Do you Have Your Ears On? Check Out These New Fiction Titles at JCPL!

In the prehistoric days before cell phones came to be the #1 mode of communication, CB radios were all the rage. When learning to use a CB, the firt thing you had to do was come up with a "handle," or a nickname for other CB users to call you. Then, once you became familiar with other users, they got to be your "good buddy." Good Buddies liked to travel in convoys, so the leader of the pack was always at the "front door," and those bringing up the rear were at the "back door." When something important came up or you just wanted to get in your two-cents worth, all you had to do was yell, "Breaker, breaker, do you have your ears on?" If you have your ears on right now, you should "put the pedal to the metal" or "put the hammer down," grab your favorite "seat cover," start up the "four wheeler" in your garage and head straight for the Jasper County Public Library, where you'll be saying "ten four" to all the great, new fiction on the shelves. Check these out!

Working as an independent reporter, Annika Bengtzon is busy investigating stories with a terrorist theme when a fellow journalist dies in a hit and run accident. Suspicious that what happened to her colleague was no accident, Annika traces the slaying back to a Swedish military base, where the man behind the brutal crime plots to kill again in "Red Wolf" by Liza Marklund.

In "The Illumination" by Kevin Brockmeier, pain and loss make themselves evident in each character as their mortal wounds reveal themselves as a visible light after a mysterious event called The Illumination changes the characteristics of physical and emotional pain, revealing the depth of the human heart and mind.

The year is 1880, the town, Georgetown, Colorado. Seventeen year old Nealie Bent is the new girl in town, and marries Charlie Dumas. As the story unfolds, three generations of females that begin with Nealie go on to live their lives, experiencing love, loss, happiness and tragedy in "The Bride's House" by Sandra Dallas.

A skiing holiday nearly ends the lives of Zoe and Jake when a freak avalanche buries them, but they manage to dig themselves out only to discover that they are all alone in the Pyrenean resort town. When they exit their hotel and travel to the next town, they not only find themselves alone, but traveling in circles as well. When Zoe begins to hear bits and pieces of speech and catch glimpses of other figures around them, the pair find themselves caught up in strange, supernatural circumstances in "The Silent Land" by Graham Joyce.

The small, peaceful fishing community of Fjallbacka, Sweden is forever changed when a young boy discovers the remains of two holiday-makers who disappeared twenty years before, along with a fresh victim. When a second young girl goes missing, it is up to Patrik Hedstrom to unravel the mystery and focus on the true suspect as secrets are revealed in "Preacher" by Camilla Lackberg.

Breaker, breaker, do you have your ears on? If that's a big "ten four" "good buddy," put the "hammer down," don't let those big "eighteen wheelers" or "Smokey the Bear" slow you down, and find the "front door" of your local branch of JCPL, make that your "twenty," grab some of these new fiction titles, and say, "I'm gone!"

Directional Dyslexics Need Good Books Too!

The letters "DD" universally stand for "designated driver." It could also stand for "Directional Dyslexic," and I know this because I am one. Famous for losing my way, I have been known to take the scenic route as though I have all the time in the world, and that goes for finding my car in a parking lot, too. I recently purchased a new vehicle, and am still getting used to finding it when I shop. Most everything on it is power, including the doors and back hatch, so my keychain comes complete with keyless entry that is supposed to make things like grocery shopping easier, and it would, if I could ever find my vehicle in the parking lot. Coming out of the grocery store, I headed for a red van, pushing buttons all the way, trying to get the doors to open and be ready to load the groceries. Mumbling under my breath that the thing never works when you want it to, I happened to turn around and see that the van parked in the opposite lane was obeying the command of my keyless entry; probably because it WAS my van, and not the one I was facing at the time.

Could I use a book to "take me away?" You bet...and here are some new fiction titles that will do just that!

A twisted killer with a perverted sense of style is on the loose in "Fever to the Bone" by Val McDermid. Youth and innocence are the objects of his desire and it is up to investigator, Tony Hill to end the ruthless campaign of murder and brutality before more young lives are lost.

The death of Tim Overleigh's ex-wife threatens to send him over the edge. To combat his grief, he makes the life-altering decision to give up his career in the world of extreme sports and joins a team of mountain climbers in Nepal. The spiritual awakening of the mountain ascent is short lived for Overleigh, however, and turns deadly for he and the entire team of climbers when, one by one, they become the victims of murder in "The Ascent" by Ronald Malfi.

Music has marked each milestone in Zoe Baxter's life, and after suffering a series of personal tragedies, Zoe begins a career as a music therapist. As an unexpected romance buds for Zoe, she begins questioning the relationships she has with those closest to her as they voice their disapproval for the new love in her life in "Sing You Home" by Jodi Picoult.

Taking a break from her college studies, Ingrid Holburne meets and marries art dealer Gil Grey. Ingrid's cousin, Ralph, and her friend, Julia, however, do not see reason for celebration of the couple's happy news. When the tragedy of September 11 takes Ingrid's life, Ralph and Julia are sticken with grief, and find themselves retracing her steps of that day only to encounter one mystery and web of deceit after another in "The Legacy" by Kirsten Tranter.

We can all identify with the "Excedrin headache" commercial or the "Calgon Take Me Away" ad with the woman overwhelmed by screaming kids, barking dogs, and a ringing doorbell. Excedrin and Calgon are just the beginning for directional dyslexics like me, because pointing me in the direction of my local branch of JCPL is the best way to "get away from it all" that I can think of!