It’s not that I don’t like winter, but enough is enough already. Spring not only heralds the arrival of sunny days and tulips, but also some new titles by some of my favorite authors. Here’s a short list of titles I can’t wait to read.
~Evelyn
Sandra Dallas – Prayers for Sale
Jilliane Hoffman -Plea of Insanity
Douglas Preston – Cemetery Dance
Michael Connelly – Scarecrow
Martha Powers’ latest novel Conspiracy of Silence will hook you right away and keep you guessing until the end. 
After her mother’s death, Clare Prentice learns that she was adopted. With only an inscribed class ring to go on, Clare travels to the small Minnesota town of Grand Rapids to see if she can learn more about her real parents. Soon after her arrival, strange events begin to occur and it becomes clear that someone does not want Clare to learn the truth about her family history.
Filled with interesting characters, exciting action, and even a little romance, Conspiracy of Silence will remind you of an early Mary Higgins Clark novel. So, don’t keep it to yourself—after you read it, tell everyone it’s a great book.
~Evelyn
Cathie Linz is one of my favorite romance authors. She writes funny, ordinary people romances that capture the heart of small-town America. Cathie’s latest Smart Girls Think Twice is the story of college professor and sociologist Emma Riley who returns to her home town in Pennsylvania to do demographic research for a grant. There, she meets her match in Jake, a sexy bartender who won’t answer her questions. Her two sisters are both getting married within two weeks of each other, so her crazy mother invites Jake to be Emma’s escort. Of course, the rest is happily predictable, but you’ll be laughing out loud all the way.
Emma’s two sisters’ stories are told in previous books. Big Girls Don’t Cry tells the story of plus-size model Leena Riley whose career stalls and she returns to her hometown of Rock Creek, Pennsylvania to live. To make matters worse, the only job she can find is a receptionist in a veterinarian’s office. The office of Cole Flannigan–the same Cole Flannigan whom she punched in 6th grade for calling her fat. And, when belly dancer and yoga instructor Skye Wright meets “Studley Do-Right” sheriff Nathan Thornton the sparks fly in Bad Girls Don’t. They say opposites attract, but…Well, I think you get the picture.
And of course, the reason I began reading this series was the book Good Girls Do, set in the neighboring town of Serenity Falls, Pennsylvania. Julia Wright couldn’t be more content being a librarian in a nice, quiet small town. That is, until her wacky mother and little niece, “Toni, the biter,” descend back into her life. To make matters worse, bad boy Luke Maguire returns on his Harley to manage his late father’s bar and sets his sights on her. I can’t wait for Linz’s next “opposites attract” romance.
~Evelyn
The favorite part of my job as a librarian is to talk about books and recommend my favorites to other readers. It’s so gratifying to have someone come back and seek me out saying, “I loved the book you gave me, I need another one!”
So, one of the things I do every month is to check out Pearl’s Picks, the latest list of recommend books from reader’s advisory guru Nancy Pearl, for a good book I might have missed. This month I found The Numerati by Business Week technology writer Stephen Baker.
I’ve been fascinated by marketing and consumer trends since reading Why We Buy by Paco Underhill several years ago. After reading The Numerati, I’m blown away by what data mining companies are doing everyday with those little bits of information we consumers leave behind every time we use our debit cards, cell phones, computers and other electronic devices.
Actually, right now I’m wondering what data mining lists I’ve been added to now that I’ve blogged about this book. But, truthfully, it really doesn’t matter because I won’t stop recommending good books to others.
~Evelyn
Someone just asked me for something “good to read.” My first thought was which one should I talk about? People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks that I’m listening to on CD in my car? Obedience by Will Lavender—the first novel that I’m reading right now? (I love first novels!)
Or maybe I should mention The Bone Gardenby Tess Gerritsen that I just downloaded onto my MP3 player. Oh, I almost forgot… I have The Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier on a Playaway tucked into my purse—just in case.
I even keep a book of Sudoku puzzles in the glove compartment of my husband’s truck for those times he gets carried away talking with the guys and leaves me just sitting there.
You’re probably wondering how I keep all the stories straight, but all I can say is I can. It isn’t a problem at all. Within a sentence or two, I’m completely immersed back into the story. Hmmmm…..Maybe I’m more those Gen Y’ers than I think—they multitask on their cell phones, iPods, and laptops—I just do the same with books. ~Evelyn
So, I thought I’d start out easy and take on Danielle Steel and Dean Koontz. I haven’t read either of them in probably ten years and can remember back when I used to be first one on the list to get anything by them.
First I read Amazing Grace by Danielle Steel. It seemed like a good choice–after all, it was set in San Francisco and featured a devastating earthquake…..how bad could that be? I noted that even the book’s cover had a nice graphic instead of those generic ones with just her name and the title. Immediately, I was hooked by the plot and potentially interesting characters, but soon I was forcing myself to keep reading in hopes that the tired plot lines and trite coincidences would develop into something special and unique. The book ended up being an OK read, but the characters were never really fleshed out and were just a little too stereotyped for me to really care about them. Wow! A far cry from the books I remember from the ‘80s that used to bring me to tears at 3 a.m.! I wonder who has changed–Danielle or me?
So, next on to Dean Koontz’s The Darkest Evening of the Year. This story is not your usual Koontz horror story, but instead is much more supernatural in tone. You can sum it up as the story of two unlikely couples share a past secret that brings them together with disastrou
I have to say that although this wasn’t like Koontz I remember, it was a good read. Koontz has proven that authors can adapt and grow. I learned from the author bio at the end of the book that Koontz had just lost his golden retriever companion of many years and I’m sure that influenced his story. Is it just a coincidence that dog is god spelled backwards?
It will take some discipline on my part to keep reading the old favorites when I’m tempted by all those shiny, new and enticing book covers I see everyday. I’m not sure what my next reading choices will be, but I’ll keep you posted. ~Evelyn
Read it or Weep 
