Summer Favorites

Pipestone County Star  - 06-05-14

Summer is almost here.  Even with the chillier temperatures of spring, we all know it’s coming and some of us can hardly wait.  I get to this point in the year and the only thing I can think about are warm days outside, reading a book and drinking iced tea.  Of course, by the end of summer, we’ll be wishing for cooler weather again, but at this point, all we can think about is warmth and promise.  And possibly those summer release books that happen every year/

Here’s a few you might be waiting for:

Top-Secret Twenty-One, Janet Evanovich (June 17)

Stephanie Plum is at it again.  This time, Trenton’s favorite used-car salesman has skipped out on bail after using his dealership to sell more than cars.  And Stephanies is going to have to protect someone she’d rather not protect, not to mention try and foil an assassination plot against Ranger.  And if that’s not enough, Grandma Mazur has a bucket list that involves getting revenge on Grandma Bella – what could possible go wrong?  Did I mention the feral Chihuahuas?

The Beekeeper’s Ball, Susan Wiggs (June 24)

Transforming her childhood home into a destination cooking school is a dream come true for Isabel Johansen.  The layout, bountiful gardens, apple orchards, and beehives make it a great place to learn to cook, not to mention a getaway.  And Isabel wants it to be just that – a place she can forget the past, until a reporter named Cormac O’Neill shows up and starts to stir the pot.  A good romance, an idyllic setting, and a lovely story make this a perfect summer book.

Shots Fired, CJ Box (July 15)

This book is actually made up of ten stories, four of them  Joe Pickett stories and three never before published, that prove once and again that CJ Box is an incomparable story teller.  I love short stories in the summer – they can be read in an afternoon and are thoroughly satisfying without taking up too much time.  This book promises to be a good one!

Fast Track, Julie Garwood (July 29)

Raised by her father after her mother died in an accident, Cordelia Kane has always been a daddy’s girl.  That is, until her father has a heart attack and tells her a secret that leads her to Sydney, Australia, with her brother’s best friend to search for some answers. Sparks may burn between them, but the answers may cause Cordelia to get more than she bargained for and her search becomes dangerous.

Cold Cold Heart, Tami Hoag (August 12)

Dana Nolen was kidnapped by a serial killer right at the beginning of a promising career as a TV reporter and, though she defeated him, her life is now marred by flashbacks and PTSD.  She thinks that moving back to her hometown will help, but it only draws up more memories.  As she starts to uncover more details about the crime that made her become a reporter in the first place, she begins to struggle with the images her brain is giving her.  Are they real? Or are they a leftover of her ordeal?

Close to Home, Lisa Jackson (August 26)

Sarah McAdams has come home to renovate her childhood house, an old Victorian mansion that her daughters are not impressed with.  It holds a lot of memories for Sarah, some of which she’d rather not examine again.  Supposedly, the house is haunted, and Sarah’s daughter Gracie begins to talk about a woman in white she has seen running up the stairs.  But Sarah doesn’t have time to think about that in the midst of all the renovations and a shocking new problem – teenage girls in town are disappearing.  As Sarah deals with the terror of protecting her girls, will she realize that her memories might hold the key to solving the crimes?  An edge of your seat kind of read!

Get ready to enjoy summer – eventually it will warm up and a glass of tea on the porch, reading a book, will be the way to spend you day!

Services Update: Cypress Resume is now available at the library and at home with your library card!  Ask a librarian for more information – if you are job hunting, then this is the service for you.  Make great resumes with this web-based software that will lay out everything for you.

SRP Update: The Summer Reading Program sign-up starts on June 6^th with weekly activity days starting June 17^th (Tuesday) at 2:00 PM.  We have two special events happening along with SRP this year for our middle and early readers: Swan the Magician at 2:00 PM June 24^th and the Zinghoppers at 2:00 PM July 8^th.  Contact the library for more information about these great events!

PAFL Update:  Pipestone Area Friends of the Library is looking for members – anyone who is a friend to Meinders Library is welcome to join!  The Friends group works hard to promote the library, raise money for projects, and organize their yearly book sale, in addition to the HUGE amount of support they provide throughout the year.  Call for the date of their next meeting.

If you have questions or have a book you’d like to reserve or renew, please don’t hesitate to give us a call at (507) 825-6714.  The summer hours for Meinders Library (starting Memorial Day weekend) are Monday through Thursday from 10 AM – 8 PM, and Friday from 10 AM – 5 PM and Saturday from 10 AM - Noon.  Meinders Community Library is located at 1401 7^th Street SW, on the south side of the high school.