Four Popular Authors and Strength Training - Among Others

Fiction

Shoot Him If He Runs by Stuart Woods. Stone Barrington and friends travel to St. Marks to find a fugitive from the CIA.

Dark of the Moon by John Sandford. Set for release on October 2nd. Virgil Flowers works under the command of Lucas Davenport for the MN Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. Flowers is up to his neck in treachery and bodies after a suspicious fire kills the local rich guy in Bluestem, MN. And that is in addition to the two people murdered just three weeks before.

The Tell-Tale Horse by Rita Mae Brown. The cover of this has an anthropomorphic fox dressed in a red fox-hunting outfit and standing next to an unsaddled horse outside a barn. It is a snowy winter scene and the fox carries a riding crop. There is a white, tall spired, hilltop church in the background. Read the book and let me know if there is any symbolism.

Hide and Seek by Fern Michaels. The seven members of the Sisterhood "meted out justice to many villians who believed themselves above the law." But, the Sisterhood members escaped conviction and now FBI Assistant Director Mitch Riley is after them.

NonFiction

Bootprints: An Infantryman's Walk Through World War Two by Hobert Winebrenner and Michael McCoy. Winebrenner landed in France on D-Day + 2. He fought through France, Germany and Czechoslovakia in a reconaissance unit of the 90th Infantry Division. Lots of good photos.

Good-Bye Shy: 85 Shybusters That Work by Leil Lowndes. "85 proven techniques to help you conquer your shyness and change your life for good. No psychobabble. No nonsense. The teste 'ShyBusters' prepare you for that upcoming party, work function, interview, date, and the rest of your life."

Make a Fortune Promoting Other People's Stuff Online: How Affiliate Marketing Can Make You Rich by Rosalind Gardner.

Snack Attack!: Over 150 Guilt-Free Treats for Healthy Munching by Ruth Glick. Everytime I read that title I think it says SHARK attack. I then I start getting the album version of this in my head. And then, of course, I start thinking of this.

Strength Ball Training, 2nd Edition by Lorne Goldenberg and Peter Twist. Multiple exercises to perform with medicine balls and those big, inflatable balls.

TV on DVD plus Two Large Print

DVD

The Office: Season Three starring Steve Carell and some other actors. Includes three hours of deleted scenes, bloopers, commentaries, etc.

King of the Hill: The Complete First Season. A donation. I was asked, "Do you want to add this?" My thought was: "Of course!"

30 Rock: Season 1 starring Tina Fey, Alec Baldwin and Tracy Morgan. This is a great show - don't let the Emmy win turn you off.

Large Print Fiction

The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid. Changez lived the immigrant's dream in New York City with a high powered job and a beautiful girlfriend. After 9/11 everyone sees him differently, and he starts to see himself differently and embraces his lapsed religion.

Large Print NonFiction

Leap! What Will We Do with the Rest of Our Lives by Sara Davidson. "Reflections from the boomer generation...Now witty observer [Sara Davidson] has again turned her discerning eye to contemporaries, with a no-holds-barred look at the choices and challenges boomers face."

Three CDs, a Large Print, and a weird cover photo of Wesley Clark

CDs

Road Trip by Girl Authority. "As seen on TV!", that's a bad sign. Oh, it's a kid CD. That's explains why most of them look to be 12 years old.

24 by Point of Grace. A gospel music quartet. Look at that hair! This two disc set of hits contains their - Hokey Smokes! - 24 consecutive number one hits on the Contemporary Christian Music chart.

Challengers by The New Pornographers. A bunch of Canadians plus Neko Case. This should have been processed earlier but Ruth got it done on Saturday. Incidentally, Ruth writes her first initial so it looks like "12". We have one Neko Case CD here in Lake Mills with other CDs by her and the New Pornographers available through the library catalog.


NonFiction

A Time to Lead: for duty, honor, and country by Wesley K. Clark. Clark isn't running for president anymore so maybe he's angling for a Cabinet level job.

Large Print

Pontoon by Garrison Keillor. A Lake Wobegon novel with Debbie Detmer returning from California to scatter her mother's ashes on the lake and get married.

Large Print and a DVD

DVD

The Lookout starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Jeff Daniels, Matthew Goode. I bought this? I don't remember this. Something about a lonely bank guard who gets schmoozed by a con man into helping rob the bank.

CD

New Favorite by Alison Krauss and Union Station. This isn't new but it was on the processing cart; it must have gotten a new label or something. That Krauss lady? I don't get it. She always had that weird over-achieving child prodigy vibe. I only remember seeing her twice at school, and one time was graduation.

Large Print

Summer Reading by Hilma Wolitzer. Three gals in a summer book club compare literary characters to themselves and get to know one another.

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini. Author of Kite Runner - which a lot of people liked - with another novel set in Afghanistan.

In the Lake of the Woods by Tim O'Brien. This is an older book but was in a standing order plan I just signed up for. When I asked the saleslady on the phone why an older title was chosen she said, "I don't know why she picked that. Maybe because it was a re-release. She regrets it now. Everything else will be new."

Bastard of Istanbul by Elif Shafak. Slightly estranged families, one in Istanbul and one in Arizona meet when the AZ daughter visits Turkey. A hidden family history gets exposed. I assume it has something to do with the Armenian pogroms. Good title though. Here are some other good titles: Butt Wars! The Final Conflict, Candy Girl: a year in the life of an unlikely stripper, Rotten: No Irish - No Blacks - No Dogs.

Broken for You by Stephanie Kallos. Old lady in Seattle meets young lady visiting Seattle. Both learn to love blah blah blah.

Large Print NonFiction

Kabul Beauty School: an American woman goes beyond the veil by Deborah Rodriguez. The book cover does not say much. I infer that Rodriguez opened a beauty school in Afghanistan after the killers-in-charge were kicked out.

Hodgepodge

DVD

We Are Marshall starring Matthew McConaughey, Matthew Fox, Ian McShane, David Strathairn. The plane carrying the Marshall University football team crashes killing most of the coaches and players. New coach joins up and rebuilds program Take a drink each time McConaughey goes topless.

Fiction

Playing for Pizza by John Grisham. A third string NFL quarterback comes off the bench and delivers a spectacular losing performance late in a playoff game. The only football job he can get is in an Italian league.

Inspirational Fiction

The Parting by Beverly Lewis. Another series by Lewis, The Courtship of Nellie Fisher, set in an Amish community.

Mystery

Dead Heat by Dick Francis and Felix Francis. Horses and murder. We've got the large print edition too.

McCafferty's Nine by Elizabeth Gunn. A Jake Hines mystery set in Southeastern, MN. The inside cover says "mid-sized city" so I'm guessing Rochester, Red Wing or Winona.

An Ice Cold Grave by Charlaine Harris. Since a trailer park lightning strike when she was fifteen Harper Connelly has been able to locate graves. Now, she's hired to find a missing teen in North Carolina. Several other teens from the town have gone missing over the past five years and none were runaways.

DVDs

DVDs

Heroes: Season One starring Ali Larter, Hayden Somebody and other names I cannot recall. Season one of the hit television program.

Year of the Dog starring Molly Shannon, Laura Dern, John C. Reilly, Peter Sarsgaard. Single dog-lover Peggy goes into a tailspin when her dog dies in this "charming and quirky comedy about the search for love." This received good reviews but the back cover blurbs are probably baloney.

House of 1000 Corpses and The Devil's Rejects directed by Rod Zombie and starring Sheri Moon, Karen Black, Sid Haig, Bill Moseley, William Forsythe. Two DVD set of horror movies by musician turned film director Rod Zombie.

House of Games starring Joe Mantegna, Lindsay Crouse, Ricky Jay. David Mame's 1987 debut as a film director. Psychiatrist Margaret Ford has a patient with gambling problems. She agrees to help him in a poker game by reading the tells of the other players. But, things are not what they seem. This is a great movie with the misdirection and plot surprises that Mamet is good at.

Bunch of Novels and a New Book About the Kennedys

Kennedy NonFiction (deserving of it's own genre)

Brothers: the hidden history of the Kennedy years by David Talbot. John and Bobby Kennedy's battles against the gung-ho, anti-commie hawks in Washington and Bobby's own suspicions about his brothers murder. Not exactly a conspiracy book, but covering the suspicions held by leaders themselves.

NonFiction

The No-Cry Sleep Solution by Elizabeth Pantley. "This book turns discipline into a positive, affirming experience by offering a collection of proven techniques that you can custom-tailor to your child's unique personality."

Large Print

Dead Heat by Dick Francis and Felix Francis. Some horse racing mystery. I presume Dick is going into partial retirement and handing the reins - pun intended - to Felix.

