April New Books

Nightwalker by Heather Graham (4/1/09)
Jessy Sparhawk has seen firsthand how gambling can ruin people's lives. But one night, desperate for money, she places the bet that will change her life forever. Just as she's collecting her winnings, a man stumbles through the crowd, a knife protruding from his back, and crashes into her, pinning her to the craps table.

Thanks For the Memories by Cecelia Ahern ( 4/7/09)
When Joyce Conway gets a blood transfusion after a tragic accident that caused her to miscarry, she strangely picks up the memories of her donor. Upon release from the hospital, she moves in with her father to try to cope with her impending divorce and the loss of her baby, but ends up instead on a wild goose chase after feeling a connection with a mysterious, smoldering stranger in a hair salon.

Borderline by Nevada Barr (4/7/09)
The killings on Isle Royale have left Anna drained and haunted, her memories of her time with the wolf study group forever marred by the carnage on the island. The one bright spot in Anna’s life is Paul, her husband of less than a year. Hoping the warmth and the adventure of a raft trip in Big Bend National Park will lift her spirits, Paul takes Anna to southwest Texas. The sheer beauty of the Chihuahuan Desert and the power of the river work their magic—until the raft is lost in the rapids and a young college student falls overboard, resulting in an even more grisly discovery. Caught in a strainer between two boulders and more dead than alive, is a pregnant woman, hair and arms tangled in the downed branches.

Cursed by Carol Higgins Clark (4/7/09)
Sleet and snow are swirling as Regan arrives at a warehouse in Long Island City with a trunk full of her old case files from Los Angeles. After carting all her boxes into a storage unit, she heads back out into the snow, and her cell phone rings.
Abigail Feeney, a young woman who had lived across the hall from Regan in an apartment complex in the Hollywood Hills, is on the line. Abigail believes her life has been cursed since birth. She was born on Friday the 13th of January, and her parents gave her a name with 13 letters.

Just Take My Heart byMary Higgins Clark (4/7/09)
Natalie Raines, famous Broadway star, is murdered after accidentally discovering who killed her former roommate, Jamie Evans. Natalie's estranged husband, theatrical agent Gregg Aldrich, was known to have stalked Natalie to find out if she was seeing another man, and becomes "a person of interest" in her death. After a career criminal comes forward to claim that Aldrich hired him to kill his wife, a job he decided to turn down, a Grand Jury indicts Gregg for the murder of his wife.

Fatally Flaky by Diane Mott Davidson (4/7/09)

It's been a long, rainy summer for Goldy Schulz, who is engaged in planning wedding receptions for what seems to be all of Aspen Meadow. It's bad enough that Billie Attenborough, the bride from hell, has changed her menu six times and the event date twice. Now she wants to move the location to the Gold Gulch Spa just a scant two days before tying the knot to her doctor fiancé.

Then Doc Finn, beloved local physician and the best friend of Goldy's godfather, Jack, is killed when his car tumbles into a ravine. At least that's what appears to have happened. But Jack thinks Doc was murdered because of the research he was doing at the spa—allegations that are confirmed when Jack himself is attacked.

href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjazx8WU1Vqu54GsFEdgh6_qwndI7Ycgu-sCTIiVSCPpRUW-aWsMNUQmqeMoHbhYJsbc0OLWwbLn7L9mD1PgscnvbIRNxISusxIr5zAhB3dcF-WAyp4wg0mX0PHtMnkbYqH_EjwiSeAArA/s1600-h/sisters.jpg">The Geometry of Sisters by Luanne Rice (4/14/09)
I grew up in a triangle of sisters, the oldest of three girls. Invisible lines stretched between us, never quite equidistant. Within our tight threesome, one always felt a little left out. We told each other everything, except the occasional deep, dark secret. And when one learned the other two had known, it was a knife in the heart.

The Geometry Of Sisters tells of three sets of sisters, the amazing and treacherous ways they love and protect each other. It’s set in a New England prep school, on a cliff in Newport, Rhode Island. Newport, because my sisters and I lived there the year after our father died, and prep school because...


