Hazards to Your Health Don't Include Reading!

I read. I read a lot. I read everywhere I go and with just about everything I do. Even if I am not "hands free," I try to find a way to read. I read newspapers, but not always the main articles. Sometimes the small and obscure ones that nobody else notices catch my eye, because they're usually short, sweet, and to the point. Catching up on the news on the Internet, I came across an article entitled, "Why You Shouldn't Text and Walk." I've heard and agree that texting while driving is a bad idea, but apparently, being too wrapped up in your text messages is bad for your health while walking as well. Just ask the woman who ended up falling into a fountain in the mall because she couldn't take her eyes off of her phone long enough to see the man-made pond in front of her. Lesson learned: from now on all of the reading that I do will be done while I'm stationary, as I have no desire to take an unintentional dip in ANY pond, man-made or otherwise. While you're pondering the possibilities of where you'll read your next book, text, newspaper or magazine, keep reading this article to get a few ideas on WHAT to read.

A loner and a misfit, high school freshman, Xing Xu is one of the only Asian students at his all white school. Bullied by the other students because he is different, Xing ducks into the school music room, where the teacher assumes Xing is auditioning for the school musical. Meanwhile, high school sports star, Justin Dorsey is found murdered, and when two other students go missing, Xing is targeted as a suspect in "Crossing" by Andrew Xia Fukuda.

Detective Benny Griessel's main goal is just to stay sober. After stepping on the toes of too many higher-ups, Benny knows his chances of ever getting a promotion are next to nil, so he puts his energies into mentoring a new generation of crime fighters in South Africa. When an American backpacker disappears, Griessel and his colleagues have a mere thirteen hours to save the girl in "Thirteen Hours" by Deon Meyer.

After her father passes away, Bijou Roy leaves Washington D.C. to travel to her father's native India, intending to scatter his remains in the river that runs through his native city. Meeting Naveen, the son of her father's closest friend, leads Bijou to discover the intimate details of her father's life and the family history that holds the key to replacing her deep sorrow with hope in "Bijou Roy" by Ronica Dhar.

Darius Jones has it all; a lucrative basketball career, a lovely wife and a son he adores, but when a drunk driver slams into his car, his wife becomes comatose with only a 50 percent chance of survival. "Darius Jones" by Mary B. Morrison continues the drama in the lives of characters made famous in her Soul Mates Dissipate series.

Dark secrets threaten to blanket the glossy facade of the perfect life in a suburban community where a murder had been committed twelve years earlier. Librarian, Betsy Treading was tried and convicted and later exonerated for murdering her neighbor, Linda Sue. Released from prison, Betsy returns to her old neighborhood, delving into the details of the murder in an attempt to uncover the identity of the real killer in "Neighborhood Watch" by Cammie McGovern.

The master of horror returns with a quartet of stories that will curl your hair in "Full Dark, No Stars" by the one and only Stephen King. From "1922," a tale of murder and madness to "Big Driver," the story of a woman seeking justice after being victimized to "Fair Extension," the shortest and funniest of the tales to "A Good Marriage," one with a horrifying discovery, these tales will generate the chills that even the dead of winter cannot.

Where you read doesn't really matter. It's WHAT you read that does, and at the Jasper County Public Library, we have enough new fiction on the shelves to make your trip worthwhile; just make sure that when you do check out books, you wait until you're stationary to start reading them.

Living in a State of "Winter Denial?" Check Out a Book From JCPL!

Bundled up in my warmest winter gear, I resemble an Eskimo, and probably will until about early May. Some other folks, however, seem to be in denial that the winter season has actually arrived. Dressed in shorts, T-shirts and even tank tops, I see them out and about; not even flinching in the winter cold. Maybe these brave people are part of the Polar Bear Club; you know the ones; they take an annual dip in Lake Michigan, no matter what the temperature is outside. You've heard of "The Bucket List;" that list of things that you want to do sometime in this lifetime before bidding it farewell. Well, I can tell you one thing that will NOT be on my bucket list, and that's wearing shorts, a tank top, or any other obviously summer clothing in 20 degree or colder weather, as well as taking a dip in Lake Michigan anytime before the official swimming season begins. Some things that may be on my Bucket List, however, include good reading material; and here are some great non-fiction title to add to that list!

Job searching techniques are what "200 Best Jobs Through Apprenticeships" by Michael Farr is all about. This book offers a route to job seekers for career entry that allows you to earn a paycheck while participating in worksite training and classroom learning, and includes more than 60 best jobs, along with detailed, commonsense advice for the best job-searching results.

Every day interactions that we have with our children are part of the learning process for them. In "Mind in the Making" by Ellen Galinsky, the author identifies seven life skills that help children to reach their full potential for learning. Each chapter is devoted to explaining a life skill that will help parents and their children to tap into and grasp different kinds of knowledge that will foster and promote self-motivation, providing a valuable place to start in the learning process.

Slice of life essays make for hilarious reading in "How Did You Get This Number" by Sloane Crosley. This collection offers a humorous and witty glimpse into everyday situations that, paragraph for paragraph and chapter for chapter, will make the reader laugh out loud and experience Crosley's adventures from a fresh and funny perspective.

It's the New Year, and lots of folks have made resolutions to eat healthier and get in shape. "Change Your Brain, Change Your Body" by Daniel G. Amen is a user-friendly book that offers a blueprint for changing your way of thinking, therefore, changing the state of your body. The key to having the body that you want is first having a healthy brain, and that fact is based on medical research as well as two decades of clinical research done by Dr. Amen and his associates. Fifteen practical and easy to implement solutions that include nutrition, positive thinking, and natural supplements, will help you to reach your ideal weight, smoothe your skin, sharpen your memory and avoid depression, among other things that offer a powerful argument in favor of the mind-body connection.

Create the colorful, all season, flower garden that you've always wanted with "The Ever Blooming Flower Garden: A Blueprint for Continuous Color" by Lee Schneller. This easy to use manual consists of a five step system that includes a flower catalog, plant planning chart, easy care options and straightforward, no nonsense growing information, as well as color photographs of each specimen and the month of the season that it will produce the most vivid color.

Living in a state of denial about the chill in the air may be the way to go for some folks; I, however, live in the state of Indiana, where the fashion forecast for the next couple of months calls for nothing without sleeves or warm, thick winter gear. If you want to "think spring," go to your local branch of JCPL, where you can mentally sow the garden of your dreams by checking out books that will plant the seed of spring in your mind, keeping you cozy till it arrives, once and for all!