Fiction

Dexter in the Dark by Jeff Lindsay. I have read Lindsay's previous two Dexter novels and they are great. Dexter is a blood splatter analyst for the City of Miami PD but his true passion is torturing and killing pedophiles and murderers. Dexter is a charming sociopath who has everyone convinced he is an average and happy dude. But, he is just very self-aware and plotting. Lindsay takes the gruesome subject matter and injects a lot of humor into the story. Dexter narrates each story and his misunderstandings and misinterpretations of basic human behavior and relationships are interesting.

Bone Garden by Tess Gerritsen. I've never read Gerritsen's books but she has a lot of fans. Dual narratives set in present day and 1830 Boston. In 1830 a poor medical student robs graves for cadavers. After a bloody campus murder he becomes a main suspect and starts his own investigation.

One-Way Ticket by William G. Tapply. Brady Coyne gets a late night call that his friend Dalton was severely beaten and in hospital. Coyne finds that Dalton was beaten for his son Robert's gambling debts to the Boston mob. When Coyne tries to interecede the mob boss holds Coyne responsible for his friend. But, what happens when Robert disappears...?

Novels, Large Print, NonFiction

Novels

You've Been Warned by James Patterson and Howard Roughan.

47th Samurai by Stephen Hunter. The return of Bob Lee Swagger. Swagger's father Earl survived Iwo Jima with the Medal of Honor and a dead Japanese officer's sword. The dead officer's son tracks the sword back to Bob and Bob travels to Japan to return the sword to the family. When the Japanese family is killed for the sword Bob Lee starts to look around.

Large Print

Bones to Ashes by Kathy Reichs. Remember that outrageous cover blurb on the regular print edition of this? It's missing on this one.

Lost Diary of Don Juan by Douglas Carlton Abrams. "This thrilling page-turner masterfully renders the voice of Don Juan, and intriguing figure - from his secret childhood in a convent to his life as a libertine and to his inescapable fall into the madness of love."

Road to Samarcand by Patrick O'Brien. Treasure hunt across the Gobi Desert and into the mountains of Tibet.

Sleeping Beauty Proposal by Sarah Strohmeyer. Thirty-six year old Genie expects a proposal from welthy Hugh. When Hugh proposes to the wrong girl Genie keeps up a facade that she is his fiancee.

NonFiction

15 Stars: Eisenhower, MacArthur, Marshall: three generals who saved the century by Stanley Weintraub. "The story of their interconnected lives opens a fascinating window onto some of the twentieth century's most crucial events, revealing the personalities behind the public images and showing much of a difference three men can make."

The War: an intimate history: 1941-1945. Geoffrey C. Ward and Ken Burns. Print companion to Burns' upcoming multi-part documentary on the U.S. in World War Two. Lots of photos.

Six DVDs, One CD Box Set, Two Novels

DVDs

Blades of Glory starring Will Ferrell and Jon Heder. Two dipsticks are banned from men's figure skating competition after fighting each other. The discovery of a loophole in the pairs competition lets them team up together and compete again.

Smokin' Aces starring an ensemble cast with Ray Liotta and Jason Bateman. Las Vegas magician Aces has been telling mob secrets. A million dollar bounty on Aces brings "a rogues' gallery of ex-cons, hit men and smokin' hot assassins to rub him out."

UFC 68: the uprising with the featured bout between heavyweights Tim Sylvia and Randy "The Natural" Couture. This is an event from 3 march 2007. I showed our other UFC disc to one of our pages and pointed out on the cover how two guys are getting kicked in the head. She said, "Wow, that's cool." I think she was being sarcastic.

Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels starring Jason Fleming, Jason Statham, Dexter Fletcher and Sting. During a poker game Eddie loses his money , his three friendss money, and owes 500,000 in credit to mobster Hatchet Harry. Eddie and friends have a week to come up with the money. This is the movie that made Guy Ritchie's career; then Madonna wrecked it.

Lives of Others starring a bunch of Germans. East Germany's political police, the Stasi, spy on most everyone. When a pro-goverment playwright's girlfriend is desired by a government official he, too, comes under surveillance. Oscar winner for foreign film.

No Bull by AC/DC. Recorded live at Plaza de Toros, Madrid in 1996.

Mystery

Dead Don't Lie by Stuart M. Kaminsky. Chicago detectives Abe Lieberman and Bill Hanrahan investigate the triple murder of three local Turks and the beating of a chef.

Large Print

74 Seaside Avenue by Debbie Macomber. Part of the Cedar Cove series.

CD

Can't Quit the Blues by Buddy Guy. Three CD and one DVD set of blues guitar by Buddy Guy. From his first 1957 demo to present day collaborations. The DVD has performances from 1974 to 2004.

The Dang Pages Process in Bursts. Here Are Some More.

Audio

Strip Search by William Bernhardt. Kooky behaviorist with Las Vegas Police Department investigates ingenious serial killer who leaves mathematical clues to a "numerological mystery that stretches back hundreds o year." Hmm. That sounds familiar, I wonder why? Maybe because it is the same stupid plot for most every serial killer novel, tv show, movie for the past few years. Good to see you working so hard there, Billy.

Fiction

Bones to Ashes by Kathy Reichs. Oh brother, read this, "Temperance Brennan, like her creator Kathy Reichs, is a brilliant, sexy forensic anthropologist called on to solve the toughest cases." Is Reichs sleeping with someone at the publisher? Lab lady Brennan researches old skeleton that may connect to several cold cases.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling. We have an extra copy so we stuck it in adult fiction.

Shotgun Rule by Charlie Huston. Here we go, this is much better. Huston's other crime novels have been pretty good. He writes in a violent pulp style and his dialogue is written the way conversations low back and forth with characters speaking over one another. In 1983 Northern California three juvenile delinquents have a bicycle stolen by the neighborhood toughs, the Arroyos. Sneaking into the Arroyo house to get the bicycle back the find a meth lab and steal some product to sell. Things go downhill.

Still Summer by Jacquelyn Mitchard.

Large Print

Sleeping Doll by Jeffrey Deaver. Former cult leader and murderer Daniel Pell escapes from prison and California Bureau of Investigation agent Kathryn Dance hunts him down.

Tumbling Blocks by Earlene Fowler. Benni Harper owns the Sinclair Folk Art Museum and a benefactor demands she solve the murder of the benefactor's close friend Pinky.

Dockside by Susan Wiggs. A middle-aged romance. Middle-aged characters, not Middle Ages setting.

SciFi-Fantasy

Genesis of Shannara: The Elves of Cintra by Terry Brooks. I used to read this series in junior high.

Sandworms of Dune by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson. I used to read this series in junior high too.

NonFic

Audacity of Hope: thoughts on reclaiming the American dream by Barack Obama.

SIx Fic, Two Mystery, One NonFic, One DVD

Fiction

Whale Road by Robert Low. Vikings! Orm leaves Norway and joins a viking crew that "fight hard, drink hard, and always defend their own."

Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosanay. Two stories set in Paris; on ein 1942 and one in 2002. 1942's 10 year old Sarah holds the only key to the cupboard where she hid her brother when the Gestapo appeared. 2002's Julia is commissioned to write about the dark days of 1942 Paris, comes across the story of Sarah, and starts to follow a trail that leads back to that cupboard. Damn Nazis.

White Heat by Cherry Adair. Emily hates Max after he appeared, wooed, and dropped her over a year ago. When Max suddenly shows after the death of his art restoration father - Emily's mentor - Emily is still angry. But Max knows his father's death was murder and that the Black Rose terrorist organization is after a pencil sketch with a cryptic code. This mnust be some sort of da Vinci Code/internation terror/romance novel.

Mad Dash by Patricia Gaffney. Dash leaves her insular and hypochondriac husband after their argument over a dog is the last straw. On her own for the first time in twenty years is exhilirating but she cannot help but constantly think of her past and whether she really wants to leave.

Girls of Riyadh by Rajaa Alsanea. "Forbidden details about the private lives of four young women from Saudi Arabia's upper classes..." The social, romantic and sexual tribulations of a young women's lives in Riyadh.

The Interim by Chris Earl. Robb Markstram quit his reporter job to be a sports administrator at Wisconsin State in Madison, WI. After a plane crash kills the coaching staff Robb takes over and finds that major college basketball is filled with corruption.

Power Play by Joseph Finder. Junior executive Jake joins all the top execs for Hammond Aerospace at their annual electronics free retreat. When some "backwoods hunters" take them hostage and start demanding ransoms only Jake is in a position to help.

Best British Mysteries IV by edited by Maxim Jakubowski. Stories by Lee Child, Alexander McCall Smith, Anne Perry, Allan Guthrie, Ken Bruen and others.

NonFiction

Phantom Warrior: the heroic true story of Pvt. John McKinney's one-man stand against the Japanese in World War II by Forrest Bryant Johnson. Yikes! How was this guy still alive after all that plus campaigns in New Guinea?

