Preview Shelf -- Librarian finishes her degree

Congratulations to Crawfordsville District Public Library staff member Katie Myers for completing an eight-year project. She has received her B.A. degree cum laude from St. Mary's-of-the-Woods College, in Terre Haute. Her major was humanities, the perfect background for the many subjects that arise in our downtown's cultural center. Katie works in the circulation department. She's an avid reader, currently enjoying Dean Koontz' "Forever Odd" in the "Odd" series, and "Orpheus Lost" by Janette Turner Hospital. Katie says, "This has been a life-long goal and my family's glad I'm finished." Here are novels requested by patrons. "Being Elizabeth" by Barbara Bradford finds a young woman executive having to make choices as a scandal threatens to usurp her reputation. Sandra Brown's "Smoke Screen" covers the search for information about a fire that destroyed the Charleston police headquarters. Anne Siddons' "Off Season" takes the reader to coastal Maine where a widow reviews her marriage to find elements of that life she'd never acknowledged before. There's one more request. "The Monster of Florence" by Douglas Preston is a true story about searching for the identity of an evildoer who murdered 14 young lovers, but was never caught. Other new novels begin with "America America" by Ethan Canin set in a small town during the Nixon era, when a young boy begins yard work on the grand estate of a powerful family, through whom he becomes a private boarding school student and then an aide to a candidate for President of the United States. This involves him in politics, and moral dilemmas. Jeff Shaara's "The Steel Wave" is a novel of World War II told through the viewpoint of some colorful and dynamic characters describing D-Day, the Allies' invasion of France. "People Who Walk in Darkness" by Stuart Kaminsky shows "one of the last honest civil servants in a very dishonest post-Soviet Russia", a caring policeman commanded to go from Moscow to Siberia to investigate a diamond mine murder. "Findings" by Mary Anna Evans follows an archaeologist on a treasure hunt connected to Marie Antoinette and the history of the Confederacy while his goal is restoring a family plantation. "A Thousand Bones" by P.J. Parrish shows a rookie rural Michigan girl cop in the dead of winter facing a predator who has chosen her to be a worthy opponent or else his next victim."The Art of Racing in the Rain" by Garth Stein is narrated by a canine called Enzo, to teach readers about being human. Elizabeth Peters' "The Laughter of Dead Kings" brings her investigator-character Vicky Bliss back to solve heinous offenses in Egypt. Elmore Leonard's "Ten Rules of Writing" is a simple guide for every reader and writer. "Street Magic" contains Paul Zenon's group tricks, sleight of hand, and illusion using coins, paper, and cards. "Puzzles in Wood" offers E. M. Wyatt's simple patterns for creating 45 classics. Three attractive art books are "Willard Metcalf (1858-1925): Yankee Impressionist", "Charles Warren Eaton" 1857-1937): An American Tonalist Rediscovered", and "The Spirit of America: American Art from 1829 to 1970". China is explained in "The Empire of Lies: The Truth about China in the Twenty-First Century" by Guy Sorman. "The Last Days of old Beijing" by Michael Meyer is a disclosure of the city's latest changes through the lens of its oldest neighborhood.