Upper Gallery Invites Visitors by Janice Clauser

Malcolm Ross is our “Name of the Day,” a local man who distinguished himself in the service of our country. The Crawfordsville Library’s Upper Gallery is displaying details of his career. As a Linden High School graduate in 1936, and a Naval Aerology officer on the USS Saratoga flying missions in World War II, he received  a campaign star in his Pacific Theatre ribbon for his first carrier plane strike at Tokyo in February, 1945. He was recalled to service for the Korean War in 1950 as a Lieutenant in the US Naval Reserves. Later, in Project Skyhook, a program using new plastic high altitude balloons for upper atmosphere research, he was the first active duty officer qualified and licensed as a free balloon pilot, receiving many awards including the Harmon Trophy from President Kennedy and the Federation Aeronautique Internationale Diplome de Record in 1961 for his record-breaking 21.5 mile high ride. Come enjoy the pictures and other materials collected by the library’s reference staff.

 

 

           

 

 

 

 

            New fiction invites your attention on the main floor book shelves outside the Reading Room. Elizabeth Lowell’s “Beautiful Sacrifice” addresses the legend forecasting December 21^st this year as the end of the world; the story’s heroine has devoted her life to studying ancient Mayan artifacts, some of which have just disappeared. Ken Follett’s Book 2 of his Century Trilogy, called “Winter of the World,” picks up its five interrelated families, American, German, Russian, English and Welsh, from the rise of the third Reich, through the Spanish Civil War and the great dramas of World War II, to the explosions of the American and Soviet atomic bombs and the beginning of the long Cold War. Carla Neggers’ ”Heron’s Cove” is suspense-filled adventure on the Maine coast,  as FBI agents must decide whether working alone or standing together is the way to thwart the theft of rare Russian jewelry.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In Susan Phillips “The Great Escape” a bride who prides herself in not embarrassing the family she adores, especially her famous mother, flees her wedding ceremony in an old blue choir robe, and hitches a ride on the back of a beat-up motorcycle plastered with offensive bumper stickers, in search of herself. Stuart Woods’ Stone Barrington novel “Severe Clear” calls him to Bel-Air to oversee an exclusive event of Hollywood stars, socialites, and politicians from overseas, an event which has also attracted a dangerous criminal group with sinister plans. In Dean Koontz’ “Odd Apocalypse” a mission of mercy leads Odd through realms of darkness as he probes deadly adversaries’ long-held secrets. In the historical fiction “True Sisters” by Sandra Dallas, four Mormon converts make a 1,300-mile journey in 1856 from Iowa City to Salt Lake City, outfitted with two-wheeled handcarts, testing their faith and learning the true meaning of friendship.

“The Inn at Rose Harbor” by Debbie Macomber creates a Pacific Northwest town of Cedar Cove where a charming cast of characters finds love and forgiveness behind the doors of the cozy Inn. By contrast, Laurell Hamilton’s “Kiss the Dead” an Anita Blake novel, features a 15-year-old girl abducted by vampires.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Low Pressure” by Sandra Brown is about a woman’s obsessive quest to discover the truth behind her sister’s brutal murder. The same author’s “Love is Murder,” the third Thriller anthology, contains 30 heart-pounding stories of romantic suspense by authors who are members of International Thriller Writers, Incorporated, an organization of 1,635 members in 28 countries.