No Need to Be Rich and Famous; I Just Want a Good Book!

American Express has made their organization a memorable one throughout the years by using the slogan, "American Express: Don't leave home without it." My three year old granddaughter lives up to that phrase, but not with American Express. Getting ready to travel anywhere with her must always include an entourage of her favorite toys, and in the words of Woody on Toy Story, there must be NO TOY LEFT BEHIND! To those of us doing the assembling of necessary items to take children on a road trip, these toys are the last items on our minds. But to a three year old whose obsessions range from Angelina Ballerina to Mickey and Minnie Mouse, this entourage of her inanimate associates can't be ignored. I understand; I have few obsessions more important than always having a book somewhere nearby, and taking a book almost everywhere I go is almost as important to me as Angelina Ballerina is to a three year old. Read on and see for yourself what you can learn from a good book from the Jasper County Public Library!

From playing games to downloading music to troubleshooting, "How to Do Everything iPod, iPhone & iTunes" by Guy Hart-Davis is an updated and easy to use guide that offers great tips on managing your device, and includes instructions on a wide variety of subjects, some of which include installing applications for playing games, creating video files, connecting to wireless networks, setting up email accounts, surfing the Web, and much, much more!

Extreme situations can occur at any time during a vacation or outing, and avoiding incidents that can become life threatening is the first step to learning successful survival skills. Rich Johnson, one of the country's best known experts on wilderness survival, offers advice for every outdoorsman in "Rich Johnson's Guide to Wilderness Survival: How to Avoid Trouble and Live Through Trouble You Can't Avoid." Johnson, an experienced and avid outdoorsman, is an Army Special Forces veteran who lived in a remote area of Utah for a year, living off the land and taking cover in primitive places, and in this book shares survival skills and techniques during emergency situations that may save your life.

Stranded in the middle of the frigid waters of the Bering Sea, the fishing trawler, "Alaska Ranger" sent out a Mayday call to the Coast Guard for help. By 4:30 am on March 23, 2008, most of the forty seven crew members were in the water, wearing inflated survival suits, but were freezing to death in the icy waters, battered by twenty foot swells. In "Deadliest Sea: The Untold Story Behind the Greatest Rescue in the Coast Guard History" by Kalee Thompson, it is man versus nature, and what was expected to be a routine rescue mission turns into a race against time to save the men and women that were on board "Alaska Ranger."

Feelings of anger, depression, and frustration all combine to become what we call "stress." Stress in today's society is a much relevant subject, and relates to all of us in one way or another. In "The Myth of Stress: Where Stress Really Comes From," author Andrew Bernstein teaches readers how to combat thoughts and feelings that lead to stress with the seven-step ActivInsight Program, a form of cognitive therapy that banishes stress, letting the air out of thoughts that induce those bad feelings.

Rock stars have groupies; other famous people have "peeps," and still others in the limelight have paparazzi following them. Being among the "not so rich and famous" has its appeal, but still carries the need for an entourage. Be it Angelina Ballerina or a new book from JCPL, I understand; we all have our obsessions.