Love is in the air; and in February, love and romance conjure visions of flowers, candy, and hearts. Love songs abound, and poets run amuck with words to express the sheer elation and devastation of LOVE! Authors do their best to dissect the whole phenomenon of love. A great example is John Gray's "Men are From Mars, Women are From Venus," which was not only a great guide to understanding the opposite sex, but also wonderful fodder for many a comedian and talk show host. The late George Carlin summed up his take on the idea with, "Men are from earth; women are from earth. Deal with it!"
At the Jasper County Public Library, we bring love and romance to the table with a variety of authors, plots, and settings designed to appeal to the romantic in you. Check these out!
For contemporary romance at its best, check out a book by Susan Wiggs. Most of her books highlight women's issues, focusing on her protagonist's struggles to attain balance in a world that can be a roller coaster ride. Intelligent and sometimes funny dialogue, along with a leisurely but irresistibly enticing pace, take the reader on a woman's journey into self discovery, with a dynamic subplot of romance that gives her characters a realistic quality that you come to care about as you read. Two of my favorite titles by Wiggs are "Home Before Dark," featuring Jessie Ryder, a woman who has discovered that she is losing her eyesight and wants to reconnect with her daughter before her world goes dark and "Summer at Willow Lake," the first installment of the Lakeshore Chronicles, featuring Olivia Bellamy, as she and her former friend, Connor, reconnect during a project they are both working on at her family's New York resort.
Other authors of contemporary romance include Debbie Macomber, Sherryl Woods, Danielle Steel, and Jennifer Crusie.
If you prefer to be on the edge of your seat as you enjoy your ride with romance, check out books by Sandra Brown, Suzanne Brockmann, Lisa Scottoline, and Iris Johansen. Mastering the romantic suspense genre with expertise, these authors manage to keep their readers turning pages, combining mystery and romance to a thrilling conclusion. "Long After Midnight" by Iris Johansen introduces us to Kate Denby, a young scientist in search of a cure for diseases, specifically zeroing in on a medicine that will keep the human body from rejecting donated organs. But when an explosion rocks Kate's world and kills two people in her life, she realizes that she was the intended target and must save herself and her 9 year old son from certain death.
What is love? Here are Woody Allen's thoughts on the matter: "To love is to suffer. To avoid suffering, one must not love. But then one suffers from not loving. Therefore, to love is to suffer, not to love is to suffer. To be happy is to love. To be happy then is to suffer. But suffering makes one unhappy. Therefore, to be unhappy one must love, or love to suffer from too much happiness. I hope you're getting this down."
So, I say, why suffer? Celebrate love in the best way possible; by curling up in your favorite easy chair and losing yourself in a great book from JCPL!
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Get a Good Book at JCPL ASAP
We are a short order society. The quicker, the better. And getting in touch with one another is easier and quicker than ever these days as well. Speed dial and texting get you in touch, ASAP. Whether in the AM, the PM, CST, EST, or PST, we can reach each other 24/7. A little TLC in your communication may make you BFF, or even make you LOL.
FYI, however, keep in mind that you need ID for everything these days. If you go to the ATM, you need a PIN on payday, and to that I say, TGIF! Getting home, you'll want to settle in, grab a PBJ or a BLT, pour an OJ and watch TV. Or, maybe you'd rather read? No need for a PI's help in that area. Just go to JCPL, where TEAM is the buzz-word. We'll help you find some great new fiction, PDQ! Check out these new titles!
"The Importance of Being Married" by Gemma Townley is the first in the Wild trilogy. Creatively written, the main character in this series is Jessica Wild, a young woman who befriends Grace, a sweet old lady in a nursing home. With each visit, Jessica's nonexistent love life blossoms into a fabricated, tangled web of deceit, as Jessica leads Grace to believe that she is engaged, and then married, to her glamorous boss, Anthony Milton. When Grace passes away, she leaves her fortune to Jessica; not Jessica Wild, but Jessica Milton. Oh the tangled webs we weave, Jessica! Will Jessica be able to snag her boss and make him her husband? And is it worth the fortune that awaits her?
Abbie Grace Coleman and Doss Michaels come from two very different backgrounds. Despite their different upbringings, they marry and believe that they are one another's true soul mates. When Abbie falls ill, she makes a list of 10 things she wants to accomplish before she dies. With Doss at her side, the pair embark on a journey that takes them down the St. Mary's River in "Where the River Ends" by Charles Martin.
A twenty year absence finds Randall Wilkes back in Pilgrim's Rest, Tennessee, where he accepts a low profile position from once governor, Sonny McMahon. But when Sonny's mother is brutally murdered, Randall must put his past investigative skills to the test and draw on his knowledge of his old stomping grounds in "Damnation Falls" by Edward Wright.
Ebb, Nebraska is a quaint farming town. More than 100 days without rain have the residents of this small town seeking miracles, and they believe the answer to their prayers lies in Vernon Moore, a traveling salesman and occasional miracle worker. But the town millionaire, Clem Tucker, has a proposal for Vernon that defies the town in "The Widows of Eden" by George Shaffner.
If you would like to RSVP to anything in this column, just contact any branch of JCPL, and we'll fill you in with info, YTD. You don't need a UPC to check out books, which all have an ISBN. At JCPL, we strive for good PR, which means that we'll BBL with more titles, which are TBA. TIA, and we'll TTYL.
FYI, however, keep in mind that you need ID for everything these days. If you go to the ATM, you need a PIN on payday, and to that I say, TGIF! Getting home, you'll want to settle in, grab a PBJ or a BLT, pour an OJ and watch TV. Or, maybe you'd rather read? No need for a PI's help in that area. Just go to JCPL, where TEAM is the buzz-word. We'll help you find some great new fiction, PDQ! Check out these new titles!
"The Importance of Being Married" by Gemma Townley is the first in the Wild trilogy. Creatively written, the main character in this series is Jessica Wild, a young woman who befriends Grace, a sweet old lady in a nursing home. With each visit, Jessica's nonexistent love life blossoms into a fabricated, tangled web of deceit, as Jessica leads Grace to believe that she is engaged, and then married, to her glamorous boss, Anthony Milton. When Grace passes away, she leaves her fortune to Jessica; not Jessica Wild, but Jessica Milton. Oh the tangled webs we weave, Jessica! Will Jessica be able to snag her boss and make him her husband? And is it worth the fortune that awaits her?
Abbie Grace Coleman and Doss Michaels come from two very different backgrounds. Despite their different upbringings, they marry and believe that they are one another's true soul mates. When Abbie falls ill, she makes a list of 10 things she wants to accomplish before she dies. With Doss at her side, the pair embark on a journey that takes them down the St. Mary's River in "Where the River Ends" by Charles Martin.
A twenty year absence finds Randall Wilkes back in Pilgrim's Rest, Tennessee, where he accepts a low profile position from once governor, Sonny McMahon. But when Sonny's mother is brutally murdered, Randall must put his past investigative skills to the test and draw on his knowledge of his old stomping grounds in "Damnation Falls" by Edward Wright.
Ebb, Nebraska is a quaint farming town. More than 100 days without rain have the residents of this small town seeking miracles, and they believe the answer to their prayers lies in Vernon Moore, a traveling salesman and occasional miracle worker. But the town millionaire, Clem Tucker, has a proposal for Vernon that defies the town in "The Widows of Eden" by George Shaffner.
If you would like to RSVP to anything in this column, just contact any branch of JCPL, and we'll fill you in with info, YTD. You don't need a UPC to check out books, which all have an ISBN. At JCPL, we strive for good PR, which means that we'll BBL with more titles, which are TBA. TIA, and we'll TTYL.
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