Look Again by Lisa Scottoline (4/14/09)

When reporter Ellen Gleeson gets a “Have You Seen This Child?” flyer in the mail, she almost throws it away. But something about it makes her look again, and her heart stops—the child in the photo is identical to her adopted son, Will. Her every instinct tells her to deny the similarity between the boys, because she knows her adoption was lawful. But she’s a journalist and won’t be able to stop thinking about the photo until she figures out the truth

First Family by David Baldacci (4/21/09)
It began with what seemed like an ordinary children's birthday party. Friends and family gathered to celebrate. There were balloons and cake, games and gifts. This party, however, was far from ordinary. It was held at Camp David, the presidential retreat. And it ended with a daring kidnapping . . . which immediately turned into a national security nightmare.

Deadlock by Iris Johansen (4/21/09)
Emily Hudson is an archeologist who travels the world in search of priceless artifacts from war-torn countries and other hot spots. Her best friend and partner, Joel Levy, is always at her side—until one day, her entire crew is massacred and Joel and Emily are held captive. Victims of one of the most ruthless and evil human beings on earth. For two weeks they try to survive, until Emily is the unwitting instrument in Joel’s demise.






Tea Time for the Traditionally Built by Alexander McCall Smith (4/21/09)
Mma Ramotswe’s ever-ready tiny white van has recently developed a rather disturbing noise. Of course, Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni–her estimable husband and one of Botswana’s most talented mechanics––is the man to turn to for help. But Precious suspects he might simply condemn the van and replace it with something more modern. Can she find a way to save her old friend?

Loitering with Intent by Stuart Woods (4/21/09)

Dumped by his glamorous Russian girlfriend during dinner at Elaine’s, and running low on cash, Stone Barrington is having a bad week. So his luck seems to be improving when he’s hired to locate the missing son of a very wealthy man—lucky because the job pays well, and because the son is hiding in the tropical paradise of Key West. But when Stone and his sometime running buddy Dino Bacchetti arrive in the sunny Keys, it appears that someone has been lying in wait.

The Language of Bees by Laurie R. King (4/28/09)
For Mary Russell and her husband, Sherlock Holmes, returning to the Sussex coast after seven months abroad was especially sweet.

There was even a mystery to solve—the unexplained disappearance of an entire colony of bees from one of Holmes’s beloved hives.But the anticipated sweetness of their homecoming is quickly tempered by a galling memory from her husband’s past. Mary had met Damian Adler only once before, when the promising surrealist painter had been charged with—and exonerated from—murder. Now the talented and troubled young man was enlisting their help again, this time in a desperate search for his missing wife and child.

The Eighth Confession by James Patterson (4/28/09)

As San Francisco's most glamorous millionaires mingle at the party of the year, someone is watching--waiting for a chance to take vengeance on Isa and Ethan Bailey, the city's most celebrated couple. Finally, the killer pinpoints the ideal moment, and it's the perfect murder. Not a trace of evidence is left behind in their glamorous home

2009 Dodge County Business Expo

The library was part Dodge County the annual business expo held at the Triton High School. We had display board featuring children's storytime, summer reading program, and our adult reading program Hot Reads For Cold Nights. Two laptops had our children's program and adult programs. The children enjoyed our free bookmarks.

(l-r) Friend of the Library Pat Coy

and John Talcott, and Library Director

Bonnie Adams

For additional photos look at our picture site
Flikkr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kassonlibrary

Library website: http://www.kasson.lib.mn.us/.mn.us/

Horses Storytime 3/24-25

The topic of this week's storytime was horses. Library Director Bonnie Adams told the children about the 2 horses she owns. The children colored a picture of two horses and enjoyed hearing about the different breeds of horses.

For additional photos look at our picture site on

Flikkr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kassonlibrary

Library website: http://www.kasson.lib.mn.us/.mn.us/

Wednesday, March 25

Tuesday, March 24

Libraries and Economics Times

Those of us that have worked in public libraries know that the tougher the economic times, the busier the library becomes. People switch to borrowing books andDVDs instead of buying them. Parents take their children to the library for storytime and programs. The circulation of DVDs and fiction titles is up, and waits for best sellers are longer.

Patrons also are taking advantage of free Internet service at libraries, rather than paying for it at home, The library has the only broadband access for many people and even those with their own laptops are heading to the library where they can use the free Wi-Fi service.