DVD

Inland Empire starring Laura Dern, Jeremy Irons, Justin Theroux. Synopsis. Who cares what it is about? David Lynch directed it so you know it will be interesting. We also have Eraserhead, Mulholland Drive, Season 2 of Twin Peaks, Dynamic:01 The Best of davidlynch.com, and he also did a film for Lumiere and Company.

One DVD

DVD

Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie for Theaters voiced by Dana Snyder, Dave Willis, Carey Means. I don't know what this is about. But the movie is from the currently airing cartoon.

One of the Greatest Books Ever

One of the Greatest Books Ever

The Gun Digest Book of the AR-15, Volume 2 by Patrick Sweeney. Customization projects, performance tests, magazines and ammunition choices. Don't forget Volume 1 also by Sweeney.

Non-Fiction

Read Responsibly: an Unshelved collection by Bill Barnes and Gene Ambaum. COllection of comic strips set in the Malville Public Library.

Black Hawk: The battle for the heart of America by Kerry A. Trask. in 1832 Black Hawk and his Sauk followers went back into Illinois to reclaim the land they had been exiled from 10 years before. Things went poorly, that's why it was called the Black Hawk War.

Mystery

Gone Missing in the Underground by Jerol Anderson. Four people disappear from the an underground tour in Seattle.

DVD

The Ultimate Gift starring Drew Fuller, Abigail Breslin, Brian Dennehy, James Garner. Trust fund kid has to complete twelve tasks before he can inherit his grandfather's wealth. Sounds like a chick movie. James Garner has been in a lot of chick movies lately. But Brian Dennehy?

Audio Books

Peony in Love by Lisa See. Seventeenth century China has cloistered daughter Peony falling for a handsome opera actor.

What Matters Most by Luanne Rice. Sister Bernadette and Tom Kelly return to Ireland to search for the son they had before Bernadette joined her order.

Quickie by James Patterson. Lauren hooks up with a dude to revenge her own husband's infidelity. "But Lauren's night of passion takes a shocking turn when she witnesses an unexpected, unbelievable, deadly crime."

Dark River by John Twelve Hawks. SciFi/Fantasy.

Kate Beckinsale and some other stuff.

DVDs

Vacancy starring Kate Beckinsale and Luke Wilson (the one with the straight nose). This is picture is upposed to be a bit of a dog but you can decide yourself. A young couple is stranded on the road and spend the night in a ratty motel. The only show on television is a low budget slasher flick. Then couple realize the film was shot in their motel room, that they are locked inside, and cameras are watching them.

Wild Hogs starring four middle aged guys you'll recognize. Four middle aged guys who look a lot like John Travolta, Tim Allen, Martin Lawrence and William H. Macy buy motorcycles, take a cross-country trip and have a trouble with a biker gang. "Madcap mayhem."

Dexter: the first season starring Michael C. Hall. I read the two novels by Jeffry Lindsay, Darkly Dreaming Dexter and Dearly Devoted Dexter, and they were really good. This Showtime production is supposed to be pretty good too. Dexter is a professional blood splatter analyst with the Miami P.D. But, he is also a pleasingly pleasant sociopath whose avocation is murdering murderers. Hilarity and bleeding ensue.

Fiction

Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Brave by Diana Gabaldon. This doesn't go on the shelf until August 28th. Featuring previous Gabaldon character Lord John.

Large Print

Critical by Robin Cook.

Play Dirty by Sandra Brown.

Fiction? Non.

NonFiction

Best by Number: who wore what...with distinction by Ron Smith (primary author). From 00 to 99. The best players from the NFL, NBA, and MLB by uniform number. This is shelved in the kids section but will be neat for most any sports fans. Don't forget to include Packers by the numbers : jersey numbers and the players who wore them by Maxymuk, John.

Getting Started in Genealogy Online by William Dollarhide. "Designed as a beginner's guide, its 64 pages pack more clout than any 64 pages ever written on the subject of online genealogy." Don't forget Library access to Ancestry Library and Heritage Quest.

Masterpieces Up Close: Western paintings from the 14th to 20th Centuries by Claire d'Harcourt. "Discover the beauty and hidden mysteries in Western art's most celebrated masterpieces in this exciting art history lesson cleverly disguised as a game."

Three DVDs and Two Books

DVDs

UFC 67: All or Nothing Bouts from the Feb 3, 2007 event in Las Vegas. According to the photos on the back at least two guys get kicked in the head. I bought two UFC DVDs to see how they would do here. The second disc is not cataloged yet.


Hot Fuzz starring Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. Pegg and Frost are the same two dudes who played the leads in Shaun of the Dead and Pegg authored both scripts. Plot: Big city British super-cop Nicholas is transferred to a small town after he starts making all the other cops look bad. His new post is dull, dull, dull and his partner is a bumbler but some new and violent crimes brighten his day.

Fracture starring Anthony Hopkins and Ryan Gosling. Ted (Hopkins) kills his wife, calls the police and signs a confession. But, incredulously, the case starts to rapidly unravel and prosecutor Willy (Gosling) has to outwit Ted make sure he does not go free.

Mystery

Crosshairs by Harry Hunsicker. Former private investigator Lee Henry Oswald has given up his PI work and is staying away from the unsavory side of Dallas life. When scientist Anita begs his help to stop the threats against her daughter Lee steps into the turmoil he wanted to avoid.

NonFiction

Psychology Demystified: a self-teaching guide by Anna Romero, Ph.D. and Steven Kemp Ph.D.

One of Each

AudioBook

Day Trader by Stephen Frey. Day trader Augustus McKnight strikes it big one day to have his wife leave him. When Gus' wife is murdered he is the main suspect. After Gus lands a big job as a personal money manager he finds out that his windfall and his wife's murder may be part of a large conspiracy.

DVD

Montana Sky starring John Corbett, Ashley Williams and Charlotte Ross. Three half-sisters meet for the first time after the death of their millionaire father. To earn their inheritance they must live together for a year on the father's ranch in Montana. The women expect the year to be tough, but a saboteur makes things worse.

NonFiction

In Deadly Combat: A German soldier's memoir of the Eastern Front by Gottlob Herbert Bidermann. "Bidermann's riveting and reflective combat memoir vividly conveys the brutality and horrors of the Eastern Front in detail never before available in English." I've read a couple other German experiences on the eastern front and the stories are incredible.

Mystery

Hard Row by Margaret Maron. Judge Deborah Knott and Deputy Dwight Bryant are newly married and both involved in the investigation of a murder in Colleton County, North Carolina.

Suspense

Sweet Revenge by Diane Mott Davidson. Goldy Schulz thinks she sees the supposedly dead murderer of Goldy's ex-husband. When the local DA dies with a treasure map Goldy is convinced.

Fiction and Three CDs

CDs

Sweet Warrior by Richard Thompson. I already received a copy of this from another library but have not listened to it much. Here is a review. Coincidentally, Thompson's tune When the Spell is Broken is playing on the computer right now.

Big Dog Daddy by Toby Keith. A country singer with a big mouth. I meant that literally, but from the little I know about him it is true figuratively.

5th Gear by Brad Paisley. Another country album. Sixteen tunes by Paisley with a big anti-piracy warning across the disc's front.

Fiction

Dead Ex by Harley Jane Kozak. Comedic murder mystery set in the world of Soap Opera actors and producers.

Play Dirty by Sandra Brown. Disgraced quarterback Griff Burkett is released from prison and gets dangerous job offer from the owner of an airline.

Thunder Bay by William Kent Krueger. Minnesota private detective Cork O'Connor hunts down the long lost Canadian son of his Ojibwe Spiritual adviser, Henry. When someone tries to kill Henry, evidence points to his newly found and wealthy son in Thunder Bay, Ontario.

Force of Nature by Suzanne Brockmann. A thriller in Florida. I didn't bother reading past that part of the description.

DVD

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid starring Robert Redford and Paul Newman. This is a replacement for a broken DVD. Tye new one has a second DVD of extras.

300 Hillary Duff Disturbia Secrets

DVDs

300 starring Gerard Butler, Lena Headey and David Wenham. 300 Spartans defend the Thermopylae pass and kill a bunch of invading Persians.

Disturbia starring Shia LaBeouf, David Morse, Sarah Roemer and Carrie-Anne Moss. A retelling of Hitchcock's Rear Window. Kale is under house arrest so he spends his time watching the neighbors and is convinced is neighbor is a killer. Shia is a guy, by the way, not a gal.

The Secret. The DVD version of the book: "You are holding in your hand a great secret of the universe. It has passed throughout the ages, traveling through centuries...to reach you."

CDs

Dignity by Hillary Duff. Jacob the Page says, "This also has a DVD, so you can listen to the CD and watch the DVD at the same time." Yeah, okay Jacob.

Zeitgeist by The Smashing Pumpkins.

