Comic strip author, Bill Watterson, is quoted as saying, "Sometimes when I'm talking, my words can't keep up with my thoughts. I wonder why we think faster than we speak. Probably so we can think twice." Thinking twice is a great idea, if you can remember to do it. Listening twice is an even better idea. Shopping with my 4 year old granddaughter the other day, the only thing on her mind was that she didn't want to have to walk through the store; she wanted to ride in style, like her 2 year old sister, in a cart provided by the store. Thinking I was using psychology with her, I asked, "Doesn't it make you feel like a big girl, walking alongside Mommy and me?" Exasperated by my psychobabble, she looked at me and said, "No, and that's why I'm so oppwessed! (translates to depressed in adult language) I just want to wide! (ride.) Being oppwessed is no fun, and reading can take the doldrums out of my day quicker than thinking OR talking. Here are some great, new fiction titles from the Jasper County Public Library; a sure cure for oppwession.
A seaside vacation that was meant to recapture her happy childhood unexpectedly triggers deeply disturbing and haunting memories that were, previous to now a well kept secret in "A Secret Kept" by Tatiana De Rosnay.
Perfect parents and neighbors, Patty and Walter Berglund, appear to do an about face and their lives become a mystery as one change after another in their habits force their friends and neighbors to do a double take in "Freedom," a book that explores the darker side of family life, by Jonathan Franzen.
Karena has always watched out for and taken care of her bipolar twin, Charles. As a teen, Charles began to refuse his medication and Karena found herself following her brother around, just to be sure he was safe. Obsessed with the unpredictability of the weather, Charles' greatest passion was chasing dangerous storms. After a deadly storm chase separated the twins from one another, Karena embarks on a dangerous journey to find him once again before he does damage to himself or someone else in "The Stormchasers" by Jenna Blum.
After forty years, Anne Marie Smeaton has returned to her hometown. A normal life is not easy to come by for Anne, however, as she bears the scars from a memory too awful to forget. At the age of eleven, Anne Marie killed a little boy, and feels the only way to escape the tragedy of that event is to confront it head on by telling her story to journalist, Joe Donovan. As old nightmares surface and Anne suffers from horrifying visions of the past, a teenager in her housing unit is murdered and Anne fears the worst in "Speak No Evil," Book 4 in the Joe Donovan series.
How about that; a cure for depression without side effects. However, if sleeplessness occurs, it'll only be because you can't put the book down once you start reading it, and if trouble concentrating or operating heavy machinery occur, it'll only be because you're so absorbed in your book that you can't think of anything else! Sort of makes you think twice, doesn't it?
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Celebrate the end of Summer With Some New Books From JCPL!
September means a lot of things to a lot of people. Labor Day is summer's last hurrah, and most of us celebrate this nationally known holiday by taking the day off and enjoying that last picnic of the year. There are, however, quite a few special remembrances for the month of September, some that I myself have never heard of. How many of us have been acquainted with the name Emma M. Nutt? When I first saw that September 1 was Emma M. Nutt Day, I was sure that maybe M & M's with peanuts were being celebrated, until I discovered that Emma M. Nutt was actually the first female telephone operator, and September 1 marks her anniversary. September is also Great American Low-Cholesterol, Lowfat Pizza Bake Month, and if you know a way to make pizza that is low cholestrol and low-fat and still tastes as yummy as the high cholesterol, high fat version, you'll probably make a million dollars by selling the recipe. Other commemorations for September include International Chocolate Day on the 13th, and the whole month of September is Subliminal Communications Month. I am, right now, subliminally communicating something special to everyone reading this article, but just in case my telepathic communicator is on the fritz, here are some great, new fiction titles just in at the Jasper County Public Library!