Those that are unemployed or facing unemployment come to use the computers and apply for jobs, update resumes, or search to see what opportunities might be available. Job seekers are finding that many employers are requiring job applicants to apply online and, for folks who aren't used to navigating the Internet, it can be a daunting process. Today's job search process is far more complicated, requiring applicants to have an e-mail address, an online version of their resume and the ability to upload their information to online job site listings.

A large increase of patrons asking for one-on-one training to get e-mail service, help with documents on a flash drive that they need to print. We also hear patrons say their printer ran out of ink at home and they couldn't afford a new ink cartridge so they come to the library, where it's cheaper to print their information.

Kasson Library helps people connect with information and services.

Go on the Hunt for Pieces of Your Puzzle

Imagine your life as a giant puzzle, with pieces that have been scattered everywhere. If you stay in the same place for most of your time, you’ll have access to quite a few of those pieces, which you can snap in place whenever you want. But as you try new things and step outside your comfort zone occasionally, you can run across some of those scattered pieces, making your puzzle a bit more complete.

For me the missing puzzle piece was designing perennial flower beds for our hobby farm. I read a lot on what was best for our 3-4 growing zone. Then chose some perennials, learned about fertilizers, the right type of dirt and how to amend it for the perennials. I have worked very hard the last three years with my 7 flower beds. I have had lots of blisters, many a sore back, and dirty hands and feet. But I loved every minute (well maybe not every minute) and I am very proud to show others the flower beds and occassionally share a plant or two.

I was lucky enough to find another hidden piece of my puzzle. Now go out and find your missing puzzle piece and share with others. As you all know I am constantly looking for ideas for this blog and frequently use ideas found on http://www.onsimplicity.net/.

Under the Sea Storytime 3/16-17/09

Today's storytime talked about what lives under the sea. The children enjoyed naming the creatures found in the sea. They knew most of the creatures and learned about some they did not know.

For additional photos look at our picture site on
Flikkr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kassonlibrary
Library website: http://www.kasson.lib.mn.us/.mn.us/

Wednesday, March 16th

Tuesday, March 17th

Dodge Center Library Director Angie Meyer hosted library directors of the NW Section of the SELCO(Southeastern Libraries Cooperating). The six directors came together today to discuss a variety of topics.

(l-r) Rita Hawes-(West Concord), Angie Meyer(Dodge Center)
Mary Kay Feltes-(Owatonna), Bonnie Adams-(Kasson)
Delane James (Faribault). Taking Picture:Lynn Young-(Northfield)

Grand Finale for Hot Reads Reading Program

For the grand finale of the Hot Reads For Cold Nights program a Chili Cook-off was held at the library. Library Director Bonnie Adams and Children's Librarian Ingvild Herfindahl brought their chili to be judged as the best.

Although there was not a large crowd they were enthusiastic about what they thought chili should taste like. Some thought Bonnie's was spicy and unique with the addition of small pasta instead of beans. Ingvild's was great with the traditional chili with beans.

Everyone enjoyed the eight weeks of events for our adult reading program:three authors, two Wii game nights, noon cooking demonstration, travelogue, and the chili cook-off. Many patrons also won our weekly drawings of coffee cups, hot reads bags, and gift certificates from local businesses.

We would like to thank all that came to the events, the local businesses' generosity of prizes, and the Friends of the Library for hosting the events. A big thank you to Fran Johnson for making sure their were refreshments.





Bonnie Adams and Ingvild Herfindahl and their chili.

Some people at the event.



Hannah and her Mom's chili.

Chili Cook-Off Today 3/13/09 5 pm Library

Come and share the fun!

The first ever Chili Cook-off will be the Grand Finale of the adult library program Hot Reads For Cold Nights
tonight at 5pm.

Bring a pot of chili, the rest will be furnished by the Friends of the Library-bowls, spoons, cheese and crackers.

Cleaning Closets Storytime 3/10-11

This week's storytime was based on cleaning closets and what do you have in them, what can you throw, use, or donate. The children really got into the spirit and enjoyed the stories. The helped Children's Librarian Ingvild with her imaginary closet.