Fiction

The Follower by Jason Starr. Starr's thrillers are supposed to incredibly good. NYC single girl Katie has a stalker with their future together all planned out. "Combining his trademark razor-sharp storytelling talent, The Follower is JaPublish Postson Starr's most suspenseful novel yet."

Empress of Weehawken by Irene Dische. Grandmother Elisabeth Rother writes her memoirs. Skipping over her escape from the Holocaust she goes right to her wayward daughter and granddaughter who - horror - sleep on unironed sheets, refuse rhinoplasty, and become medical examiners rather than concert pianists.

Three AudioBooks and a Large Print

Large Print

Up Close and Personal by Fern Michaels. Sarabess Windsor is the last of the family line in Crestwood, SC. Unless she can find her runaway daughter, Trinity. Conceived as a bone marrow donor Trinity fled Crestwood fifteen years ago.

AudioBooks

Queen of Babble in the Big City by Meg Cabot. Cabot's popularity grew with her Princess Diaries and Mediator series for young adults. Her newer novels like this one are aimed at adults. Main character Lizzie just moved to New York and her big mouth is getting her in trouble in her new and desperately needed job and at home with her live-in boyfriend Luke.

Straight From the Heart by Tami Hoag. Physical therapist Rebecca is still angry at baseball player Jace for dumping her seven years ago. When severely injured Jace is hospitalized and his treatment is assigned to Rebecca she thinks nothing will ever change between them.

Still Summer by Jacquelyn Mitchard. Three women in their early forties reunite for a sailing trip when one returns from overseas. All three have to battle their own frailties plus the rigors of piloting a sailing ship attacked by pirates.

Two New

NonFiction

One-Room Schools of Jefferson County by Johnson Creek Historical Society. Photos, descriptions, histories, and commentary by former students and teachers.

Fiction

Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss. Wisconsin author Rothfuss' fantasy autobiography of Kvothe - notorious magician, accomplished thief, masterful musician, and infamous assassin.

A Sharpe DVD! (other stuff too)

DVD

Sharpe's Challenge starring Sean Bean. Whoa. Sean Bean is looking old. I don't recognize the storyline and the credits say "based on the novels by Bernard Cornwell" so I think this is a mix of the novels and the screenwriter's imagination. Anyway, Wellington sends Sharpe to India to investigate a local Maharajah's threat to British power.

Firehouse Dog starring Josh Hutcherson and some hairy dog with floppy ears. This is a kid's movie but that's okay. Hollywood's star acting dog Rex gets lost in an unfamiliar city. Rex is taken in by 12 year old Josh who's dad runs the local fire station. Hijinks ensue.

CDs

Daughtry by Daughtry. So, what's the deal with this guy? He was on American Idol of something? Well, his album has been selling real well.

Kirk Franklin Presents Songs for the Storm Volume One by Kirk Franklin. A compilation album from contemporary gospel star Franklin.

Fiction

These Boots Weren't Made for Walking by Melody Carlson. Chick-lit novel where career girl loses job, dumps cheating boyfriend and moves back to her ski-resort hometown and her divorced and dating mom.

The Dead Whisper On by T.L. Hines. Hines' Waking Lazarus has been checking out prety well so I bought this latest one. Seems like a sort of horror or suspense novel. Maybe both.

Knife Edge by Malorie Blackman. "Persephone Hadley is six months pregnant with a mixed race baby...the baby's father, Callum, is dead. He was hanged for terrorism months ago...Callum's brother Jude, blames Sephy for the death and thirsts for revenge." Shelved in the YA section.

Ravens of Avalon by Diana L. Paxson. Paxson continues Marion Zimmer Bradley's Avalon series. A novelization of the story of Queen Boudica, raised as a druid and married to King Prasutagos who submits to Roman rule. When Prasutagos dies Boudica is abused by the Romans and leads a rebellion.

Devil's Labrynth by John Saul. After his father dies, grieving fifteen year old Ryan's mother sends him to St. Isaac's boarding school when his behavour is uncontrollable. Ryan arrives wehn St. Isaac's is in turmoil following aviolent death and a disappearance. A new priest arrives to perform secret a exorcism of the school. But, Ryan suspects that evil is being invited in, not pushed away.

NonFiction

Running With the Devil: The True Story of the ATF's Infiltration of the Hell's Angels by Kerrie Droban. I was living in Peoria, AZ in 2003 when there was a major bust of Hell's Angels members and club houses. The bust was possible through the infiltration the Angels' clubs by the ATF and Phoenix PD detectives.

Fiction

Mysteries

Innocence by David Hosp. Boston attorney Scott Finn takes on convicted El Salvadoran Vicente Salazar. Salazar wants a new trial after being convicted fifteen years ago for shooting an undercover cop. Finn uncovers a trail of corruption from Central America to Boston.

Water's Lovely by Ruth Rendell. More of a suspense novel than a mystery, really. Nine years after her sister Heather found their stepfather drowned in the bath, Ismay and Heather live in the same house with their mother and aunt. When Heather has her first serious relationship Ismay's repressed memories of that drowning start to return.

Night Ferry by Michael Robotham. Robotham wrote Lost about an amnesiac London police detective - it was pretty good. In Night Ferry Ali Barba is on leave from injuries sustained during her police work. Ali gets an invitation from high school friend Cate to attend their reunion. Cate and her husband are run over and killed shortly after Cate's strange plea to Ali for help. Ali investigates and finds that obviously pregnant Cate was faking it, and that Cate may have been pregnant before and her infant taken.

Careful Use of Compliments by Alexander McCall Smith. Curious philosopher Isabel Dalhousie investigates a possible art forgery.

Fiction

Blaze by Richard Bachman (Stephen King). Since King wrote this under his pseudonym we did not have it automatically delivered to us upon publication. Well, here it is. Late but intact. Especially late since King wrote the novel in 1973 then found it and revised it a bit.

Justice Denied by J.A. Jance. I know Jance is really popular for several mystery/detective series. But, I heard her speak at a "liberrian" program at Burton Barr and she really annoyed me. This is one of her J.P. Beaumont books set in Seattle.

Thursday Next: first among sequels by Jasper Fforde. I've never read Fforde's novels. They are supposed to be humorous.

Animal Farm and 1984 by George Orwell. Both novels in teh same volume. They are certainly not new but we did not have a copy of Animal Farm so I bought this.

What Matters Most by Luanne Rice. The cover has a picture of a lady wearing a straw hat and sitting on some oceanside rocks. Figure it out yourself.

My Summer of Southern Discomfort by Stephanie Gayle. Well reviewed chicklit. Big-time New York City lawyer Natalie heads to southern Georgia after a disastrous romance. Bored with her new job prosecuting small town crooks she has a new suitor with a nervous tic and a new capital case causing her heartburn.

More Marvelous Media

CDs

Time on Earth by Crowded House. Yeah! Hot Dog! Neil Finn gets the band back together and they put out a new album. If you like this take a look at Crowded House's back catalog (we have a video collection on DVD), Neil's solo albums, and Tim Finn's solo albums (we have two).

Release the Stars by Rufus Wainwright. That Rufus is - as we say in the Saylor household - "kinda weird". Maybe it's because he is Canadian. Oh well, he has a good singing voice and puts together some neat-o albums. Here is a review. We have his sister Martha's album too; it's pretty good.

At My Age by Nick Lowe. The aging pub/punk/pop rocker's latest. You remember him don't you? There is Cruel to be Kind and So It Goes and I Knew the Bride.

DVD

Norbit starring Eddie Murphy, Thandie Newton, and Eddie Griffin. Norbit (Murphy) wants to pursue childhood love Kate but is pursued himself by Rasputia (Murphy in drag).

Audio Book

Spare Change by Robert B. Parker. Boston private eye Sunny Randall's retired policeman father Phil gets a message from the serial killer he chased thirty years ago he calls for Sunny's help.

New Inspirational Fiction, Some NonFiction and a Couple CDs

Fiction

Ghosts of Mary Prairie by Lisa Polisar. Fifteen year old Grady is following his friend Mikey's rules for Intitiation into Manhood by sleeping overnight on the baseball diamond of their small Oklahoma town. Everything is fine until he hears the violent screams of a girl being brutally beaten. Grady learns that he saw the ghost of Mary Prairie who was beaten to death years before and Grady spends his life to find the truth of her story.

Songs of Innocence by Richard Aleas. A new paperback crime novel by Hard Case Crime. Detective John Blake investigates the suicide of a college student with a double life.

Inspirational Fiction

Sunrise by Karen Kingsbury. The first novel of Kingsbury's new Sunrise Series.

Jacob's List by Stephanie Grace Whitson. College student Jacob has a list of things to do before he settles down. Jacob's parents have only stayed together for him, but after seeing his list the need to guide and help him brings them back together.

Revealed and Remembered by Tamera Alexander. Boooks Two and Three of the Fountain Creek Chronicles.

