New York Times Best Seller List (6/30/2013)

Note: Titles highlighted in BLUE are currently available for checkout. Titles highlighted in RED have been ordered and will be available for checkout soon.

Fiction

 

1. Inferno by Dan Brown
2. And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini
3. Bad Monkey by Carl Hiaasen
4. The Silver Star by Jeannette Walls
5. The Eye of Moloch by Glenn Beck
6. The King's Deception by Steve Berry
7. The Last Original Wife by Dorothea Benton Frank 
8. Revenge Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger
9. The Hit by David Baldacci
10. Zero Hour by Clive Cussler
11. A Dance With Dragons by George R.R. Martin
12. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
13. The Son by Philipp Meyer
14. The Kill Room by Jeffrey Deaver
15. Deeply Odd by Dean Koontz 
16. Ladies' Night by Mary Kay Andrews   

Storytime Excitement with Franklin the Turtle

At Storytime this week, Kay shared Franklin in the Dark by Paulette Bourgeois. It's about a turtle named Franklin that is afraid of small dark places. So he's afraid of crawling into his shell. Throughout the story, he asks a variety of animals for advice but finds out that each has a fear of its own.

After the story portion, we made and decorated baby turtles of our own. We had a wonderful time creating the most unique turtles you have ever seen. Some of the turtles were fuzzy, while others were covered in beautiful, colorful jewels. No two turtles looked alike. 

Pirates Took Over the the Summer Reading Program This Week

Did you miss the Summer Reading Program this week? Everyone that attended had a chance to be a pirate for the day and search for buried treasure at the library. I'm sure you're wondering what kind of treasure the kids dug up. Let's just say that the kids walked away with a variety of fun little treasures.

When the kids arrived, they put on their pirate hats, which were donated courtesy of Long John Silver's of Huntsville, and eye patches we made especially for the event. It was nice to see all the smiles on the children's faces after several months of preparation. It was well worth all the additional effort to make this day extremely fun for all that attended.

We created a fun little obstacle course for the kids to go through, beginning with walking the plank. After they walked the plank, they fed the sharks that circled their pirate ships bean-bag fish. It's safe to say they really enjoyed tossing the fish at the sharks. Fun was had by all! Next they moved on to the pirates secret cave in search of the buried treasure. When they crawled out of the cave's exit, they immediately found the bountiful treasure we had waiting for them. The digging began and ended with BIG smiles. Everyone walked away with plenty of treasures.

Here's a look at what the children experienced this week.

Watch out for the alligators surrounding the plank.

 Feeding the Sharks

Hungry sharks 

Enter the cave if you dare

Exiting the cave in search of gold

X marks the spot

Digging up treasure

Stop by next Wednesday from 10:00 - 11:00am and join in the fun. It's sure to be another exciting day.

New Arrivals at the Library This Week

Waiting for Spring by Amanda Cabot

After the loss of her husband and the birth of her baby, Charlotte has had a long, hard year. But when a notorious robber believes she knows the location of a long-lost treasure, she flees to Cheyenne and opens a dressmaker's shop to lie low and make a living. When wealthy cattle baron and political hopeful Barrett Landry enters the shop to visit her best customer, Charlotte feels drawn to him.

If Barrett is to be a senator of the soon-to-be state of Wyoming, he must make a sensible match, and Miriam has all the right connections. Yet he can't shake the feeling that Charlotte holds the key to his heart and his future.

Soon the past comes to call, and Barrett's plans crumble around him. Will Charlotte and Barrett find the courage to look love in the face? Or will their fears blot out any chance for happiness?

Night Road by Kristin Hannah

For a mother, life comes down to a series of choices.
To hold on…
To let go..
To forget…
To forgive…
Which road will you take?

