The Grimm Legacy by Polly Shulman

What if all of those magical items in the Grimm fairy tales existed and actually still worked?  What if there were a circulating material repository that kept all of these wondrous things and much more?  And what if you were a high school girl who had helped a fairy godmother without knowing it and then suddenly been offered a job as a page at the repository?  This is the story told in The Grimm Legacy by Polly Shulman.

Things are going oddly at the repository.  Some items have been stolen.  Others have mysteriously lost their magic.  And four teens - two boys and two girls - have to solve the disappearances, the dissipating magic, and sort through their relationships, all at the same time.  To make it even more fun, they are being followed by an odd man and a gigantic bird.  Throw in a high school teacher who used to work at the repository and his wonder dog Griffin and things get entertaining.

When the repository director and more than one of the pages go missing, the others find that time is running out and it become critical for them to get to the bottom of the mysteries surrounding the Grimm Collection.

This is a Young Adult book, but anyone with a love of fairy tales and those who are young at heart will enjoy this story.

Kathi

The Mystery of Mary by Grace Livingston Hill

In my younger days, I read Grace Livingston Hill's stories as often as I could find one I hadn't read. 

Many authors have a formula of sorts that they follow.  If you read several of their books in a row, you find that the stories are basically the same with different names for the main characters. That isn't true for Grace Livingston Hill.  Each of her stories has a uniqueness about it.

This weekend, I found The Mystery of Mary in the new book section.  I read it in about 2 1/2 hours.  In spite of it being a short book and having been writing in the context of 1912, it is still a very readable story.  It has stalkers, would-be kidnappers, an "escapee" from a mental institution, and a "knight in shining armor" type of hero. 

If you liked Grace Livingston Hill in the past, this is your next good read.  If you've never read any of her books, this is a fun one to start with.  It is a gentle romance with an interesting plot.

Kathi

Welcome to the World, Baby Girl

Fannie Flagg’s Welcome to the World, Baby Girl  is a bit of a departure from the usual happenings of Elmwood Springs. Oh, our favorite characters-- Neighbor Dorothy,  poor Tot, and Aunt Elner—are all present but the main character of the book is Baby Girl, Dena Nordstorm.  Dena lives in Elmwood Springs as a toddler but suddenly leaves with her mother after a visit from a mysterious German-speaking stranger. And so Dena’s story begins.

Dena and her mother move from place to place seemingly on the run.  Not until Dena is grown and is trying to achieve a successful career in New York City’s competitive TV news arena does she begin to wonder about her childhood.  Health problems brought on by anxiety force Dena to question many events of her past.  A return to Elmwood Springs gives Dena the opportunity to make some reasonable decisions about her future.

Characters you love and hate, the TV news ratings game, and  Elmwood Springs history  make this Fannie Flagg novel an interesting combination of her usual humor in a different sort of story. Pick up a copy of Welcome to the World, Baby Girl at the JCPL check-out desk and join the Fantastic Fictioneers on Friday, June 15 at 11 AM. You’ll enjoy the book and the discussion.

Jane Kaufman

Friendship Bread by Darien Gee

Last summer, the Fantastic Fictioneers, one of our library's book discussion groups, read The Day the World Came to Town by Jim DeFede. This book is a true account of what happened in Gander, Newfoundland on September 11, 2001. Thirty-six planes with more than 6,000 passengers were diverted to Gander (population 10,000) because of the 9/11 attack. This small town and nearby communities amazingly provided these stranded people with every comfort they could imagine.
Friendship Bread by Darien Gee is another wonderful story of people-helping-people. In the fictional town of Avalon, Illinois, a young mother is struggling with a personal tragedy. Julia receives a starter of Amish friendship bread and the story begins. By sharing the recipe, she meets newcomers in town and connects with old friends. In a tiny tea shop, friends and neighbors bond by sharing the friendship bread, adding their own variations to the recipe. When a nearby community suffers a weather disaster, the ladies of Avalon use the tea shop and lots of friendship bread to help the neighboring town cope with their catastrophe.
I was reminded of this book again with the recent outbreak of tornades to the South. I'm sure many moving stories came out of Henryville and the neighboring communities--a lot of really feel-good stories. So read this really feel-good book.

War Horse by Michael Morpurgo

I learned of the book War Horse when I saw the preview for the upcoming movie. I thought it looked like a good story. I thought right. I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

 It is a story of a farm horse named Joey from Devon,England who gets sold to the calvary during WWI and shipped to France. He bravely serves on both the English and German sides, weathering the harshest of circumstances. Ending up in No Man's Land, he is approached by both an Englishman and a German, and after a very touching scene, his fate is decided by the toss of a coin. The ending almost made me cry. Whether it was a happy or sad cry; I'll never tell.

 The only downside for me was that when Michael Morpurgo referenced the horses sleeping, he was always talking about them laying down. Horses rarely lay down to sleep, or anything else for that matter. He also mentioned Joey licking someone's face (or at least thinking about it). Growing up on 40 acres and raising horses causes me to beg the question, "How much research did he spend on horses before he wrote this book?" Overall, I would give this book an 8 out of 10. I can hardly wait to see the movie to come out to see how they adapted it to film.

Joanna

3 New Beading Books

For you beaders, the library has three new books on beading.  Some of the work looks easy.  Some is more intricate.  Here are the titles:

Artisitc Seed Bead Jewelry: Ideas and Techniques for Original Designs by Maggie Roschyk
Classical Elegance: 20 Beaded Jewelry Designs by Maggie Meister
Peyote Stitch: Basic Techniques, Advanced Results by Stitch Workshop

They will be in the new book section upstairs for the next couple of months.