NonFiction

Reclaiming Youth at Risk by Larry K Brendtro.

Beader's Color Mixing Directory: 200 failsafe color schemes for beautiful beadwork by Sandra Wallace.

CDs

Icky Thump by The White Stripes.

Now That's What I Call Music! 24 by various artists. I don't think that I have heard any of these songs.

Four Books

Non-Fiction

Lone Survivor by Marcus Luttrell. Maybe you heard about this. Four Navy SEALs are hiking in Afghanistan when they are spotted by the Taliban. After running and fighting for several hours only one sailor survives. For four days Luttrell fought off the enemy and crawled seven miles before a local village hid him from the Taliban.

Fiction

Critical by Robin Cook. Another medical drama/thriller.

Beyond Reach by Karin Slaughter. Georgia Police Chief Jeffrey Tolliver and his wife, Doctor Sara Linton, help out Detective Lena Adams with a murder investigation.

Burnt House by Faye Kellerman. "Decker and Lazarus are back!" is on the cover. LAPD Lieutenant investigates a commuter plane crash in Los Angeles with a missing stewardess and four extra bodies. Faye Kellerman wears less make-up than her husband Jonathan; that dude lays it on thick.

New DVDs

Making of Milwaukee. Three DVD version of the 5 hour production from Milwaukee Public Television. "Story of Milwaukee from the earliest days of Native Americans, through the tumult of the 1960s, to the city of the early 21st century."

Reno 911!: Miami the movie starring [the cast from the television show] Deputies from the Wahoe County Sheriff's Office visit Miami for the American Police Convention. Absent from the convention's hotel during a bio-terror attack, Lt. Dangle and the other deputies are the only law enforcement officers out of quarantine and in charge of public safety.

So Close starring [Chinese actresses you never heard of]. A Hong Kong action movie with female assassins. Recommended by the prolific Bill Crider.

Hard Boiled starring Chow Yun-Fat, Tony Leung and directed by John Woo. Just released on DVD Hard Boiled helped put Hong Kong action pictures into the mainstream. An undercover cop teams with another cop against a Hong Kong crime lord culminating in a massive shootout at a hospital.

Because I Said So starring Mandy Moore and Diane Keaton. A mother-daughter comedy between a controlling mom and her youngest daughter.

NonFiction

NonFiction

Bomb Squad: a year inside the nation's most exclusive police unit by Richard Esposito and Ted Gersten. Two reporters for television program Nightline did a profile on the NYPD Bomb Squad and decided to do a book. A modern day and historical look at the Bomb Squad.

Armed and Dangerous: the hunt for one of America's most wanted criminals by William Queen. Queen worked for the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms for 20 years. Queen previously wrote Under and Alone about his undercover investigation of a California biker gang. Queen's previous experiences as a hunter and Special Forces soldier make him the ideal cop to track down a notoriously violent narcotics trafficker in the San Bernardino mountains.

Definitive Book of Body Language by Allan and Barbara Pease. Body movement that explains and shows deceit signals, eye signals, personal space and territory, hand gestures, etc.

Assorted Assortment

CD

Era Vulgaris by Queens of the Stone Age. We also have the Queens album Lullabies to Paralyze and Death by Sexy from bandleader Josh Homme's side project Eagles of Death Metal. Good stuff.

NonFiction

How to Start a Business in Wisconsin, 2nd Edition by Entrepeneur Press. Includes a CD-ROM with 198 forms and worksheets.

Large Print

Up Close and Dangerous by Linda Howard. Bailey's adult step-children are enraged when their father wills all his money to Bailey. Then Bailey's small plane crash lands in a forest and she must survive with the pilot, return to civilization, and find if the crash was really an 'accident'.

Meet Me in Venice by Elizabeth Adler. Some romance about Venice.

Audio Books

Don't forget the downloadable audiobooks from Overdrive at http://dbooks.wplc.info/

The Last Summer (of You & Me) by Ann Brashares. Two sisters, Riley and Alice, and a neighboring boy, Paul, grow up together during the summers on Fire Island. Now in their twenties a love triangle develops as Paul returns after three years away.

On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan. Newlyweds on their honeymoon in 1962 England worry over the upcoming wedding night. Edward fears failure and Florence is disgusted by physical contact.

The Navigator by Clive Cussler and Paul Kemprecos. Austin and Zavala get involved in the search for the Navigator statue stolen from Baghdad years ago.

One New DVD. Just One.

Deadwood: The Complete Third Season. The twelve episodes of the HBO series. I've never seen any of these but we have all three seasons on DVD. I know the series characters curse a lot and the show is set in Deadwood, South Dakota during the gold rush there.

DVDs and a Music CD by some garage-rock Swedes

DVDs

Twin Peaks the Second Season starring Kyle MacLachlan, Michael Ontkean, Madchen Amick, Sherilynn Fenn. Season two with cast interviews and comments from episode directors.

Shooter starring Mark Wahlberg, Danny Glover, Elias Koteas, Michael Pena. Film version of Stephen Hunter's novel Point of Impact. Former Marine sniper Bob Lee Swagger is asked to help prevent a sniper assassination of the President. After Swagger is framed for the attempted assassination he's on the run and after those responsible.

Black Snake Moan starring Christina Ricci, Samuel L. Jackson, Justin Timberlake. Ricci plays a superslut held captive by Jackson in an attempt to reform her.

Jesse Stone: Night Passage starring Tom Selleck, Saul Rubinek, Viola Davis. Network movie based on Robert B. Parker's novel Night Passage. Heavy drinker Jesse Stone lost his homicide detective job with the LAPD but gets hired as the new Police Chief in small-town Massachusetts. When investigating a domestic violence case Stone gets on the trail of a money launderer. Great acting by Selleck in a fish-out-of-water picture.

Jesse Stone: Death in Paradise starring Tom Selleck, Viola Davis, Kohl Sudduth. Stone continues to drink too much and fight crime in small town Paradise, MA. A dead teenage girl is found in a lake and Stone finds connections to the Boston mob.

Music and Lyrics starring Hugh Grant and Drew Barrymore. Hugh Grant gets older and older and is paired with a 'younger' actress to appeal to a new demographic. Grant pretends to be a washed up pop star who enlists the help of his gardener to write a song for a current pop star.

The Electric Company's Greatest Hits and Bits starring a bunch of kids from the '70s. This is shelved downstairs in the children's section but may be of more interest for people from 38 to 50 years old.

CD

Nomadic Dementia: The Best of the First 25 Years by the Nomads. Another selection through the help of Little Steven. Garage rock revivalists The Nomads are from outside Stockholm and got started together in 1980.

DVDs

Meatballs starring Bill Murray and Chris Makepeace. Bill Murrary is the Head Camp Counselor at North Star summer camp. This is the so-called "Special Edition" of Meatballs with some extra features added in. This is a great movie even without all the extra 'stuff'.

Ghost Rider starring Nicholas Cage, some Girl-of-a-the-moment, Peter Fonda and - Hey! - Donal Logue! That guy is great! Anyway, Cage sells his soul to the devil and has to moonlight as a fiery corpse who chases down evil souls to send to Hell. Bill Crider liked it, said it was goofy fun.

Children of Men starring Clive Owen, Julianne Moore and Michael Caine. It's 2027 and no children have been born in 18 years. Clive is asked by a former girlfriend to escort to safety the only pregnant woman in the world.

Tegan and Sara: "It's not fun. Don't do it!" Starring Tegan and Sara. back when I used to listen to CBC3 I heard a couple tunes by the two melodic sisters Tegan and Sara. So I bought their So Jealous album for the Library. Then I bought this DVD for the Library. Then the DVD sat for several months until we could find a catalogue record for it. Here it is: a concert film, a few videos and making the album So Jealous.

A new Gun Book! (and some other stuff)

Non Fiction

Gun: a visual history. This is a DK publication which means the photography and graphic design are excellent. Wheellocks, flintlocks, percussion caps, pinfires, machine guns, etc.

Learn to Draw in a Weekend by Richard Taylor. Step-by-step exercises using basic geometric shapes show you how to get started or improve your drawing ability.

101 Great Things to Do with Your Digital Camera by Simon Joinson. "Fascinating, useful, inventive and original ways to make the most of your digital camera."

Hiking With Kids: taking those first steps with young hikers, 2nd Edition by Robin Tawney Nichols. Learn how to select the correct gear, fun activities on the trail, trail etiquette and safety and first aid.

Fiction

Tin Roof Blowdown by James Lee Burke. Dave Robicheaux gets deployed from Iberia Parish to patrol New Orleans immediately after Hurricane Katrina hits. New Orleans is reduced to a medieval society with no power grid and no legal authorities. Amidst the devastation and turmoil Dave is after a serial rapist and a dangerous vigilante.