For eighteen years, Jude Farraday has put her children’s needs above her own, and it shows--her twins, Mia and Zach, are bright and happy teenagers. When Lexi Baill moves into their small, close knit community, no one is more welcoming than Jude. Lexi, a former foster child with a dark past, quickly becomes Mia’s best friend. Then Zach falls in love with Lexi and the three become inseparable.

Jude does everything to keep her kids safe and on track for college. It has always been easy--until senior year of high school. Suddenly she is at a loss. Nothing feels safe anymore; every time her kids leave the house, she worries about them.

On a hot summer’s night her worst fears come true. One decision will change the course of their lives. In the blink of an eye, the Farraday family will be torn apart and Lexi will lose everything. In the years that follow, each must face the consequences of that single night and find a way to forget…or the courage to forgive. 

Love, Honor, and Betray by Kimberla Roby

The infamous Reverend Curtis Black's sordid past is no secret, as his wife, Charlotte, is well aware. But when Curtis' long-time mistress and mother of his illegitimate two-year-old, dies, he and Charlotte have no choice but to raise Curtina together. While the living, breathing reminder of her husband's infidelity infuriates Charlotte, Curtis couldn't be happier to finally have his whole family together. Despite her best efforts to keep her feelings hidden, Charlotte resents Curtina, taking her emotions out on the young girl. 

When confronted about her behavior Charlotte starts spending time away from home, all the while getting closer to her ex-boyfriend. Curtis appears to devote himself to his parish and the new church they're building, but is he really focusing his attention on the female parishioners trying to lure him into bed? Suddenly Curtis and Charlotte find themselves slipping into dangerous territory, and not even Curtis' seven-figure salary can prevent what is about to happen.
 

Take Three by Karen Kingsbury

Chase Ryan and Keith Ellison set out to change the world with their films---and they are finally seeing their dreams come true. The dedicated producers are deep in negotiations with America's top young movie star to play the lead in their next inspirational production.

But the actor is linked to a studio whose brass will take any measures to see that their mega-million-dollar star doesn't take the part.In the meantime, the friends tackle another project that puts them and their assistant, Kendall Adams, on location in Arizona; far from their homes and the people who matter most to them. Chase finds himself on one side of fame---and temptation---with his wife and two daughters on the other. Back in Indiana, a crisis hits Keith's daughter, Andi, and Keith feels helpless to respond.

Will the producers keep the passion they had at the start of their filmmaking---and will there be enough passion left over for their families? Or has their quest to change American culture become nothing more than a quest for fame? 

Tracing the Shadow by Sarah Ash

The kingdom of Francia has purged its magi. But when a young Guerrier rescues an orphaned street waif, little does he know that she is the daughter of a magus who met his end on their pyres—or that she is guarded by an aethyric spirit and driven by the name of the traitor who condemned her father to flames. With the gift of song infused within her, the child’s voice will bring her before the most powerful heads of state. And she will craft herself into a weapon…aimed at the heart of the man she despises.

From the alchymist’s apprentice whose discovery leads him into a dark partnership to a girl who will become the toast of three nations, a new magic will grant powers and ignite dangers beyond all reckoning.

Flight into Darkness by Sarah Ash

As an impulsive young man, Rieuk Mordiern accidentally freed Azilis, a guardian spirit charged with keeping the balance between the kingdoms of the living and the dead. Now Rieuk’s sole purpose is to bring Azilis back—only she doesn’t want to return. Instead she has attached herself to a very talented mortal, the renowned singer Celestine—becoming, as Celestine believes, her personal guardian.
 
Celestine has never needed a guardian more. Her desire for revenge against the people who consigned her magician father to the flames is leading her down a dangerous path. And chaos is growing. Seven daemons from another realm are now threatening to lay siege to the mortal world. Now both Rieuk and Celestine must discover what it means to truly be a hero.

