Too Many Words!

     One of the hardest things about my job is picking books for daycares and preschools I serve as bookmobile librarian.  Most 3-5 year olds don't sit for very long to listen to a story, so most teachers want stories with few words and great pictures, and who can blame them.  Far too many picture books have beautiful stories and pictures BUT no preschooler will sit for a long time unless it might be a one on one situation.  Yesterday I sorted my books that I circulate to daycares, etc. and I have way too many "too many words books".  So if anyone out there has the notion to write a children's book remember, the fewer the words the better!  The brighter the pictures, the better!  EP

On My Reading List

Killing Lincoln by Bill O'Reilly, Where the Dead Lay (Frank Behr series), and the first in Nevada Barr's Anna Pigeon series Track of the Cat. 
Two juvenile books I am about to read are The Unforgotten Coat by Frank Cottrell Boyce and Breadcrumbs by Anne Ursu.  I'll let you know about those. EP

Rain Gods

     For the past week I have been getting up fifteen minutes early and have hurried to eat and dress so I could follow the characters in James Lee Burke's Rain Gods.  I thought Rain Gods was the first in the series, but apparently there was a book written in the '70's that introduced you to Hackberry Holland, although he was not the central character.  I thought there was no better character in a book than Dave Robicheaux, until I "met" Hackberry Holland.  Hack is the sheriff of a border town in the southwest.  He has a past that is always in his head, invading his dreams, and the way he moves through life.  He will constantly remind you he is old and injuries from war plague his every move.  He is strong in his opinions and takes very seriously the job of watching over the townspeople.
     The novel revolves around the murder of Asian women, gunned down and buried, some even alive.  Burke is very descriptive so if violence isn't something you want in your reading then don't pick up this book.  The villain in the book is a Bible quoting crazy man, named Preacher, that justifies his murders by connecting Bible stories to his life. There are many intriguing characters and they keep you turning page after page for a resolution to the murders.  The bad news is had this book just been released you would be upset because it ends without resolution and you would be waiting two years to continue on with the   story.  The good news is Feast Day of Fools has just been released and you can read right on following Hack and his job as sheriff.  Burke said in a video on the release of Feast Day of Fools that it is his best work yet.  I have read nineteen of his novels and one seems just as good, if not better, than the previous one!  Read and enjoy!  I did. EP

The Keeper of Lost Causes

     Have you ever read a book that you could not wait to find out the ending but then when it is over you are clamoring to find out when the authors next book is due to be published?  Well that is what happened to me this past week.  Angie, our collection development librarian, poked her head around the corner and held up a book with a familiar looking cover.  Much like  The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo the orange and yellowish cover caught my eye.  Angie told me the book was an international best seller and was the first in a series and offered me the first read.  I took her up on the offer and that is how I ended up getting up fifteen minutes early each morning so I could read for those extra minutes.  The Keeper of Lost Causes by Jussi Asler-Olsen is a page turner from page one. The story takes place in Denmark so reading in "unfamiliar" territory made me read some of the sentences a time or two to keep the happenings fresh in my mind  The jacket of the book tells you about a "deeply flawed chief detective Carl Morck" and the department he is assigned to run after a shooting that takes the life of one of his fellow officers and leaves the other permanently damaged.  Carl is assigned to special cases and is relegated to the basement of the police department.  The department is called Department Q and Carl is its only member until he is assigned Assad and there is where their investigations begin.  The odd couple relationship of these two men carries you page after page to find the resolution to their first case involving a politician that vanished five years ago.  I thoroughly enjoyed the book and will anxiously await the next installment in this exciting new series. EP

The Language of Flowers

If you love flowers you will love The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh.  During the Victorian Era flowers were given to another person for not only their beauty but for what they represent.  Roses mean love and the list goes on.  Victoria Jones led a troubled life, foster home after foster home and none give her a sense of home or stability.  The book opens with Victoria turning eighteen and being turned out by the agency that offered her nothing during her informative years, but she has a gift of arranging flowers and expressing herself with flowers the way poets express themselves with words.  You will find yourself turning the pages, cheering for this young woman and wanting nothing but success in her life.  Follow her in life and love. EP

Killing the Blues

I was disappointed when Robert Parker died and realized there would be no more Spenser novels or Sunny Randall or Jesse Stone novels and especially the Hitch and Cole novels that take place in the old west.  Killing the Blues was written by Michael Brandman and leads us through another Jesse Stone mystery.  I must admit that Mr. Brandman has done a very good job.  Jesse continues with his short, curt answers to most questions and continues to skirt the laws to make the end justify the means.  Killing the Blues is a quick read, but before you indulge in this novel at least read the first Jesse Stone novel, Night Passage, so you will get to know Jesse and how he arrived in Paradise. EP