AudioBooks

Divisadero by Michael Ondaatje.A father and two teen daughters work their California farm with a male farmhand. After a violent episode, the characters are followed along as they try and leave peacefully.

Bad Luck and Trouble by Lee Child. Jack Reacher has been 'off the grid' fro ten years no. He has no license, back account, telephone and no address. When a former Army colleague is able to find him, Reacher hears that his former Army investigative team is being killed off.

Crashing Through: a true story of risk, adventure, and the man who dared to see by Robert Kurson, Blinded when three years old Mike May was already greatly successfull professionally and socially. When he hears of a stem cell treatment that may renew his sight he tries it out.

The Not So Big Life by Sarah Susanka. Susanka's bestselling Not So Big House books revealed a living philosophy through architecture. Now, Susanka directly addresses the "less is truly more" way of living.

DVD

Letters from Iwo Jima starring Ken Watanabe and a bunch of other Japanese actors. The Battle of Iwo Jima from the enemies' perspective.

New Books? Hoo-ray! Hoo-rah! Hoo-roo!

Fiction

Hose Monkey by Tony Spinosa. Joe lost his NYPD job to corruption, his family to divorce and his brother to 9/11. During the days Joe works as a "hose monkey' delivering heating oil to homes on Long Island. When a retarded employee of his company is murdered Joe decides to investigate.

Tender Mercies and Blessing in Disguise by Lauraine Snelling. Two inspirational, romance novels with stories set among the inhabitants of Blessing, North Dakota. In Blessing, heartbroken Augusta leaves Norway for America and her relatives. While those relatives await her at the Blessing depot, Augusta boards the wrong train and meets Kane....who is waiting for his mail-order Norwegian bride. The model for the cover is real good lookin'. In Tender Mary is visiting her brother Zeb in Blessing. Mary assists at the schoolhouse and strikes up ore than a friendship with bachelor Pastor John.

The Reliance by M.L. Tyndall. Captain Edmund's wife is missing and presumed dead. Edmund drowns himself in rum and joins up with the pirate Collier. But, Charlisse is alive and held captive by the pirate Kent. Aarrgghh.

Non Fiction

Long Distance Cyclists' handbook, 2nd Edition by Simon Doughty. All the preparation and equipment needed to successfully complete a thirty-mile charity ride or the 3,000 Race Across America.

Perfect Phrases for Negotiating Salary and Job Offers by Matthew and Nanette DeLuca. Ask for and earn the money you deserve.

Starting Out: Chess Tactics and Checkmates by Chris Ward. Instruction for both improving and expert players.

Animal Tracking Basics by Jon Young and Tiffany Morgan. Good tracking involves more than tracks and scat. This teaches awareness of the animal's food, travel and resting spots.

Michigan Breweries by Paul Ruschmann and Maryanne Nasiatka. A guide to the state's 66 regional breweries, microbreweries and brewpubs. An actual reason to visit that lousy, godforsaken state. Go Illini! Go Badgers!

Mastering Skeet: fundamental shooting techniques for hitting the target in championship form by King Heiple. Control your vision and prevent flinching, best leads for each station, shooters' perception of the skeets' flight. Heck, I don't even a shotgun anymore. Well... I do have a 16 gauge, bolt action Marlin. But, I don't trust it.

More More More

Fiction

The Ever-Running Man by Marcia Muller. Sharon McCone is hired by her husband's security firm to track down a bomber attacking their offices. Narrowly avoiding a bombing herself Sharon has to delve into the security company's, and her husband's, past corruption.

Robert Ludlum's the Bourne Betrayal by Eric Van Lustbader. Jason Bourne goes looking his only friend, Martin Lindros, who disappeared investigating terrorists in Africa. Bourne decides to dismantle the terrorist organization himself as they try to collect material and technology for a nuclear bomb.

Non Fiction

101 Best U.S. Wedding Destinations: top destinations for every style and budget by Kathryn Gabriel Loving. Let's see...Florida, New Mexico, Hawaii, Wisconsin, New Jersey. New Jersey!? New Jersey and not New Hampshire? Wait, maybe it was Vermont I got married in. Oh well, same thing.

Critical Perspectives on World Climate edited by Katy Human. Essays and articles are grouped into four categories: 1. The (Pre)History of Climate Change, 2. Role of Vegetation and Methane in Climate Change, 3. Present and Near-Future Effects of Global Warming, 4. Ongoing Debate over Climate Change

World Energy Crisis by Stuart A. Kallen. From the Compact Research series.

Primary Source Accounts of World War I edited by Glenn Scherer and Marty Fletcher.

New and Nifty Novels

Fiction

High Noon by Nora Roberts. A hardcover by Roberts. Police hostage negotiator Phoebe has a new suitor and a personal threat from a mysterious assailant.

The Quickie by James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge. Patterson continues his early retirement with another co-authored book. Lauren is out for revenge after her husband cheated on her. When Lauren does the same she witnesses a horrific crime but fears exposure if she comes forward as a witness.

Large Print

Something More by Janet Dailey. Luke McCallister and the descendant of a outlaw hunt for the outlaws buried gold in Wyoming.

Knots and Crosses by Ian Rankin. I got this novel as a freebie during the ALA Annual Convention in Washington D.C. after attending a breakfast by the publisher's parent corporation, Thomson. Thomson is a large company and was hosting several breakfasts to demo and promote their products.

I followed the directions on my invitation for the Sunday morning Large Print discussion at the Renaissance Hotel. I arrived a half hour late at Ballroom B and immediately scoped out the coffee. The tables were already filled and were formed in a big U, with the presenter running a database demonstration from inside the formation, so I found an empty chair along the wall.

After sitting down I figured I may as well get something to eat and walked over to the buffet. I ended up filling my plate and, spying an empty seat, took a spot at a table. As I was eating the presenter talks about business databases and the corporate information contained within.

"Okay," I figure, "the large print portion of the program must be next."

Ten minutes later the presenter finishes and the meeting ends. A salesman comes over to meet me and I find out I'm in the wrong ballroom. Thomson switched ballrooms at the last moment and with my late arrival no one was no host at the entryway to let me know. So, I walk to the room next door, scope out the coffee and have a seat. Afterwards we were told to grab a copy of any titles sitting on display and I took this one.

So, enjoy the novel, but no free coffee for you.

NonFiction Variety Pack

Monkeys and Apes

Monkey Portraits by Jill Greenberg. One of the best books of the year! Full color portraits of monkeys and apes by celebrity photographer Greenberg. With Rhesus Macaque, Yellow Baboon, Bonnet Macaque, Orangutan, Mandrill, Gibbon, and others. Oh, yeah!


Entertainment

Singing Cowboys by Douglas Green. Biographies and profiles of well-known and little-known film and television singing cowboys. Written by Douglas B. Green a.k.a Ranger Doug from Riders in the Sky. Includes a music CD with music by Roy Rogers, Tex Ritter, Ken Maynard and others.

24: Behind the Scenes by Jon Cassar. A photo and production history of the television series 24. With coverage of past and present characters, actors, and crew. The included DVD has interviews and a photo gallery.

Hobbies

The Joy of Digital Photography by Jeff Wignall. "Remember when taking pictures was fun and having a camera was inspirational? Those days are back!"

Digital Photography Beyond the camera: expert Photoshop and digital know-how for top-quality images and prints by Ian Farrell.

Java Demystified: a self-teaching guide by Jim Keogh. A do-it-yourself Java guide.

New Ideas for Today's Crochet by Jean Leinhauser and Rita Weiss. A variety of women's designs with tops, dresses, and even bikinis.

Crocheted Wire Jewelry: Innovative Designs and Projects by Leading Artists by Arline M. Fisch. "By crocheting with wire, which is as easy to work with as yarn, you can make lacy structures that hold their form while retaining a great deal of flexibility."

Cooking

Mr. Food Diabetic Dinners in a Dash: more than 150 fast and fabulous guilt-free recipes by Art Ginsburg. Fast and easy to make recipes published by the American Diabetes Association.

Assorted Good Things

NonFiction

175 Best Jobs Not Behind a Desk by Michael Farr and Laurence Shatkin. "Would you rather work outdoors or in a physically active job than be chained to a desk? Fortunately, many high-activity jobs have good earnings and are expected to grow. Now you can easily pinpoint the top-gear gear careers that suit you best."

Precalculus Demystified: a self-teaching guide by Rhonda Huettenmueller. Clear and concise solutions. I just saw that the actress who played Winnie in The Wonder Years, Danica McKellar, has a new math book coming out entitled Math Doesn't Suck.

Critical Perspectives on Pollution Stephanie Watson, editor. Aimed at the high school crowd with essays grouped into the topics Environmental Fallout, Human Toll, Animals in the Wake, and Forging a Cleaner Future.