In the Courts of the Sun by Brian D'Amato

December 21, 2012. The day time stops. Jed DeLanda, a descendant of the Maya living in the year 2012, is a math prodigy who spends his time playing Go against his computer and raking in profits from online trading. (His secret weapon? A Mayan divination game, once used for predicting corn-harvest cycles, now proving very useful in predicting corn futures, that his mother taught him.) But Jed's life is thrown into chaos when his former mentor, the game theorist Taro, and a mysterious woman named Marena Park, invite him to give his opinion on a newly discovered Mayan codex.

Marena and Taro are looking for a volunteer to travel back to 664 AD to learn more about a 'sacrifice game' described in the codex. Jed leaps at the chance, and soon scientists are replicating his brain waves and sending them through a wormhole, straight into the mind of a Mayan king…

Only something goes wrong. Instead of becoming a king, Jed arrives inside a ballplayer named Chacal who is seconds away from throwing himself down the temple steps as a human sacrifice. If Jed can live through the next few minutes, he might just save the world.

Thirteen Orphans by Jane Lindskold

As far as college freshman Brenda Morris knows, there is only one Earth and magic exists only in fairy tales.

Brenda is wrong.

A father-daughter weekend turns into a nightmare when Brenda’s father is magically attacked before her eyes. Brenda soon learns that her ancestors once lived in world of smoke and shadows, of magic and secrets.

When that world’s Emperor was overthrown, the Thirteen Orphans fled to our earth and hid their magic system in the game of mah-jong. Each Orphan represents an animal from the Chinese Zodiac. Brenda’s father is the Rat. And her polished, former child-star aunt, Pearl—that eminent lady is the Tiger.

Only a handful of Orphans remain to stand against their enemies. The Tiger, the Rooster, the Dog, the Rabbit . . . and Brenda Morris. Not quite the Rat, but not quite human either.

Cross Roads by William Paul Young 

Anthony Spencer is egotistical, proud of being a self-made business success at the peak of his game, even though the cost of winning was painfully high. A cerebral hemorrhage leaves Tony comatose in a hospital ICU. He 'awakens' to find himself in a surreal world, a 'living' landscape that mirrors dimensions of his earthly life, from the beautiful to the corrupt. It is here that he has vivid interactions with others he assumes are projections of his own subconscious, but whose directions he follows nonetheless with the possibility that they might lead to authenticity and perhaps, redemption. 

The adventure draws Tony into deep relational entanglements where he is able to 'see' through the literal eyes and experiences of others, but is "blind" to the consequences of hiding his personal agenda and loss that emerge to war against the processes of healing and trust. Will this unexpected coalescing of events cause Tony to examine his life and realize he built a house of cards on the poisoned grounds of a broken heart? Will he also have the courage to make a critical choice that can undo a major injustice he set in motion before falling into a coma?

New York Times Best Seller List (6/23/2013)

Note: Titles highlighted in BLUE are currently available for checkout. Titles highlighted in RED have been ordered and will be available for checkout soon.

Fiction

1. Inferno by Dan Brown
2. And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini
3. Revenge Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger
4. The Kill Room by Jeffrey Deaver
5. Ladies' Night by Mary Kay Andrews
6. Zero Hour by Clive Cussler
7. Deeply Odd by Dean Koontz
8. The Hit by David Baldacci
9. Silken Prey by John Sandford
10. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
11. A Dance With Dragons by George R.R. Martin
12. The Son by Philipp Meyer
13. Transatlantic by Colum McCann
14. 12th of Never by James Patterson
15. Dead Ever After by Charlaine Harris
16. A Serpent's Tooth by Craig Johnson

Gripping NEW Large Print Titles You Shouldn't Miss

Zero Hour by Clive Cussler

It is called zero point energy, and it really exists—a state of energy contained in all matter everywhere, and thus all but unlimited. Nobody has ever found a way to tap into it, however—until one scientist discovers a way.

Or at least he thinks he has. The problem is, his machines also cause great earthquakes, even fissures in tectonic plates. One machine is buried deep underground; the other is submerged in a vast ocean trench. If Kurt Austin and Joe Zavala and the rest of the NUMA team aren’t able to find and destroy them, and soon, the world will be on the threshold of a new era of earth tremors and unchecked volcanism.

