Dog Days of Summer Call for Good Reading Material!

No matter where you go, chances are you'll have to do some waiting. Waiting to be called for your appointment at the doctor or dentist's office; waiting in line at the grocery, drug, or department store; wait, wait, wait. Standing in line just about anywhere I go, I can almost count on the person ahead of me needing a price check, or having a problem of some sort that's going to require LOTS of time to remedy; but my wait pales in comparison to the headline that reads, "Two sisters reunited after 18 years at checkout counter." And I thought MY wait was long! Another headline states the obvious with, "If strike isn't settled quickly, it may last awhile." Sometimes animals make headlines, and in this case, a cow on a rampage makes news with, "Enraged cow injures farmer with ax;" and while we know that some animals eat their young, humans aren't supposed to (although sometimes we wonder if we should consider it), but the headline, "Kids make nutritious snacks" makes you second guess the choices of some folks. Speaking of choices, check out these new fiction titles, and just WAIT until you read on for some really good entertainment for the "dog days of summer!"

As the country's brightest doctors race to find the cure for infections that kill thousands each year, photojournalist, Claire Shipley, is following the story, dear to her heart, because her young daughter died from a sudden illness that possibly could have been cured by this new drug called penicillin. As doctors close in on their research for the miracle drug that will change history, a researcher at the institute dies suddenly, and Claire finds herself entrenched in a battle to find the killer before it's too late in "A Fierce Radiance" by Lauren Belfer.

When Eric Shaw takes on the job of making a documentary about Alyssa Bradford's 95 year old father in law, Campbell Bradford, he travels to the older man's hometown, where its charming history turns into an eerie mystery in "So Cold the River," an intensely frightening novel by Michael Koryta that centers around an old hotel that has been restored and the dark history and long forgotten evil surrounding it.

The year is 1704, and young Elizabeth is sent to Versailles, Louisiana in search of a husband. When she is paired with the charismatic and ruthlessly ambitious soldier, Jean-Claude, she is surprised to find herself not only attracted to him, but falling in love with him as well. Auguste, as well, must manage to find happiness in a new world when he is abandoned, and then befriended by Elizabeth's husband, Jean-Claude. When both Elizabeth and Auguste are ultimately betrayed by Jean-Claude, they find themselves drawn together in unexpected ways in "Savage Lands" by Claire Clark.

Growing up as the product of professional parents in Glasgow, Scotland, Kit Philipson had every advantage. While his mother lay dying, she confessed to Kit that he is adopted, and soon after, vague memories of Kit's early life begin to plague him, sending him searching through old newspaper files that reveal Kit's true identity and the actual facts of the abduction that led him to become part of the Philipson family in "A Stranger in the Family" by Robert Barnard.

You've probably heard it said that "good things come to those who wait," but Abraham Lincoln summed it up with, "Things may come to those who wait, but only the things left behind by those who hustle." There you go; don't let the good titles be left behind; just get in your car and head to your local branch of JCPL, where every new title is an experience worth its WEIGHT in gold!