Fiction

Con Ed by Matthew Klein. A beautiful blonde offers recently release con Kip a chance to swindle her billionaire husband. A con is never as easy as it sounds. But, after the blonde sweetens the deal and Kip finds his son in hock to Russian mobsters the deal is too good to pass up.

Unknown Terrorist by Richard Flanagan. Australian stripper Gina has a brief hook-up with a surfer dude. Gina wakes up to see the surfer's face plastered across the news and proclaimed a terrorist. Gina becomes Australia's Most Wanted and goes on the run.

Rat Run by Gerald Seymour. Seymour always writes really solid thrillers. Usually with a espionage bent, Seymour's last several novels have set his English characters in the Middle East. Former Intelligence Officer Malachy Kitchen was kicked out of the Army under suspicion of cowardice in Iraq. Back in England, Malachy starts his own fight against the local drug gangs in his neighborhood in an effort to redeem his pride and ends up butting heads with a local crimelord who is importing a terrorist in his next shipment.

Medicus: a novel of the Roman Empire by Ruth Downie. A roman Doctor stuck in the hinterlands of Britannia buys an abused slave girl and investigates why all the local prostitutes are missing.

Simply Magic by Mary Balogh. A romance.

Mysteries

In the Woods by Tana French. 23 years ago three children went to play in the woods outside Dublin. Only one was found. Now that survivor is a detective on the Murder Squad and when an identical crime occurs he must use his slivers of memory to try and solve the crime.

Hard Man by Alan Guthrie. The great and mighty Guthrie returns with another tale of Scottish tough guys. Ex-con Pearce is asked to protect a pregnant sixteen year old from her violent, martial-arts-expert husband Baxter. Baxter isn't the father and when he hears Pearce is involved in his wife's protection he kills Pearce's dog. Now Pearce is angry.

Love Kills by Edna Buchanan. Former reporter Britt Montero has been hiding away in solitude for three years ever since her cop boyfriend was killed. Now the Cold Case Squad wants to talk to her at the same time Britt finds out a recent widower may not be just a widower.

Grave Tattoo by Val McDermid. A weirdly tattoed body is uncovered in the English Lake District. Is the local tale that Fletcher Christian snuck back to England from Pitcairn Island and stayed with old friend, and poet, William Wordsworth true? Wordsworth specialist Jane Gresham hunts for the rest of the story about a secret Wordsworth manuscript and finds herself hunted as well.

Fictional Swedes, Trojans, and Mannies

Manny by Holly Peterson. Holly Peterson's workaholic husband is never around so Manhattanite Holly hires a male nanny - a manny - to be a role model for her troubled 9 year old son. Frazzled career girl Holly is impressed with more than manny Jamie's childcare skills and wonders if he will ground her flighty life or sweep her away.

Innocent as Sin by Elizabeth Lowell. Rand McCree's self imposed exile in the woods has come to an end when he gets the name of the man who murdered his twin brother five years ago. Kayla Shaw escapes a kidnapping attempt to find her accused of laundering money through her banking job. When the killer of McCree's brother targets Kayla McCree is the only one to keep her alive.

Troy: Shield of Thunder by David Gemmell. Blood feuds, fierce battles, and remarkable courage in a sharply detailed tale of the siege of Troy and the competing loves and conspiracies of the Kings involved.

Blood Spilt by Asa Larsson. Larsson is the winner of Sweden's best crime novel award. Scandinavian noir set in the long days of midsummer Sweden. A rural female priest has been murdered and former big-city attorney Rebekah sees parallels to religious murders she was involved in before.

Quickie by James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge. Devoted wife Lauren has a revenge affair when she discovers her husband was cheating on her. Lauren witnesses a brutal crime at the same time as her affair but revealing her knowledge would reveal her infidelity.

Lean Mean Thirteen by Janet Evanovich. Stephanie is asked by Ranger to meet with her ex-husband Dickie to find out if he is up to something shady. When Dickie goes missing, Stephanie is a suspect.

Double Agents by W.E.B. Griffin and William E. Butterworth IV. Another novel following the OSS through World War Two.

Bungalow 2 by Danielle Steel. Tanya Harris gets a call to be sriptwriter for an A-List producer. Living for a bungalow at the Beverly Hills Hotel Tanya leave sher family behind as she is seduced by the glamour of her new job.

Large Print Fiction

Target by Stella Cameron. The three siblings living in Point Judah, Louisiana are the only survivors of a 20 yeard old mass murder in California. In hiding ever since their childhood commune was slaughtered by it's leader, Colin, the discovery of the bodies leads the murderous Colin back to them.

Hot Stuff by Janet Evanovich and Leanne Banks. Boston southsider Cate Madigan is saving her bartending income to move to a nice and quiet place. Then her missing roommate, Marty, sends her a 120 lbs Bull Mastiff dog for Cate to care for and Cate's apartment is broken into. Now, Cate has stalkers and a possibley dangerous cop after her.

Absolute Fear by Lisa Jackson. Eve returns to New Orleans to escape the memory of her friend's murder and the fact that her former lover, Cole, did the crime. When Cole is released bizarre killings trace back to the former asylum where Eve's doctor father used to bring Eve to work when she was a child.

Wedding Officer by Anthony Capella. Officer James Gould is in charge of approving weddings between servicemen and locals in 1944 Naples, Italy. Gould's efficiency against corruption leads to the locals to try and distract him by setting Gould up with a new cook, the beautiful Livia.

Hunter's Moon by Randy Wayne White. Florida fisherman Doc Ford saves a former president from assassination. With only a short time to live, the president decides Ford is the man to spring him from his security detail and help him investigate his dead wife's plane crash in Nicaragua.

Devil Who Tamed Her by Johanna Lindsey. Ophelia's reputation was destroyed when she purposefully wrecked her engagement to the future marquis of MacTavish. MacTavish's best friend Raphael Locke wonders whether Ophelia is all bad and bets his friend her can turn her into a kind-hearted lady.

Double Take by Catherine Coulter. Julia Ransom's psychic husband was murdered and now Julia is struck on the head and thrown into San Francisco Bay. Charlotte Pallack may be the missing wife of Virginia Sheriff Dixon Noble. FBI Special Agents Savich and Sherlock put the clues together.

Back on Blossom Street by Debbie Macomber. Members of the knitting class at A Good Yarn yarnshop share their stories and personal turmoils.

New Noir and the Masterful Rossi

Fiction

Cruel Poetry by Vicki Hendricks. Noir novel set in Miami, "Renata is young, beautiful, and has sex for money and kicks. Few are immune to her intoxicating allure - even her pet Burmese python, Pepe, seems captive to her charm. Richard is one of her clients, a poetry professor with a wife and two sons, whose erotic fascination with Rennie threatens his home and job. Meanwhile, Jules, a shy wannabe-novelist, spies on Rennie from her next door room in between bouts of frustrated writing. Both would do anything to save Rennie from her dangerous occupation and become her one true love."
Jeez...that makes it sound kind of like a romance novel. It isn't.

Biography

What if I had Never Tried It by Valentino Rossi. Italian superstar Rossi, multiple winner of motorcycle Grand Prix titles, tells about racing and winning with three different teams.

A Really nice atlas and some bestselling authors

Fiction

Double Take by Catherine Coulter. The cover illustration has a picture of Alcatraz Island at night and the subtitle is: An FBI Thriller. Without looking at the book's summary I'm going to assume the FBI deal with some criminal who likes Alcatraz.

Navigator by Clive Cussler with Paul Kemprecos. I don't read Cussler's books but he has legions of fans. I hope he is not disappointing them by having a writing partner do all the work.

Stalin's Ghost by Martin Cruz Smith. Smith is an excellent writer and his Arkady Renko novels have all been fantastic. Renko is a Russian police detective in Moscow. In previous novels Arkady has worked in Moscow, Berlin, aboard a fishing vessel in the North Pacific, and Cuba. In this one, Renko investigation into ghostly sitings in the Moscow subway dovetail with his suspicions that a right-wing police colleague is a hired killer.

Harlequin by Laurell K. Hamilton. Another vampires and sex novel by Hamilton.

Devil Who Tamed Her by Johanna Lindsey. Another romance by Lindsey.

Large Print

Magic City by James W. Hall. Hey! I read this one! Florida Keys beach bum Thorn is going to watch his Miami girlfriend's senile father while she is out of town. Thorn gets into a fight with two Cuban thugs who try to rob the girlfriend's house and things go downhill. A good novel with great characters and a fantastic use of setting.

McKetrick's Luck by Linda Lael Miller. A romance set in modern day Arizona between a rancher dude and a real estate gal.

NonFiction

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life by Barbara Kingsolver. Novelist Kingsolver and family vow to live for one year only on the food they can buy locally or grow on their own. It wasn't always easy but it is certainly interesting.