When Warren Ziller relocated his family and himself to California, the Geiger counter of happiness began to fall short, and the American dream that he counted on became a nightmare. The 0nce happy family began to separate, and to make matters worse, Warren's real estate investment failed, leaving the family in financial straits. Then, as fate would have it, tragedy strikes, and the Ziller family is forced to relocate once again, this time to a house in an abandoned development in the middle of the desert. Marooned and stuck with one another, this family must face their predicament together in "Model Home" by Eric Puchner.
Shoko is a Japanese woman married to an American GI. Their grown daughter, Sue, finds her American dream shattered when life as an American housewife sadly disappoints. When a trip to Japan planned by Shoko becomes impossible due to illness, Sue takes her place, and her travels reveal family secrets that change their lives in "How to Be An American Housewife" by Margaret Dilloway.
Drawn back to the past by an unexpected event, Lily Davis Woodward journeys back in time to the year 1945 when her new husband is sent to war and all she can think about is his return so that they can begin their new life as husband and wife. When the small town of Toccoa, Georgia celebrates the soldiers' return from war with a homecoming party, Lily meets Jake Russo, and finds herself torn between the one man who may be her soul mate and the true love of her life and the man to whom she has committed her life in "Fireworks Over Toccoa" by Jeffrey Stepakoff.
Hector Brennan, a handsome GI, was stationed in Korea during the Korean War when he met June Han, a girl orphaned by the fighting. Thirty years later, their lives cross paths again, and the unusual mission that they are both on brings them together, forcing the pair of them to come to terms with their wartime experiences and the secret that they both share in "The Surrendered" by Chang-Rai Lee.
During the month of September, you can do a lot of celebrating. You can celebrate the chickens in your life with National Chicken Month, or ahoy there, me hearty, you can "Talk Like a Pirate" on the 19th as you give your wife the royal treatment with bon bons on Wife Appreciation Day, also on the 19th. Whatever you choose to do, take the time to stop in your local branch of JCPL, where, aye! All you landlubbers will find some real treasures on the shelves!
When Warren Ziller relocated his family and himself to California, the Geiger counter of happiness began to fall short, and the American dream that he counted on became a nightmare. The 0nce happy family began to separate, and to make matters worse, Warren's real estate investment failed, leaving the family in financial straits. Then, as fate would have it, tragedy strikes, and the Ziller family is forced to relocate once again, this time to a house in an abandoned development in the middle of the desert. Marooned and stuck with one another, this family must face their predicament together in "Model Home" by Eric Puchner.
Shoko is a Japanese woman married to an American GI. Their grown daughter, Sue, finds her American dream shattered when life as an American housewife sadly disappoints. When a trip to Japan planned by Shoko becomes impossible due to illness, Sue takes her place, and her travels reveal family secrets that change their lives in "How to Be An American Housewife" by Margaret Dilloway.
Drawn back to the past by an unexpected event, Lily Davis Woodward journeys back in time to the year 1945 when her new husband is sent to war and all she can think about is his return so that they can begin their new life as husband and wife. When the small town of Toccoa, Georgia celebrates the soldiers' return from war with a homecoming party, Lily meets Jake Russo, and finds herself torn between the one man who may be her soul mate and the true love of her life and the man to whom she has committed her life in "Fireworks Over Toccoa" by Jeffrey Stepakoff.
Hector Brennan, a handsome GI, was stationed in Korea during the Korean War when he met June Han, a girl orphaned by the fighting. Thirty years later, their lives cross paths again, and the unusual mission that they are both on brings them together, forcing the pair of them to come to terms with their wartime experiences and the secret that they both share in "The Surrendered" by Chang-Rai Lee.
During the month of September, you can do a lot of celebrating. You can celebrate the chickens in your life with National Chicken Month, or ahoy there, me hearty, you can "Talk Like a Pirate" on the 19th as you give your wife the royal treatment with bon bons on Wife Appreciation Day, also on the 19th. Whatever you choose to do, take the time to stop in your local branch of JCPL, where, aye! All you landlubbers will find some real treasures on the shelves!
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