See You at the Library
201 South Main Street

Residents are being asked to participate in the "Support Our Troops" program. With all the hustle and bustle of the season, we don't want to forget the men and women serving our country who can't be with their families for the holidays. While you are out shopping for your loved ones, please pick up a few items for the troops too. The care packages are deeply appreciated, and probably even more so around the holidays.

Items needed include Chapstick, deodorant, toothbrushes, toothpaste, dental floss, batteries and ready-to-eat foods. Shampoo, lotions, soaps, etc. should be unscented. A more extensive list of requested items is available at the library or on the city's website.

Monetary donations also are accepted to help cover postage costs. Please leave donations at the library during regular hours.

The library will send paperback books to the troops along with the donations.

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Don't despair. Although the Friends of the Library did not have its annual book sale this year, you can always come to the library for some great finds.

At the yearround book sale, hardcovers are $1, softcovers are $.50, and children's books are $.25.

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The library received its first check from Shopforthelibrary.net. Our thanks to everyone who has taken advantage of the opportunity. Keep shopping for the Lampasas Public Library! To sign up, visit www.shopforthelibrary.net. A portion of the purchase price of online items goes to the library of one's choice. Registration and participation is free. Be sure to designate Lampasas Public Library as your library of choice, and download & install AutoTrack. From there, anytime you shop at any of the 800-plus participating stores online, the Lampasas library will get a donation. Phone the library at 556-3251 if you have questions about this easy fund-raising opportunity.

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Recent memorials have been given in memory of Eddie Thompson, J.W. Williams, Anna Tidwell, Velma Jones and Ben Hamric.

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In November...

-- despite the library being closed for Veterans Day and Thanksgiving, 5,115 people visited the library.

-- 4,834 items were checked out. -- 1,012 people used the free Internet access computers. -- 106 reference questions were answered. -- 212 informational questions were answered.

-- 108 children and parents/caregivers attended story times.

-- 62 large-print books from the Central Texas Library System were checked out.

-- 12 people used the new microfilm machine. -- 11 items were requested through the Interlibrary Loan service.

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The library is still collecting used ink cartridges and toner cartridges for recycling. Instead of sending your toner cartridges back to the manufacturer for recycling, drop them off at the library for an easy way to help protect the environment while helping the library.

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Don't forget to "check out" the self check-out service. It's fast and convenient.

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Author read-alikes:

If you like Rita Mae Brown, you might also like Joanne Fluke, Lilian Jackson Braun, Agatha Christie, Diane Mott Davidson or Nancy Atherton.

If you like Jennifer Crusie, you might also like Jayne Ann Krentz, Janet Evanovich, Gillian Roberts, Sarah Shankman or Mary Kay Andrews.

If you like Ken Follett, you might also like John Grisham, Nelson Demille, Sara Paretsky, Jonathan Kellerman, Frederick Forsyth or David Baldacci.

If you like John Sandford, you might also like Linda Fairstein, James Patterson, Lee Child, Michael Connelly or Tess Gerritsen.

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New books at the library:

"Double Cross," by James Patterson. Just when Alex thought his life was calming down into a routine of patients and therapy sessions, he finds himself back in the game -- this time to catch a criminal mastermind like no other. A spate of elaborate murders in Washington D.C. has the whole East Coast on edge. They are like nothing Alex Cross and his new girlfriend, Detective Brianna Stone, have ever seen. With each murder, the case becomes increasingly complex. There's only one thing Alex knows: the killer adores an audience. As victims are made into gruesome spectacles citywide, inducing a media hysteria, it becomes clear to Alex that the man he's after is a genius of terror -- and he's after fame. The killer has the whole city by its strings --and he'll stop at nothing to become the most terrifying star that Washington D.C. has ever seen.

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"Home to Holly Springs," by Jan Karon. The author offers the story of the newly retired priest's spur-of-the-moment adventure. For the first time in decades, Father Tim returns to his birthplace, Holly Springs, Miss., in response to a mysterious, unsigned note saying simply: "Come home." Little does he know how much these two words will change his life. A story of long-buried secrets, forgiveness, and the wonder of discovering new people, places, and depth of feeling, "Home to Holly Springs" will enthrall new readers and longtime fans alike.

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"Creation in Death," by J.D. Robb. NY Police Lieutenant Eve Dallas keeps the streets of a near-future New York City safe in this extraordinary series. But even she makes mistakes, and is haunted by those she couldn't save - -and the killers she couldn't capture. The city was on edge from a killing spree that took the lives of four women in 15 days, courtesy of a man the media tagged "The Groom" because he put silver rings on the fingers of his victims. And chances are he's working up to the biggest challenge of his illustrious career -- abducting a woman who will test his skills and who promises to give him days and days of pleasure before she dies: Eve.

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"Reposition Yourself," by T.D. Jakes. Bestselling author T.D. Jakes shares insights that will help readers adjust to the many changes that life brings. This is a shrill wake-up call to take charge of your life now. Not only does it confront areas where subtle passivity or even poor choices may have stifled the reader's creativity, but it also instructs how to manage change and maximize life now. Using wisdom collected from his more than 30 years of counseling and working with everyday and highprofile people, Jakes covers financial, relational and spiritual creativity and shows how adapting to transitional moments in one's life is the path to an enriched existence filled with contentment at every stage.

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"The Age of Turbulence," by Alan Greenspan. The author shares the story of his life, first simply with an eye toward doing justice to the extraordinary amount of history he has experienced and shaped. But his other goal is to draw readers along the same learning curve he followed, so they accrue a grasp of his own understanding of the underlying dynamics that drive world events. In the second half of the book, having brought the reader to the present and him with the conceptual tools to follow him forward, Greenspan embarks on a tour of the global economy. He reveals the universals of economic growth, delves into the specific facts on the ground in each of the major countries and regions of the world, and explains what the trend-lines of globalization are from here.

* * * Other new books at the library:

"Dark of the Moon" by John Sandford.

"Protect and Defend," by Vince Flynn. "If Democrats Had Any Brains, They'd Be Republicans," by Ann Coulter