Rumsfeld: his rise, fall, and catastrophic legacy by Alexander Cockburn. Rumsfelds incompetence, arrogance, and vanity are harshly exposed. I've been listening to Not a Good Day ot Die by Sean Naylor which is about 2002's Operation Anaconda in Afghanistan. Rumsfeld's arbitrary cap on U.S. forces in Afghanistan and pulling military leaders back to the U.S. to plan for the Iraq invasion was a major factor contributing to the failures of Anaconda and our continued trouble there with the Taliban and Al-Quaeda.

map:satellite by Philip Eales. A wicked good atlas by the genius crew at Dorling-Kindersley. The atlas using a great mix of satellite imagery and traditional cartography.

Vicki Hendricks and some Large Print

Noir Mystery

Miami Purity by Vicki Hendricks. I have not read this yet,but Bill Crider gave Hendricks' books high marks. A noir book with sex, violence, and crazy people in Miami.

Large Print

The Navigator by Clive Cussler with Paul Kemprecos. A NUMA FILES novel with character Kurt Austen.AUstin hunts for a stolen Phoenician statue.

Invisible Prey by John Sadnford. Lucas Davenport suspects two seemingly unrelated murders of rich, elderly women are connected.

Heart of Texas, Vol. 1 by Debbie Macomber. Two short novels by Macomber: Lonesome Cowboy and Texas Two-Step.

Spare Change by Robert B. Parker. Sunny Randall is asked by her retired cop father to assist when a mass murderer her father hunted thirty years reappears.

NonFiction

NonFiction

Lung Cancer by by Experts at the American Cancer Society. Non-small cell and small cell cancers. Prevention, diagnosis, treatment, post-treatment, etc.

Illustrated Manual of Sniper Skills by Mark Spicer. Author Mark Spicer was a British Army sniper and sniper instructor, served as an expert witness for the prosecution in the D.C. Sniper trial, and does training for McMillan rifles. Covers optics, tactics, training, countermarksmanship, etc.


52 Weekend Makeovers: easy projets to transform your home inside and out by Taunton Press, Inc. Closet makeover, overhead shelves, tile floor, sink and faucet upgrades, painted cabinets, etc.

Fitted Knits: 25 designs for the fashionable knitter by Stefanie Japel.

101 Ways to Workout with Weights by Cindy Whitmarsh. Multiple exercise to perform with handweights and dumbells.

Spanish

Los 1000 Primeros Dias de Tu Bebe by Italo Farnetani.

Large Print and The Dollyrots

CD

Because I'm Awesome by The Dollyrots. The Dollyrots get regular airplay on Little Steven's Underground Garage radio show (available online, too). They are a garage/punk band with a sense of humour and lots of energy. The title track is good, as is My Best Friend's Hot.

Large Print

Withering Heights by Dorothy Cannell. From the book jacket, "The formerly plump girl turned Thin Woman may now be happily married and a mother, but Ellie haskell hasn't lost her wit, her weakness for Gothic romance, or her knack for solving crimes."

McKettrick's Pride by Linda Lael Miller. Ranching widower Rance rustles a roving, and randy, retailer for readers.

Simply Magic by Mary Balogh. A regency romance.

An Unexpected Family by Joan Medlicott. Kathleen Simmons comes to the Covington house and announces she is the illegitimate daughter of Amelia's late husband. In reaction to her husband's betrayal Amelia rejects Kathleen and her 7 year old daughter. But 7 year old Clarisse is the spitting image of Amelia's dead daughter.

Fiction with a slew of VIctoria Houston mysteries

Victoria Houston

Houston paid the Library a visit about three weeks ago and spoke about her work as an author and her experiences in publishing. We now have a collection of all the paperback editions of her Dead series.

In no particular order, those new copies are:

Dead Boogie
Dead Hot Mama
Dead Jitterbug
Dead Creek
Dead Water
Dead Angler
Dead Frenzy

Fiction

Freefire by C.J. Box. I read a review of this in the newspaper, maybe the Wisconsin State Journal, and it received a raving review. Former Wyoming game warden Joe Pickett is asked to investigate the murders of four campers in a remote part of Yellowstone National Park that has overlapping jurisdictions, none of which can charge the mass murderer with a crime. The Wyoming governor himself asks for Pickett's help after the murderer walks away from his murders in this freefire zone.

Spare Change by Robert B. Parker. Series lead Sunny Randall is asked by her retired cop father for help after the serial killer he hunted thirty years ago resurfaces.

On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan. Newlyweds in 1962 England struggle on their wedding night to adjust to marraige and it's intimacy.

New DVDs

Apocalypto starring a bunch of Central American actors. Yeah, Mel Gibson is an angry drunk, but the movie is still good. Young guy Jaguar Paw is captured and taken to a Mayan city for sacrifice. He escapes and rushes home to protect his wife and child.

The Queen starring Helen Mirren, James Cromwell, Michael Sheen. The story of Princess Diana's death from Queen Elizabeth II's private viewpoint. It's funny how many different roles Helen Mirren has had. She was nude in several of them. Thank goodness we don't have to see the Queen in the buff. For a different interpretation of the Queen take a look at one of our Kids in the Hall DVD sets.

No Restraint starring Matthew Barney and Bjork. Artist Matthew Barney produced The Cremaster Cycle, three astounding and stunning motion pictures that showed at different art museums. No Restraint follows two characters, played by Barney and Bjork, as mysterious passengers on a Japanese whaling vessel filled with 45,000 pounds of petroleum jelly (one of Barney's favorite mediums). Speaking of nude actresses, I think Bjork appears nude in this one. She is married to Barney too.

Notes on a Scandal starring Judi Dench, Cate Blanchett and Bill Nighy. Mean, old teacher Barbara has a thing for popular, younger teacher Sheba. When Barbara finds out Sheba has been sleeping with one of her students she blackmails Sheba into a relationship. Creepy, huh? I don't know if either one is nude or not.

Painted Veil starring Naomi Watts and Edward Norton. The bored, beautiful and unfaithfull wife of Dr. Fane is spending most of her time in colonial Shanghai sleeping around. So, Dr. Fane gets a job in the hinterlands in a cholera ravaged town and brings her with him. Can she adjust? Will the marriage last? Watch and find out. Not sure of the nudity quotient but that Watts gal is a great actress. She was nude in Mullholland Drive.

Hannibal Rising starring Gaspard Ulliel, Gong Li, Rhys Ifans. Hannibal's life in post-war Europe and Paris and his turn into Hannibal the Cannibal. I bet there is cannibalism.

Seraphim Falls starring Liam Neeson and Pierce Brosnan. Three years after the Civil War: former Union Captain Gideon is pursued across the west by former Confederate Colonel Carver who is intent on revenge. Nudity? I don't know. But, if there is any I don't want to see it from those two dudes.

Favorites Authors and Chevy Chase

Mystery

Whack-a-Mole by Chris Grabenstein. The third John Ceepak mystery by Grabenstein. Ceepak is Mr. Straight Arrow. A policeman in the vacation town of Sea Haven, New Jersey, Ceepak's personal code is that he will not lie, cheat, or steal nor tolerate those who do. Ceepak once ticketed his partner, Danny Boyle for an illegal left turn. Boyle narrates the series and all of them have good humour about the straight-laced Ceepak. Ceepak loves quoting Springsteen and is an excellent investigator.

Requiem for an Assassin by Barry Eisler. I've read about three other Eisler books featuring assassin John Rain and all were quite good. I have a copy of this at home and have enjoyed the first 60 pages or so. Rain has been an international hitman for about 25 years and his paranoia and tradecraft have kep him alive, and lonely, all that time. Rain has recently retired but an enemy has kidnapped Rain's best and only friend, Dox, to coerce Rain into taking on a job. This will get ugly.
Author Bary Eisler will be making an appearance in Milwaukee on June 12th.

Fiction

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Kholeid Hussein. Hussein's Kite Runner has been very popular. Thousand covers thirty years of recent Afghan history seen by two generations of an Afghan family. From the Soviety invasion, Afghan resistance, through the rise and fall of the Taliban.

Sleeping Doll by Jeffery Deaver. California Burea of Investigations agent Kathryn Dance is assigned to interrogate convicted murderer Daniel Pell about a recently discovered murder. Pell is in prison for his copycat Charles Manson killings in Carmel for which he never talked about. When Pell escapes and goes on a killing spree Dance is in charge of the manhunt and pulls together Pell's former cult members and the one survivor of the Carmel murders to try and determine his purpose.

The Children of Hurin by J.R.R. Tolkien, edited by Christopher Tolkien. Christopher Tolkien pulled together and edited his father's writings and notes on the history of Middle Earth and presents a unified history that details Middle Earth history. Very well reviewed and well written by both Tolkiens.

Biography

I'm Chevy Chase...and You're Not by Rena Fruchter. Chase's authorized biography.