Library Notes Week August 30

School has started up for another year. Where did the summer go? As your student goes back to school remember we have homework help on our website. Check it out at www.lclib.lib.wa.us. The La Conner Rotary funds some great databases that can help your student with class assignments. Next time you see a Rotary member say thank you, we appreciate their continued support.

If you are looking for something to read, stop by and check out one of these new titles.

Star Island by Carol Hiaasen. The career of singer Cheryl Bunterman (aka Cherry Pye) is foundering due to her lack of talent and indiscriminate appetite for drugs, booze, and sex. Among those struggling to keep Cherry's career afloat are her mother, Janet Bunterman; producer Maury Lykes; and "undercover stunt double" Ann DeLusia, who will mislead the press into thinking Cherry is out and about when she's really in rehab. Crooked real estate developer Jackie Sebago and paparazzo Bang Abbott, who plans to hitch his wagon to Cherry's star, add to the madcap fun. Mayhem follows after Bang kidnaps Ann instead of Cherry by mistake, and ex-Florida governor and eco-vigilante Clinton "Skink" Tyree, who was smitten with Ann after a chance encounter, rushes to her rescue.

The Good Son by Michael Gruber. Somewhere in Pakistan, Sonia Laghari and eight fellow members of a symposium on peace are being held captive by armed terrorists. Sonia, a deeply religious woman as well as a Jungian psychologist, has become the de facto leader of the kidnapped group. While her son Theo, an ex-Delta soldier, uses his military connections to find and free the victims, Sonia tries to keep them all alive by working her way into the kidnappers' psyches and interpreting their dreams. When the kidnappers decide to kill their captives, one by one, in retaliation for perceived crimes against their country, Theo races against the clock to try and save their lives.

Queen of the Night by J. A. Jance. Every summer, in an event that is commemorated throughout the Tohono O'odham Nation, the Queen of the Night flower blooms in the Arizona desert. But one couple's intended celebration is shattered by gunfire, the sole witness to the bloodshed a little girl who has lost the only family she's ever known. To her rescue come Dr. Lani Walker, who sees the trauma of her own childhood reflected in her young patient, and Dan Pardee, an Iraq war veteran and member of an unorthodox border patrol unit called the Shadow Wolves. Joined by Pima County homicide investigator Brian Fellows, they must keep the child safe while tracking down a ruthless killer.

Library Notes Week of August 2

If you use our WiFi after library hours you will notice a big change. It will now be available only from 9:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday and not available at all on Sunday. We hope this will be temporary. If this impacts you, please let us know.

Come by and check out one of these titles from our new book shelf.

The Glass Rainbow by James Lee Burke. Dave Robicheaux is back in New Iberia, Louisiana, hoping to enjoy the company of his adopted daughter, Alafair, who is taking a semester off from law school to finish a novel. Not nearly as suspicious of Louisiana's blood-stained aristocracy as Dave, Alafair has become involved, romantically and otherwise, with Kermit Abelard, a writer who is also the son of one of the region's most notorious robber barons. Kermit, along with his friend, an ex-con turned best-selling memoirist, volunteers to help Alafair find a publisher for her book, much to Dave's chagrin. Father-daughter conflict ensues, and as Dave's investigation of a series of murders veers ever closer to the Abelards, it appears that, yet again, the closets of Louisiana's rich are knee-deep in skeletons.

Corduroy Mansions by Alexander McCall Smith. Set in present-day London, Smith's charming first in a new series offers a variation on his 44 Scotland Street books, centering on the eccentric occupants of Corduroy Mansions and their offbeat doings. William French, a wine merchant, hopes to force his son, Eddie, who refuses to take his hints about sharing a flat with other 20-somethings, to leave the nest by getting a dog whose presence in their apartment he expects will drive Eddie out. William's neighbors include Dee, who works at a vitamin shop and believes a coworker needs to purge his system of excess sodium, and her roommate, Jenny, who works for an odious MP, Oedipus Snark, who treats Jenny like dirt.

Fly Away Home by Jennifer Weiner. When Sylvie Serfer met Richard Woodruff in law school, she had wild curls, wide hips, and lots of opinions. Decades later, Sylvie has remade herself as the ideal politician’s wife—her hair dyed and straightened, her hippie-chick wardrobe replaced by tailored knit suits. Lizzie, the Woodruffs’ younger daughter, is at twenty-four a recovering addict and trouble always seems to find her. Her older sister, Diana, an emergency room physician, has everything Lizzie failed to achieve—a husband, a young son, the perfect home—and yet she’s trapped in a loveless marriage. After Richard’s extramarital affair makes headlines, the three women are drawn into the painful glare of the national spotlight. Once the press conference is over, each is forced to reconsider her life, who she is and who she is meant to be.

Library Notes week of July 19

The Summer Reading Program is winding down. July 29th we will embellish a wind chime kit. Please call us and let us know you will be coming as supplies are limited--466-3352. All activities are held on Thursday mornings at 10 a.m. before we open our doors for the day. You can check out the schedule on our website http://www.lclib.lib.wa.us/ . Come join us for a fun time.