Now, that can’t be good.
 

12^th of Never by James Patterson

It's finally time! Detective Lindsay Boxer is in labor--while two killers are on the loose.

Lindsay Boxer's beautiful baby is born! But after only a week at home with her new daughter, Lindsay is forced to return to work to face two of the biggest cases of her career.

A rising star football player for the San Francisco 49ers is the prime suspect in a grisly murder. At the same time, Lindsay is confronted with the strangest story she's ever heard: An eccentric English professor has been having vivid nightmares about a violent murder and he's convinced is real. Lindsay doesn't believe him, but then a shooting is called in-and it fits the professor's description to the last detail.

Lindsay doesn't have much time to stop a terrifying future from unfolding. But all the crimes in the world seem like nothing when Lindsay is suddenly faced with the possibility of the most devastating loss of her life.
 

Private Berlin by James Patterson

IN EUROPE'S MOST DANGEROUS CITY

Chris Schneider is a superstar agent at Private Berlin, Germany headquarters for the world's most powerful investigation firm. He keeps his methods secret as he tackles Private's most high-profile cases-and when Chris suddenly disappears, he becomes Private Berlin's most dangerous investigation yet.

AN INVESTIGATOR IS SEARCHING

Mattie Engel is another top agent at Private Berlin, gorgeous and ruthlessly determined-and she's also Chris's ex. Mattie throws herself headfirst into finding Chris, following leads to the three people Chris was investigating when he vanished: a billionaire suspected of cheating on his wife, a soccer star accused of throwing games, and a nightclub owner with ties to the Russian mob. Any one of them would surely want Chris gone-and one of them is evil enough to want him dead.

AND SHE'S AFTER MORE THAN THE TRUTH

Mattie's chase takes her into Berlin's most guarded, hidden, and treacherous places, revealing secrets from Chris's past that she'd never dreamed of in the time they were lovers. On the brink of a terrifying discovery, Mattie holds on to her belief in Chris-in the face of a horror that could force all of Europe to the edge of destruction and chaos.  
 

The Storm by Clive Cussler

In the middle of the Indian Ocean, a NUMA research vessel is taking water samples at sunset, when a crew member spots a sheen of black oil ahead of them. But it is not oil. Like a horde of army ants, a swarm of black particles suddenly attacks the ship, killing everyone aboard, while the ship itself goes up in flames.

A few hours later, Kurt Austin and Joe Zavala are on their way to the Indian Ocean. What they will find there on the smoldering hulk of the ship will eventually lead them to the discovery of the most audacious scheme they have ever known: a plan to permanently alter the weather on a global scale. It will kill millions . . . and it has already begun. 

Storytime and Things That Grow

This week our theme was 'things that grow.' Our volunteer reader, Sharon, read Waynetta and the Cornstalk; a Texas Fairy Tale by Helen Ketteman. This is a fantastic retelling of the classic children's story, Jack and the Beanstalk. It's about a young Texas cowgirl that finds luck at the top of a cornstalk.

After listening to Waynetta's story and asking questions about her adventure, the children went outside for activity time. Sharon talked with the children about plant cuttings and helped each of the children plant a lentil sprout that they could grow at home. We ended Storytime with a delicious slice of watermelon. The kids had a great time; some collected up the watermelon seeds to plant at home.

Join us at the library for Pirate Day next Wednesday, June 26th from 10:00 to 11:00am. You'll have a blast walking the plank and digging up buried treasure if you can survive the sharks.

Love is in the Air! New Romance Novels Available This Week

Cowboy Tough by Joanne Kennedy

She’s hardly a cowgirl…
Cat Crendall left a successful advertising job in New York to teach art workshops in the wild west. The Boyd Ranch is hardly her dream destination, but if the outing’s a success, the company will send her to more exotic locations.

