"Allo, Chickies--how were the holidays? Did'ja make it through your aunt or sister or brother bringing up the same irritating things they always did? Did the frozen fruit thaw out in time for dinner?  I hope the "little darlings" in the family had SOME measure of appreciation and thankfulness for their gifts and being around the family!  I adore cold turkey sandwiches and am always disappointed when there aren't enough leftovers to have them.

I really, more this year than other years, seemed to be more grateful to have family around me and be able to listen to and laugh with them--No, I don't attribute it to being a great-gradmother or getting older than I was in college!  I really had a delightful time and look forward to, hopefully, repeating it next year--at least in somewhat the same fashion.

All I lacked was a dog to share it with and I hope to remedy that in the next 2 or 3 months, with my continual internal debate being getting an English Setter which we had for many years or a dog from the shelter. I DO know I want a medium-sized dog and if' it's a male I'm debating calling him Baxter or Dodger or a more exotic name such as Akara but if it's a female she will be called Padgett. Anyway,  a dog is a dog and all of them need love and guidance and a good home and treats and being "crate trained" (they know that's their "house" and usually have no trouble adapting to it).

We've been dealing, for the last 5 weeks, with wonderful Fiction in the Santa Claus/elves/Rudolph themes so we'll just continue it with a Fiction column (Patrice, my dear, along with a Happy New Year greeting, how did I do on the segue this time?  "And it's hard and it's hard and it's hard, dear Lord," to do it easily! But I try! Tell Terry "Happy 2008" from HImself and me) 

Speaking of HImself and the new year, many of you know that he won't be practicing Law anymore and I'm not so much concerned about HIM AS I AM ABOUT MOI !  Greg, at Brown's Shoe Fit, doesn't know it yet but I'm planning on working down there three afternoons a week!  Perhaps he has remodeling plans for the  garage and/or the house!    Somebody call him up and offer to show Himself how to make birdhouses! Whaddya mean have we ever discussed this before now? I began "discussing, complaining, mentioning, and warning" the morning after his 62nd birthday--at least once a week until I heard some harsh words!  Then, I slowed down to once a month!   Obviously, I"m kidding--because Jim has always been a person who, as a fellow only child, finds things to stay busy with. . Himself, of course, is chuckling and making lists and mentioning "all this stuff that has to be done" so HE'S FINEWITH IT! (I wonder if Mike O'Kane could take him to work with him, next week, because Himself likes financial "stuff" and he'd be back in an office--I'm sure he could answer the phone in Mike's office or SOMETHING) 

WEll, that's not Fiction titles,  so let's back up and review some--and, yes, I absolutely am staying at my library job--need you ask? Was there any doubt in your mind?  The first title is from the perennial favorite, Danielle Steel, "Amazing Grace", and with her well-honed, everlasting, here-she-is-again storytelling skills, this is a tale of 4 people in the aftermath of an earthquake. "As the city staggers back to life, a chain reaction of extraordinary events will touch each of the survivors"--crime, betrayal, family tensions, unexpected strengths and about the time and point that everything SEEMS to be getting back into balance, more surprises are in store and bring out wonderful coping skills.  Ms. Steel has over 560 million--MILLION--copies sold of her books.  She positively excels at description of places and her characters come fully alive through dialogue more than their actions. So, if you're a Steel fan, come in and check this one out! I think the title matches the contents perfectly and maybe it's also that everyone can ask for and receive "Amazing Grace." 

The next book is by the excellent author Alice Sebold and it's positively riveting--I've been immersed in it for the last 20 minutes--and it's called "Almost Noon." and it certainly addresses the pain, violence and danger that lies under all of our lives and choices made, in looking back, that were inevitable.  Helen Knightly kills her mother, Clair, but, as with all stories, that is only part of the tale. This book has some amazing, true-to-life descriptions in it from Helen's father to her ex-husband to her children. You won't be bored at either the pace, situations or possibilities in this story but you will be held whether it's Helen's posing in the art class, dealing with her mother, or trying desperately to hold onto some integral part of herself.  I don't think I read Sebold's other titles, "Lovely Bones"or "Lucky" and I suspect I missed out on 2 excellent stories.

There's one quick thing I ought to mention--I have no idea whether this clever author deliberately misleads you into THINKING that Helen killed her mother 'cause I never even peeked at the last third of the book--so, maybe she didn't and someone else did. But it WILL hold your attention! Come check it out. 

"The Abstinence Teacher", by Tom Perrotta, deals--with flair and humanity--the differences that 2 people can have and then find, under "certain circumstances", that they can talk to each other and find common ground i.e. Ruth Ramsey, Human Sexuality teacher at Stonewood Heights, and Tim Mason, her daughter's Soccer coach and former rock band soloist/groupie.  Tim becomes very much a part of the Tabernacle Church, which expressly and firmly requires/urges/demands that its members accept Jesus and His way of behaving and living, which Tim tries to do--even to the extent of chastely courting and then marrying Carrie, whose parents are elderly and very protective. 

Ruth Ramsey, divorced, a teen-age daughter and the subject of her possible indiscretions (at least, some people were sure of it!) believes that "pleasure is good, shame is bad, and knowledge is power"--and please keep out of her private life!  Each has certain attitudes--and self-deceiving rationales--to convince themselves they're really happy and Tim has his past as well as some of his current friends to deal with. Both central characters would genuinely LIKE to believe that their chosen path is the only one but, time and again, opposite thoughts and unwanted memories get in the way. This book is a satisfying read and please come in and see what you think.  

The title, "Soldier on the Porch", by Sharon Wildwind, by itself attracted me, as well as its cover, so I guess the Marketing/Art Dept. of the Thomson Corp. did its job well. A bomb goes off in a hospital, ex-Army nurse Elizabeth Pepperhawk came to work intoxicated and her friend, Avivah Rosen has to face the FBI to explain her "relationship" with Major Henry Campos, her former boss in Vietnam.  Enter, also, Saul Eisenberg, a local reporter, who (like so many trying to please an editor) is looking for a news story "and he could be more dangerous to Avivah than military intelligence and the FBI combined."   An ex-Green Beret friend, Benny Kirkpatrick, is going to school full-time while taking care of his girlfriend's 2 boys and trying to protect both Avivah and Pepper and civilian life collapses around them. So, they do what they've done before and "form a squad to investigate", and that way leads to murder. A very good adventure story with some very good character delineations and worth your time to come in and pick up for a good Winter's afternoon read. 

Okay, Joe DeNoyer, you can go back to reading the column now--he said, one time, that he read the first and last of my column--"cause this is the wind-up(P.S. to Joe--I still love your "You Might Be a Redneck if....). Everyone stay warm and enjoy, also, the days we'll have in the 50's and 60's, all the Christmas stuff is put back in boxes, be grateful for any moisture, brace yourself for VAlentine's Day, indulge in a lottery ticket in the hopes for money to begin the New Year, and admire the trains that are busily running on the tracks IN FRONT of you, at a railroad crossing, or underneath you  under the overpass bridge. I was raised, practically, on the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe RR and went back and forth between Chicago and Topeka and my family knew all the conductors!  I even got an occasional free sandwich--it helped that my grandfather was Chief Signal Engineer!  Give yourself a goal to achieve, in the next 3 months, and before you know it, it'll be Spring and you can pat yourself on the back for using the early 2008 months to have accomplished something. Take care--read!  Bye!