Check Us Out!

Of all the diversions of life, there is none so proper to fill up its empty spaces as the reading of useful and entertaining authors.
Joseph Addison





Here are some of the most useful and entertaining authors who made me smile! What a plethora of new books!



It was hot and he walked
into a library to cool off-
"I'm a writer today now because of a librarian giving me To Kill a Mockingbird back in 1968." Author Michael Connelly-lucky for us!



Take a look at a few of the new additions to our collection, see any you like? I hardly know where to begin. Well, yes I do.....James Lee Burke and Daniel Silva are my two top picks. I can always count on a good mystery from Burke and an edge of your seat thriller from Silva.

Gargoyle is getting rave reviews and looks to be the book to read and it is the debut of the author; One Minute to Midnight: Kennedy, Khrushchev, and Castro on the Brink of Nuclear War is about the Cuban Missile Crisis; The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society is another debut that has been given good reviews; Dark Side: The Inside Story of How the War on Terror Turned inot a War on American Ideals is about the Bush White House and the Iraqi War; Last Lecture is not new but with the passing of the author I felt the need to remind everyone what a wonderful book it is on how to live life to the fullest. So many books, what a bumper crop of good reading!

Come on in-check us out, something for everyone-Murder? Love? Heartbreak? Tension? Politics? Old friends....new authors...come on in and lose yourself in the total bliss of books, new and old. What will you choose?

Why DO You Read?

The things I want to know are in books; my best friend is the man who'll give me book I ain't read.
Abraham Lincoln

Okay, the big question I am asked is-how can you read so much? Easy, I love it. What else can you do that is so easy? Why do I read? Here are some of the reasons:

1) Relaxation-I sit back, grab a book and I find myself going ”ahhhh” as I lose myself in the pages of a book.

2) Increases my vocabulary- yes, I have a dictionary nearby when I read. I never know when I am going to come across a word that I don’t know, or understand the usage of it.

3) Never get bored-how can I be bored when I can pick up a book up to read?

4) Good for conversation-When I find I am at a loss for words, I ask “have you read any good books lately?” then we go on for hours.

5) Easily Portable-I can take my choice of entertainment wherever I go. Always handy for those waits in the doctor’s office, dentists, sitting at the beach, hair dressers, pedicures-I take a book everywhere.

6) Makes me think-anything that makes anyone think is a wonderful thing.

7) Education-I can’t count how many times I have finished a book and said wow-I didn’t know that!

8) Patience- best way to learn patience is to read a book. Books that catch my interest will keep me turning the pages until the end. I have been known to stay up until the wee hours of the morning to finish a book, patience.

9) Knowledge & Adventure-I go wherever the book takes me-fantasy, science fiction, history, romance, and humor.

10) Pleasure-the most important reason I read, it gives me pleasure. I anticipate the book I am going to sit down to read with pleasure.

While reading may seem to be solitary, believe me it’s not. One of the greatest pleasures of reading is you share your enjoyment with other people.

So-why do you read?

Reading is a vacation for the mind, can you think of a easier one to take? And remember:

Summer Lite.....

Read books.They are good for us.

Natalie Goldberg


I was on vacation for a few weeks and with vacation comes summer lite reading. What did I reach for when I wanted to lose myself in a book? I read Lynn Kurland. Kurland has several different series but the one I tried was her time-travel Highlander series. I have been a sucker for a good time-travel since I read Diana Gabaldon's the Outlander. Wow...did she take me on a trip back to Scotland in 1743. I also enjoyed Karen Maire Moning's Highlander series, so deciding to read Kurland's was a no-brainer. In the previous books it was usually the woman who accidently ran into a time-traveler and took the trips back, Kurland's series has had the woman and the guy traveling back and forth. The one I started with is With Every Breath. Sunny Phillips is relaxing at home in front of her fire wondering what her future holds and if she will ever find love with a good man when there is a pounding at her front door. When she opens it, it seems her dreams have all come true! There, at her door, is a Highlander- in full medieval regalia telling her she must come with him and he grabs her hand and out the door she goes. Outside her door things have greatly changed....it is 13TH century Scotland and the medieval laird has his horse waiting to take her to his castle! It is quite the adventure for Sunny and her Highlander with them coming from different backgrounds, so to speak. Here we have time-travel, romance, backstabbing, love, tears, bad memories....just the kind of book to laze away the summer days with. I liked it, not as much as Gabaldon's or Moning's, but I will pick up another Kurland, after all, summer isn't over yet.

Books mentioned in my blog------}

Kite Runner or A Thousand Splendid Suns?

A real friend is one who

takes the hand of his friend

in time of distress and helplessness

Afghanistan Proveb

Having read both Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns I wanted to share what I thought about the two books. While the similarities are there, both set in Afghanistan, the takeover of Afghanistan by the Soviets and the Taliban reign of terror and the changes that took place during these events the main difference is with the characters.

The Kite Runner, as previously posted, shares the growing up of two boys and the turns their lives took. A Thousand Splendid Suns takes a look into the lives of the women of Afghanistan and how they had to live. I felt a connection to the characters in Kite Runner, I wanted to pick up the book whenever I had a spare minute and find out what was going on in their lives. The description of the kite running made me feel like I was there watching it.

With A Thousand Splendid Suns I felt like shouting at the main characters for things that happened to them. This is where the realization hits-that we have a choice and control over what can happen to us can get taken for granted. These women have to accept the abuse in their lives because they are looked upon as second-class, if that. I also wanted to shout-ENOUGH!!! I had to put the book down to take a break from the relentless description of the two women's lives.

So.....I loved the Kite Runner. I went "wow" when I put it down. We did this for a book discussion and it was one of the best discussions we have had. I did not feel the same about A Thousand Suns. Did I like the book? No. Would I recommend it, yes. Some people who read both books have come back and told me they liked/loved/didn't like one better then the other. Why would I recommend A Thousand Splendid Suns since I didn't like it? The history of Afghanistan, the description of the country and the people is worth the read alone.

I recommend both books and you judge for yourself. I would love to hear what you think.