Preview Shelf by Janice Clauser

Library News and Notable New Books

The circulation department of the Crawfordsville Library is offering a new service. Lighted, hand-held magnifiers are now available to our patrons as a gift from The Friends of the Library. Some have 3X (3-times), some 3.5X and some 4X magnification. You can use your library card to check one out for 28 days, and you are allowed one renewal. Each one is light-weight, approximately 6 to 6 1/2 inches long with a 3-inch diameter magnifier. There are no electrical cords to be bothered with as each one is battery-operated. So, if you have difficulty reading regular or large print, talk to one of the Circulation staff or call 362-2242, extension 2. How fortunate that the Friends of the Library and the library staff are working together to provide ever more helpful services.

Here's an old book I never knew about! Louisa May Alcott wrote "Little Women and Werewolves" and we now have a paperback copy to loan. Alcott's first draft of "Little Women" has been exhumed in which the March girls learn some biting lessons, just as their neighbors transform from gentlemen into blood-thirsty werewolves! "This rejuvenated classic will be cherished and beloved by those who enjoy a lesson in virtue almost as much as they relish a good old-fashioned dismemberment."

"Making our Democracy Work" by Supreme Court justice Stephen Breyer discusses how the Court must go forward to maintain public confidence by interpreting the Constitution in a way that works in practice, applying unchanging constitutional values to ever-changing circumstances.

"The Caretaker of Lorne Field" by Dave Zeltserman has a fantasy plot about a field, which if left untended grows a monster capable of taking over the entirety of America in two weeks. Catherine Coulter's "The Valcourt Heiress" is set in medieval England when the Black Demon invades castle walls looking for certain silver pieces. Fact by fact, this plot is explained.

In "The Reversal" by Michael Connelly a convicted child killer, imprisoned for 24 years, is granted a retrial based on new DNA evidence, and a defense attorney crosses the aisle to work for the prosecution. The book jacket says this thriller has "the nerve and timing of a whole SWAT team". Another thriller is "American Assassin" by Vince Flynn. It begins, "Before he was considered a CIA superagent, before he was thought of as a terrorist's worst nightmare, and before he was both loathed and admired by the politicians on Capitol Hill, Mitch Rapp was a gifted college athlete without a care in the world…and then tragedy struck." Steven Havill's "Race for the Dying" set in early Washington State finds a newly arrived doctor's mule pitching him into a tidal pool, and his recovery takes place as he finds his would-be physician partner involved in a scam. Robert Parker's "Painted Ladies" is a Spenser novel with a map of the Boston area. Hired to provide protection during a ransom exchange of money for a stolen painting, our hero must enter into a daring game of cat-and-mouse with the thieves.

"The Thorn" by Beverly Lewis is the first volume in her new series called "The Rose Trilogy", about Amish sisters divided by one sister's impulsive marriage to an outsider. "Beachcombers" by Nancy Thayer is about a bittersweet reunion of three very different sisters on Nantucket Island.

New nonfiction offers a workbook called "The Biggest Loser" the program to transform your body, health, and life, featuring stars from the NBC hit show as well as recipes and instructions. "Choosing to See" by Mary Beth Chapman is an inspiring book about raising children, how fears can be overcome with hope, how everyone can walk with a deeper trust that God is good. "Stalling for Time" is Gary Noesner's life story as an FBI hostage negotiator. He's had some powerful adventures.