Kathi Linz

Knit Along with Debbie Macomber: Friendship Shawls

Knit Along with Debbie Macomber: Friendship Shawls is new in at the library.  For all you knitters with outreach goals, this book gives 10 patterns for beautiful prayer/comfort shawls.  In my opinion, (and I'm not THAT much of a knitter) some patterns look easy and some look more advanced.

While Debbie Macomber points out doing these shawls for Warm Up America.org, they can be used to extend prayers and well wishes to anyone you know who needs moral support.

Kathi Linz

The Prayer Shawl Ministry Volume 2

The Prayer Shawl Ministry Volume 2 by Lion Brand Yarn

New at the library.

Here are 10 prayer/comfort shawl patterns combined with testimonies of those who have received them and prayers to use while knitting or crocheting the various patterns.

This book has beautiful photos and clear instructions as to how to knit or crochet each pattern.

Kathi Linz

Grace Under Pressure by Julie Hyzy

I enjoyed Julie Hyzy's White House Chef series.  So I anticipated enjoying this first book about a curator in a private museum called Grace Under Pressure. 

Lately, I've turned in even some of my favorite authors half-read.  Not this book!  I lost several hours of sleep for reading this mystery.

On page one, Grace confronts a large man in the museum restaurant who is making a huge ruckus.  As it turns out, the man was creating a distraction while Grace's boss was murdered.  There isn't a wasted page in the whole story.  Family secrets, hidden passages, intentional misinformation, and privilege all turn the story around.

I can't wait to read part two, Grace Interrupted.

Kathi Linz

The Scroll by Grant Jeffrey and Alton Gansky

Among the finds during the search for the Dead Sea scrolls was one scroll made out of copper.  It was not a copy of Scripture or an Essene writing.  The copper scroll listed various treasures and artifacts presumably from the Second Temple in Jerusalem and the places they had been hidden.  To date, no treasure has been found from the list on the Copper Scroll. 

But what if...?

The premise of The Scroll by Grant Jeffrey and Alton Gansky is that the best biblical archaeologists in the world with unlimited funding and the blessing of the Israeli government go on a huge treasure hunt for the Temple treasures.

Sounds like a dream come true for the archaeologists.  However, interpersonal tensions on the team and the fact that someone is feeding information to news sources and Israel's enemies throws deadly challenges at the team.  They are at risk with every breath, and not all of the team will live to see the project completed.

Kathi Linz

If You Ask Me: (And of Course You Won't) by Betty White

I very much enjoyed reading Betty White's new book, If You Ask Me: (And of Course You Won't).  It's a great book to pick up if you are often interrupted while reading or for a quick few pages before sleeping.  Betty's book is a series of anecdotes and thoughts about her acting life and lessons learned from her parents.  She has quite a bit to say about the animals she's loved -  which are numerous.
There's nothing pretentious about this accomplished woman. 

Kathi Linz

New Books for Yarnies

Looking for new ideas? Here are a few new yarn art books that have come in recently:

Teeny-Tiny MochiMochi: More than 40 Itty-Bitty Minis to Knit, Wear, and Give by Anna Hracjovec
Crochet Master Class: Lessons and Projects from Today's Top Crocheters by Jean Leinhauser and Rita Weiss (Beautiful, but not easy)
Crochet Compendium: The Ultimate Collection of Crochet Techniques by Connie Ellison
Go Crochet: Afghan Design Workbook by Ellen Gormley (Some very cool motifs and combinations)

And a couple for the KNOTTERS in the group:

Macrame Today: Contemporary Knotting Projects by Darlyn Susan Yee
The Weekend Crafter: Macrame: 19 Great Weekend Projects by Jim Gentry

Come and get 'em.

Kathi Linz

How to Write Your Best Story: Advice for Writers on Spinning an Enchanting Tale by Philip Martin.

How to Write Your Best Story: Advice for Writers on Spinning an Enchanting Tale by Philip Martin has excellent advice on structuring a story, making memorable main characters and villains, and putting a twist at the end.

One bit that I gleaned from this book is, don't make your characters too likable.  That only makes them bland and forgettable.  Some of the examples used for memorable characters were Captain Hook, Long John Silver, the Cat in the Hat, Pippi Longstockings, and Sherlock Holmes. Each one has his/her eccentricities.  Each is unforgettable once you have spent time with them.

Check this book out for more important story-weaving tips.

Kathi Linz

Odyssey of the Gods: The History of Extraterrestrial Contact in Ancient Greece by Erich von Daniken

Once upon a time, a long time ago, I read Erich von Daniken's book Chariots of the Gods.  I love history - the older, the better. I thought his idea about artifacts pointing to extraterrestrial contact was interesting.  But what I loved most was hearing about parts of history that I might otherwise have missed.

I have always enjoyed Greek mythology, so when I saw Odyssey of the Gods: The History of Extraterrestrial Contact in Ancient Greece by Erich von Daniken, I picked it up to see what he had to say about one of my favorite subjects.  Although I don't buy his overriding premise, Mr. von Daniken has done excellent historical research yet again.  In this book, he especially describes the stories of Jason and the Argonauts, the Odyssey of Homer, the Dialogues of Plato as touches Atlantis, and some of the advanced mathematics, technology, and maps of the time.  I thought it was worth my time.

Kathi Linz

Wreck the Halls: Cake Wrecks Gets Festive by Jen Yates

The next time you would like to have a good laugh, pick up Wreck the Halls: Cake Wrecks Gets Festive by Jen Yates.  The book has commentary by the author about photos of "professionally baked" cakes.  Trust me, these bakers will never be featured on Cake Boss or Ace of Cakes! 

I laughed so hard at a couple of the cakes that my dogs thought I was dying.  My husband laughed just as hard, but it was different cakes that tickled his funny bone.  You can't miss with this collection of humorous cakes.

Kathi Linz