But once a cowboy…
Mack Boyd was in the middle of the best bronc-riding season of his life when his mother asked for help with an artists’ retreat at the ranch. Mack might be able to ride a wild stallion to a standstill but he can’t say no to his family.
Cat and Mack are complete opposites…but when the ranch is threatened financially, can they set aside their differences and work together?
 

The Best Man by Kristan Higgins

Sometimes the best man is the one you least expect…Faith Holland left her hometown after being jilted at the altar. Now a little older and wiser, she's ready to return to the Blue Heron Winery, her family's vineyard, to confront the ghosts of her past, and maybe enjoy a glass of red. After all, there's some great scenery there….

Like Levi Cooper, the local police chief—and best friend of her former fiancé. There's a lot about Levi that Faith never noticed, and it's not just those deep green eyes. The only catch is she's having a hard time forgetting that he helped ruin her wedding all those years ago. If she can find a minute amidst all her family drama to stop and smell the rosé, she just might find a reason to stay at Blue Heron, and finish that walk down the aisle.

Love at First Sight by Lori Wilde

Natalie McCleary couldn't believe her eyes-a lean-muscled, darkly tanned, nearly-naked man stood in her path…and then it hit her: love. Everyone always told her it'd hit like a thunderbolt, and she never believed them. But now she knew: practical, sensible Natalie was head over heels in love-with a stranger.

But ex-Navy SEAL Dade Vega wasn't about to be a stranger for long. He'd ridden into Cupid on his motorcycle, vowing to keep a promise he'd made to a military buddy. But a single glimpse at Natalie-soaking wet and unexpectedly tempting-changed his life forever.
But how can he offer her is love, when he can't even promise to stay in one place for longer than a week?

Currant Creek Valley by RaeAnne Thayne

If you build it, love will come…to Hope's Crossing.Alexandra McKnight prefers a life of long workdays and short-term relationships, and she's found it in Hope's Crossing. A sous chef at the local ski resort, she's just been offered her dream job at an exclusive new restaurant being built in town. But when it comes to designing the kitchen, Alex finds herself getting up close and personal with construction foreman Sam Delgado….

At first glance, Sam seems perfect for Alex. He's big, tough, gorgeous—and in town for only a few weeks. But when Sam suddenly moves into a house down the road, Alex suspects that the devoted single father of a six-year-old boy wants more from her than she's willing to give. Now it's up to Sam to help Alex see that, no matter what happened in her past, together they can build something more meaningful in Hope's Crossing. 

Summer Reading Program -- Worms and Their Habitat

The Summer Reading Program is off to a great start. This year's theme, as many of you know, is 'Dig Into Reading.' The Friends of the Library, as well as library volunteers, have put together an exciting program this year covering different aspects of our theme. This week, we learned about worms and their habitats. The children had a great time learning about worms; what they eat as well as what they need to survive in their habitat.

Laura W. is our amazing summertime storyteller. Several stories were shared with the children about animals that dig, such as The Diary of a Worm.

Hands-on learning is as big of a part of the summer reading program as getting the children to check out books beginning their road to becoming avid readers.

Sally and Brenda introduced the kids to worm farming using a worm bin as a show-and-tell this week. Each child was able to see how a worm habitat is made. They located worms in a mound of dirt, recognized the different items that were blended in with the dirt such as avocado seeds, newspaper, tea bags, banana peels, and much more. It was interesting to see how the kids reacted to the wiggly worms crawling out of the dirt pile towards them. Even though some of the kids said it was kind of yucky they were all too quick to jump right back into the excitement.

Here's a look at this week's activities.

 The worms

Learning about worms

Digging for worms

Preparing newspaper for the worm habitat

Adding food to the habitat 

Next Wednesday is pirate week! Stop by and join in the hunt for buried treasure at the library. There's no telling what you might dig up.