When you bring in your child for the craft time, take a look at the new book shelf for one of these new titles.

Alice I have Been by Melanie Benjamin. Few works of literature are as universally beloved as Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Now, in this spellbinding historical novel, we meet the young girl whose bright spirit sent her on an unforgettable trip down the rabbit hole–and the grown woman whose story is no less enthralling.

Altar of Eden by James Rollins. Louisiana state veterinarian Lorna Polk stumbles upon a fishing trawler shipwrecked on a barrier island. The crew is missing or dead, but the boat holds a frightening cargo: a caged group of exotic animals, clearly part of a black market smuggling ring. Yet, something is wrong with these beasts, disturbing deformities that make no sense: a parrot with no feathers, a pair of Capuchin monkeys conjoined at the hip, a jaguar cub with the dentition of a saber-toothed tiger. They also all share one uncanny trait—a disturbingly heightened intelligence. To uncover the truth about the origin of this strange cargo and the terrorist threat it poses, Lorna must team up with a man who shares a dark and bloody past with her and is now an agent with the U.S. Border Patrol, Jack Menard.

Southern Lights by Danielle Steel. Sifting through mountains of forensic evidence, Alexa prepares for a high-stakes trial…until threatening letters throw her private life into turmoil. The letters are addressed to her beautiful seventeen-year-old daughter, Savannah, whom Alexa has been raising alone since her divorce. Alexa is certain that Quentin is behind the letters—and that they are too dangerous to ignore. Suddenly she must make the toughest choice of all—and send her daughter back to the very place she swore she would never return to: the place where her marriage ended in heartbreak…her ex-husband’s world of southern tradition, memories of betrayal, and the antebellum charm of Charleston.

Library Notes Week of June 28th

Summer activities are underway. Last week was T-shirt paintings and we had lots of fun creating our one-of-a-kind shirts. This Thursday at 10:30 a.m. will be the ancient art of Gyotaku (fish prints). July 1st at 10 a.m. Last Leaf will be back with us to perform Show Down at Starfish Canyon. Don’t miss them!! They are always so entertaining.

Have you heard we moved around our story times? Baby ‘N Me (birth to 18 months) is Wed. morning at 10:30 a.m. Toddler Time (18 months to 3 years) is Friday morning at 10:30 a.m. and, just for the summer, there will be a Pre-school/Primary story time (ages 3-6) on the 2nd and 4th Tuesdays at 10:30. There is something for everyone. Come check us out.

New books are always coming in. Here are a few you might enjoy reading.

Stones into Schools by Greg Mortenson. In this dramatic first-person narrative, Greg Mortenson picks up where Three Cups of Tea left off in 2003, recounting his relentless, ongoing efforts to establish schools for girls in Afghanistan; his extensive work in Azad Kashmir and Pakistan after a massive earthquake hit the region in 2005; and the unique ways he has built relationships with Islamic clerics, militia commanders, and tribal leaders even as he was dodging shootouts with feuding Afghan warlords and surviving an eight-day armed abduction by the Taliban.

Daring Young Men by Richard Reeves. In the early hours of June 26, 1948, phones began ringing across America, waking up the airmen of World War II -- pilots, navigators, and mechanics -- who were finally beginning normal lives with new houses, new jobs, new wives, and new babies. Some were given just forty-eight hours to report to local military bases. The president, Harry S. Truman, was recalling them to active duty to try to save the desperate people of the western sectors of Berlin, the enemy capital many of them had bombed to rubble only three years before.

The Man Who Ate His Boots by Anthony Brandt. A riveting read of the 19th century search for the Northwest Passage from Europe to the East, written with grace and mordant wit. After their defeat of Napoleon, the Brits thought they were invincible, even in the face of one failed expedition after another. Failure was not an option, and so into the frozen unknown they pushed in their quest for mastery of the world, urged on by one man who wielded great power in the Admiralty, John Barrow. Trouble is, until recently the Northwest Passage did not exist. They also could not be bothered to learn from the people who lived there, the Inuits so they paid the price.

Library Notes Week of June 14

The Summer Reading Program --Make a Splash Read @ Your Library--begins this week. We will be decorating t-shirts, doing fish prints, deocrating wind chimes, and all kinds of fun things. All the activities will be on Thursdays at 10 a.m. Pick up a schedule at the library or check our website http://www.lclib.lib.wa.us/ for a complete list.

We have some new books you may be interested in reading. Check out one of these the next time you are in.

Wrecked by Carol Higgins Clark. During a storm, Skip, a local caretaker, finds Adele lying in a heap outside the house she's renting, her face bloody, her rowboat banging against the rocks in the nearby bay. By the time Skip returns with help, Adele is gone. As Regan and Jack aid the authorities in locating Adele's next of kin, clues surface that suggest Adele has been the victim of foul play. The two co-owners of the boutique Pillow Talk, who knew Adele as one of their best customers, offer Regan and Jack an important lead, while a visiting theatrical troupe lends a bizarre plot twist.

