Today’s post is from Laura at Schimelpfenig Library:
Happiness Key by Emilie Richards
Happiness Key is the story of five people. Tracy is a newly divorced, pampered thirtyish woman. She is left with five, falling apart, cottages nestled on 25 acres on the Gulf Coast of Florida as her only support after her husband is sent to prison. The shift of going from a life of extravagance in all areas to landlord presents something of a challenge for her.
Jayna is a newly arrived immigrant from India having difficulty adjusting to her prearranged marriage and her new life in America. Alice is a retiree suffering, according to her son-in-law, from Alzheimer’s Disease. Wanda is married to a policeman and having a hard time making her marriage work. Rounding out the group of five is Herb Krauss, who Tracy finds dead in his cottage soon after taking over as landlord. When Tracy gets nowhere in finding Herb’s next of kin, she and the others decide it’s up to them to figure out the mystery of Herb.
Categories: Adult Fiction · Staff Favorites · Uncategorized
Today’s post is from Erik at Schimelpfenig Library:
Weird Texas by Wesley Treat, Heather Shade and Rob Riggs.
I picked up this book because my son and I are going on a short road trip next week and I thought there might be something cool in there to see on the way. I own Weird U.S. and thought this would be right in that same vein. Come to find out, I actually like Weird Texas a whole lot better! Maybe it’s because I have been to some of the places they describe, or that some of the legends had their heyday when I was young and impressionable (and therefore impressed) or maybe it’s just my Chuck Norris/Rick Perry fanatical pride in my home state. Whatever the reason I thoroughly enjoyed this book.
Did you know that Jesse James is buried in two different graves here in Texas; one in Blevins when he died at 95 and one in Granbury when he died again at 103 and neither one of those have anything to do with the Jesse James buried in Kearney, Missouri when he died at 34. Have you heard of the Marfa Lights? They’ve been explained away as everything from swamp gas to the souls of dead Indian bandits. I’ve seen them myself and they totally rock; and there are no shortage of visitors and locals on hand on any given night who LOVE to share their opinion as to the lights origins. It’s a heckuva drive from here but it’s well worth it…if you dig that sort of thing. If not, well at least the movie Giant was filmed there so you have that going for you…which is nice.
Anyway, you get the idea. Texas is a big state and there are stories in every nook and cranny of it. This book does an excellent job making them accessible and provoking. If you’re going on a trip, I highly recommend picking up a copy and seeing what you can find on the way. If not, it’s good to sit back, relax and reflect on what a wonderful and weird place we choose to live.
Categories: Adult Nonfiction · Staff Favorites · Teen Nonfiction · Uncategorized
Today’s post is from Erik at Schimelpfenig Library:
The Great Brain by John D. Fitzgerald
It’s summer and we are all in full swing with the Summer Reading Club here at the library. In the spirit of that event I thought I would share one of my favorite books from when I was a kid. The Great Brain was the first novel-length book I remember reading all the way through and I enjoyed it very much. I enjoyed it so much I quickly read all the books in the series and enjoyed them as well. I never saw it but I remember the cover of my paperback copy loudly proclaiming that it was now a “MAJOR” motion picture starring Donny and Marie’s irrepressible younger brother, Jimmy Osmond. I think now I would actually like to see that movie…but I’m old these days and tend to reminisce more than is probably healthy.
The story follows the adventures of Tom Fitzgerald as seen through the eyes of his younger brother J.D.. Tom’s great brain runs rampant in Adenville, Utah, whether he is bilking kids out of their money by showing off his father’s brand new water closet or using it (his brain, not the water closet) to rescue two lost children. The stories paint a wonderful picture of turn-of-the-century Utah and the mischief is softened with just the right amount of poignancy. On a lark and mostly for the sheer symmetry of the thing I re-read the book last year on a library trip to Utah and it held up just as enjoyable as the first two or three times I read it.
If you haven’t read these junior novels yourself (or even if you have), take a break from the David Baldaccis and the Mary Higgins Clarksof the world and give this children’s classic a shot. And when you’re done, lend it to your own kids, see if they don’t enjoy it just as much as you.
Categories: Children's Fiction · Staff Favorites · Uncategorized
