'Allo, Chickies!  How goes each shining hour?  I have been sojourning in Texas for the past five weeks and come home to three newspapers, a fire station halfway up, and two bunnies and four squirrels who are terrorizing my backyard--and really annoying my dear "half-mine Mannie", whom, everyone knows by now, is the delightful German Shepherd next door at Dennis Riney's. 

Mr. Riney only pays the bills, throws the toys on the roof where Mannie can't get them ( and it annoys me!), and serves up plain dog food--whereas I make sure Mannie's thrice-weekly "treats" are peanut butter toast or scrambled eggs or a piece or 4 of chicken (never fried and never with bones, of course).  The cemeteries were colorful with lots of flowers and it helps to have that kind of setting, I think, on such a poignant holiday with its memories and regrets and knowing that Life goes on and will after all of us are gone! This is also a celebration column for my return from several weeks in Kerrville, Tx. in the beautiful Hill Country and I always enjoy going there as well as coming back to Liberal. 

The column is for Fiction books and we'll start out with one of the "masters" in it--David Baldacci-- and his new work, "The Whole Truth." This is his first international novel and it's going to be a jim-dandy (where did that phrase originate?) dealing as it does with war, treachery, a secret multinational agency and a reporter, Katie James, who has slipped in her career and is now given the chance of a lifetime. Her chance? She has the opportunity to interview the sole survivor of a massacre that has stunned the world.

Could this terrible event have been set in motion by a man, Nicolas Creel, saying to his company's "perception manager", "Dick, I need a war"?  Then there's Shaw, who travels the globe doing what he can for the world "as he travels the globe to keep it safe and at peace." A very fast-paced story with well thought-out characters and a believable plot. Come get it.

Oops! I gotta leave for Red River in 15 minutes, so I'll quickly talk about two books--one being by the very talented son of the Kellermans--both best-selling authors--namely Jesse Kellerman and his book," Genius." It concerns the art world and its duplicity--meaning gentlemen of uncertain moral character who use art to get money out of people who don't know whether it's original or fake--in the form of Ethan Muller and an elderly hermit/artist, Victor Cracke.

The first name is "trying to establish his reputation as a dealer in the cutthroat world of contemporary art" when he discovers a "find"--an enormous amount of art done by a Victor Cracke--and the aforesaid Mr. Cracke has gone bye-bye and no one knows where. So--Ethan figures that even though the art doesn't belong to him (imagine arriving at that conclusion!), he'll mount a huge art show, sell it, and fix his name firmly in the art world. He does and the critics rave, museums contact him, "and his photo looks great in the New York Times."

Then, the police  get into it and interested in the photos as a criminal activity and they pose an interesting question--is Cracke an artist or a murderer--part of an ongoing investigation that is 40 years old?  Take my word for it, dear readers--I've read Jesse's previous work, "Sunstroke", and was very impressed, so, let's assume that this one will continue his family tradition.

Debbie Macomber's new one on the New York Times rack, is "Twenty Wishes" and her stories are known for appealing to women in that she understands and examines their lives, emotion, hopes and makes it all very "readable"--not all books, bodkins, are!  Anne Marie Roche is 38, childless, and a recent widow.  Now, she does own a successful bookstore "and on Valentine's Day, Anne Marie and several other widows get together to celebrate--what? They each begin a list of 20 wishes, things they always wanted to do but never did", which begins to sound like the movie, "Bucket List", which was just delightful! 

Anne Marie begins to act on her wishes and an 8-yr.old girl, Ellen, enters her life and helps the list along and their relationship takes on a real importance and makes a definite impact on the book lady's life. Come in, look it over, and possibly go home with it.

Well, I'm due to write another column later this month, so, until then, floss the cat's teeth, pray for a final end to the Democratic candidates' constantly trying to find new ways to say the same things, water the new plants well--and your pets--and keep in mind that there are dragons and they have wonderful qualities of "smarts" and character! See ya! Bye!