "family developments" in the book, almost as much as the mystery. I have enjoyed watching Harper and Tolliver's relationship develop (you'll have to read the book to find out what happens) as well as the bits of their childhood experiences that Harris weaves into the story. This book is a great blend of suspense, action, romance and paranormal mystery that is a fast and easy read. Try it out this book, or one of the others in the series (Grave Secret, Grave Surpise, An Ice Cold Grave) and let us know if you like it!

Discover the writing of Glen Albert Ebisch

(This entry was written by Evangeline Cessna, who will soon be a regular contributor to this blog!)

What do the murders of three men in 1944 have to do with the murder of a farmer sixty years later? Perhaps nothing, but why the similarity to the earlier murders? This is exactly what Marcie Ducasse, assistant editor of Roaming New England magazine keeps asking herself. In the first two mysteries of this series, The Crying Girl and Grave Justice, editor Amanda Vickers leads and Marcie follows, however, author Glen Albert Edisch puts athletic, quick-witted Marcie front-and-center in his third mystery, Ghosts From the Past. Amanda is stuck in the office in Maine whle Marcie is "roaming" in Vermont looking for stories for the "Weird Happenings" section of the magazine. An elderly farmer has written to Marcie to tell her about the ghosts in his barn, as three men were hung there in 1944 during World War II, but back then no one could figure out how or why. When Marcie arrives at the farm, she immediately realizes that the elderly farmer, Sel Hayes, is a few bales shy of a load. Sel claims he has evidence to prove who killed the men sixty years ago, but he wants to be paid a great deal more than Marcie can offer. Back at her hotel, Marcie goes over her notes while preparing for dinner that she shares with a boyish freelance journalist named Kevin Murray. The next morning, Sel Hayes turns up dead and Marcie is questioned as she was the last person to see Sel alive. Marcie realizes that she and Kevin are working the same story, so they band together to investigate Sel's murder. By piecing together what happened sixty years ago, Marcie and Ken paint a picture of why Sel Hayes was killed, but the answer to who killed him eludes them until the very end. By putting the "ghosts from the past" to rest, they are able to figure out the present. I won't give away the ending, but I will say that this cozy little mystery is a fun and quick read. The characters are worth caring about and are multi-dimensional. Although it is not necessary to read the first two books in the series to understand the action, it would be worthwhile to do so. I sincerely hope the Ebisch continues this series and gives us more views into the lives of Amanda Vickers and Marcie Ducasse.

Get Seduced by Some Animal Magnetism

Many of you may be familiar with Rita Mae Brown's works. She writes several series and has written many stand-alone novels and non-fiction novels about the art of writing. The first is a popular cozy mystery series that she co-writes with her cat, Sneaky Pie Brown, starring Mary Minor Harristeen, Postmistress of Crozet, VA, and the second is a series starring octogenarian Sister Arnold, a Master of Foxhounds in her 70's. Several of the stand-alone novels hilariously describe the lives of two sisters who live in a town that straddles the Mason-Dixon line, and one is a historical fiction story about the life of Dolly Madison. Rita Mae Brown's most recent book is a biography discussing her relationship with the animals that have influenced or are currently in her life. The book, Animal Magnetism is a well-written treatise on why animals are special to Rita Mae Brown and allows the reader to get into the mind of the author. I appreciate the fact that Ms. Brown does not apologize for how she feels animals should be treated and enjoyed discovering that there is much more of Ms. Brown in her fiction books than I had previously thought. If you are an animal lover, or want to discover a little more about Rita Mae Brown, then this book is one that you will truly treasure! It made me proud to be "Southern" and hug my dogs after I finished reading it.