Preview Shelf by Janice Clauser

Library News and Notable New Books

Remember to Check All the Library’s Services - Crawfordsville Public Library services include the use of computers for one hour at a time upstairs in the Reference Department and on the main floor and 15-minute use near the building’s entrance, enabled by library card or by guest card obtained at the Circulation desk.

Two mystery stories have been added to the collection by patron requests. "Learning to Swim" by Sara Henry begins with a small child tumbling from a ferry into Lake Champlain. Susan Albert's "Mourning Gloria" features an herbalist/ex-lawyer who witnesses screams coming from a burning house trailer. She writes: "I want to tell a story built around plants that have power over us, changing the way we feel."

"The Trial" a thriller by Larry Thompson is "a frightening scenario of corporate greed, a classic David-and-Goliath tale of a small-town lawyer fighting the incestuous relationship of a giant pharmaceutical company with the FDA." "Trader of Secrets" is a Paul Madriani novel by Steve Martini in which two missing NASA scientists are holding secrets that a hostile government desperately wants to purchase.

A skeleton found in a tree near a restored old Southern family mansion is the attracter in "The Peach Keeper" by Sarah Allen. "Swim Back to Me" by Ann Packer is made up of six short stories that relate to one family over the course of a lifetime. "My American Unhappiness" by Dean Bakopoulos uses wit and an irreverent voice expressing his theory that if he can only find a wife, he might have a second chance at life. "Jessica Lost" is a story by Bunny Crumpacker alternating the voices of a mother and daughter as they spend years finding each other. "2030" by Albert Brooks begins on June 12, 2030, when millions of baby boomers' finances are being sucked dry by all the "olds" who now live without the threat of cancer. An earthquake causing the cessation of government brings up ideas to survive; the ideas pit national hope against past conditions, making gripping and thought-provoking reading.

Fern Michaels' "Betrayal" describes two happy couples, and suddenly one wife accuses the other husband of a heinous act, turning all four lives into desperation. Karen Harper's historical novel "The Irish Princess" begins as a rich young woman finds her world overturned when tyrant Henry VIII imprisons her father and brutally destroys her family; as she seeks revenge, she must look innocent. The Civil War era story "Secret Tides" by Gary Parker finds two women, one free, one a slave, trapped by loss and lies, two brothers working side by side on a plantation vastly divided on issues, and five families intertwined by the tides of change as the war approaches.

Here are some spectacular-looking books about food, all of them colorful and creative collections. "Michael's Genuine Food: Down-To-Earth Cooking for People Who Love to Eat" by Michael Schwartz offers 70 colored photographs and ingredient tips to make the most of what's freshest at the market. Do roasted "double yolk" eggs with tomato and asiago interest you? Schwartz also touts his pan-roasted half boneless chicken with sauteed escarole. "The Cancer-Fighting Kitchen" offers nourishing, big-flavor recipes for treatment and recovery; Rebecca Katz sets up 150 science-based easy foods with step-by-step guides for pasture beef bone broth, chicken magic mineral broth, and magic green tea rice.

Edward Grinnan, editor-in-chief of Guideposts Magazine lists 9 Keys to Powerful Personal Change in "The Promise of Hope" telling how true stories of hope and inspiration saved his life and how they can transform ours.