The Burning Wire by Jeffery Deaver. Forensic expert Rhyme takes charge of looking into a fatal blast at a Manhattan electrical power substation that destroys a bus, aided by his partner, field agent Amelia Sachs. Rhyme is able to glean many clues from the scant trace evidence left by the elusive killer at the crime scene. Meanwhile, Rhyme is also staying in close touch with Mexican army and police commander Rodolfo Luna, who's tracking dangerous assassin Richard Logan (aka the Watchmaker) in Mexico City. The twin investigations take an increasingly dangerous toll on quadriplegic Rhyme's precarious physical health.

Heart of the Matter by Emily Giffin. Tessa Russo is celebrating her wedding anniversary with her handsome husband, Nick, a pediatric plastic surgeon, when his pager goes off. At the hospital, he meets his new patient, six-year-old Charlie, who has been badly burned while roasting s’mores. Charlie’s mother, Valerie, a high-powered lawyer who has raised Charlie on her own, is wracked with guilt. As Charlie goes through various grafts and surgeries to repair the damage done to his face and hand, Nick and Valerie become close. Tessa, a stay-at-home mom who has misgivings about leaving her professorship, recognizes the distance growing between her and Nick but isn’t sure what to attribute it to or what to do about it.

Library Notes Week of June 7

Where did the school year go! Congratulations to the students ready to graduate from La Conner High School. I understand this batch of young people are especially gifted. We at the library wish them all the best as they head out into the world.

The Spy by Clive Cussler. It is 1908, and international tensions are mounting as the world plunges toward war. When a brilliant American battleship gun designer dies in a sensational apparent suicide, the man's grief-stricken daughter turns to the legendary Van Dorn Detective Agency to clear her father's name. Van Dorn puts his chief investigator on the case, and Isaac Bell soon realizes that the clues point not to suicide but to murder. And when more suspicious deaths follow, it becomes clear that someone-an elusive spy-is orchestrating the destruction of America's brightest technological minds... and the murders all connect to a top- secret project called Hull 44.

Cross Roads by Fern Michaels. It-s been a year and a half since the women of the Sisterhood received their presidential pardons, but the freedom they craved has come at a high price. The impossibly lucrative positions handed out to them by the mysterious Global Securities company have turned out to be golden handcuffs-scattering them around the world, cutting off communication, and leaving them in miserable isolation. But a happy homecoming at the old Virginia farmhouse is marred by the hijacking of Nikki and Kathryn-s private jet. It seems their few fellow passengers are not ordinary travelers-they-re an elite group of Interpol agents who urgently need the Sisterhood-s help.

My Name is Memory by Ann Brashares. The story is primarily that of Daniel, as, in the present, he pursues Lucy (whom he knows as Sophia in a previous life) and attempts to persuade her of their history and destiny, but his passion initially and understandably scares her off. He disappears, presumed dead, but Lucy, unable to forget him, investigates his claims of their history until she discovers the truth. Meanwhile, Daniel takes readers on a tour of romantic near-misses, from sixth-century Africa through eighth-century Turkey to WWI.

Library Notes Week of June 9

Summer Reading will be starting up before you know it. A big thank you to the wonderful merchants of La Conner who have donated some awesome prizes for the kids. I hope the kids are looking forward to this fun time as well. KJ will be visiting the school soon to talk to the kids about the program. We have loads of activities planned so check our website for more information. http://www.lclib.lib.wa.us/

Stop by and pick up a book from the new book shelf. Here are a few to tempt you.

Shadow Tag by Lousie Erdrich. Irene America is a beautiful, introspective woman of Native American ancestry, struggling to finish her dissertation while raising three children. She is married to Gil, a painter whose reputation is built on a series of now iconic portraits of Irene, but who can't break through to the big time. Irene's fallen out of love with Gil and discovers that he's been reading her diary, so she begins a new, hidden, diary and uses her original diary as a tool to manipulate Gil.

Conspirata by Robert Harris. Beginning in 63 B.C.E. and told by Cicero's slave secretary, Tiro, this complex tale continues to chronicle Cicero's political career as he charms, co-opts, and bribes his way into the exalted position of consul, ruler of Rome. Although Cicero is known as a brilliant politician and philosopher, he was also a slick manipulator and shameless schemer, competing with equally sneaky rivals Caesar, Pompey, and Crassus. Cicero realizes that as the empire expands, the greatest threat to Rome comes from within, plotted by well-financed conspirators bent on turning the republic into a dictatorship.

Unfinished Desires by Gail Godwin. As Mother Suzanne Ravenel begins a memoir of her 60-plus years at Mount St. Gabriel's School in Mountain City, N.C., she's forced to re-examine the toxic year of 1951–1952, one of her worst at the school—beginning with the arrival of ninth-grade student Chloe Starnes, who's recently lost her mother, and Mother Malloy, a beautiful young nun assigned to the freshman class. Starnes and Malloy's arrivals presage a shift in the ranks of freshman Tildy Stratton's cruel clique, with significant consequences for all involved.