For additional photos look at our picture site on

Flikkr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kassonlibrary

Library website: http://www.kasson.lib.mn.us/.mn.us/

Wednesday, March 11th

Tuesday, March 10th

March New Books

Oolong Dead by Laura Childs 3/3/09)
While riding her horse in a race through the South Carolina Lowcountry, Theodosia Browning finds her arch nemesis, Abby Davis, dead. What’s more, the victim’s brother is Theodosia’s old flame. Who’d have guessed they’d be reunited through cold-blooded murder? Theodosia’s investigation takes her from the Lowcountry thicket to the backstage maze of a darkened theater where a maestro of murder waits for the next cue. All proving that when it comes to high drama, Theodosia can give Verdi a run for his money.

Handle With Care by Jodi Piccoult (3/3/09)
Every expectant parent will tell you that they don't want a perfect baby, just a healthy one. Charlotte and Sean O'Keefe would have asked for a healthy baby, too, if they'd been given the choice. Instead, their lives are made up of sleepless nights, mounting bills, the pitying stares of "luckier" parents, and maybe worst of all, the what-ifs. What if their child had been born healthy? But it's all worth it because Willow is, well, funny as it seems, perfect. She's smart as a whip, on her way to being as pretty as her mother, kind, brave, and for a five-year-old an unexpectedly deep source of wisdom. Willow is Willow, in sickness and in health.

North Star by Richard Wheeler (3/3/09)
Venerable mountain man Barnaby Skye, after more than 50 years of trapping beaver, hunting bear, fighting Indians and living outdoors—in constant rheumatic pain, losing his eyesight and wishing to live out his days in a house with a roof, a floor and a real bed. It is 1870, the fur business is dead and white men are taking all the Indian lands. His two Indian wives, Victoria and Mary, have different feelings about these changes. Victoria dreads leaving her Indian family for a white man's life, and Mary longs to see her son, Dirk, whom Skye had sent away to school several years earlier. Skye and Victoria confront brutal Texas cattlemen and cheating Indian agents, and Mary travels to St. Louis to find her son. Skye may be old, but he is wise and crafty.

Corsair by Clive Cussler (3/10/09)

Corsairs are pirates, and pirates come in many different varieties. There are the pirates who fought off the Barbary Coast in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, the contemporary pirates who infest the waters of Africa and Asia, and the pirates . . . who look like something else.

When the U.S. secretary of state’s plane crashes while bringing her to a summit meeting in Libya, the CIA, distrusting the Libyans, hire Juan Cabrillo to search for her, and their misgivings are well founded. It turns out Libya’s new foreign minister has other plans for the conference, plans that Cabrillo cannot let happen. But what does it all have to do with a two- hundred- year-old naval battle and the centuries-old Islamic scrolls that the Libyans seem so determined to find?

Take One by Karen Kingbury (3/10/09
Two unknown producers struggle to fulfill their dreams to change lives through the power of film. With millions of investors’ dollars on the line, everything starts to fall apart and they realize they may be in over their heads. Is it possible to beat the odds and make a movie unlike anything ever done before? Or, will they lose everything in the process?

True Detectives by Jonathan Kellerman (3/24/09)
Bound by blood but divided by troubles as old as Cain and Abel, Moses Reed and Aaron Fox were first introduced in Kellerman’s bestselling Bones. They are sons of the same strong-willed mother, and their respective fathers were cops, partners, and friends. Their turbulent family history has set them at odds, despite their shared calling. Moses—part Boy Scout, part bulldog, man of few words—is a no-frills LAPD detective. Aaron, sharp dresser and smooth operator, is an ex-cop turned high-end private eye. Usually they go their separate ways. But the disappearance of Caitlin Frostig isn’t usual. For Moses, it’s an ice-cold mystery he just can’t outrun, even with the help of psychologist Alex Delaware and detective Milo Sturgis. For Aaron, it’s a billable-hours bonanza from his most lucrative client. Like it or not, Moses and Aaron are in this one together–and the rivalry that rules them won’t let either man quit till the case is cracked.

Execution Dock by Anne Perry (3/24/09)
Monk suffering from a series of hard knocks, including memory loss. Now superintendent of the Thames River Police Force, Monk is on the verge of closing the books on Jericho Phillips, a particularly nasty villain who specializes in child pornography. Monk and his team catch Phillips, but what appears to be an airtight murder case springs leaks and ends with the accused's acquittal. Many in authority view the judgment as a rebuke to the river police, whose existence as a separate force is threatened. Convinced that he got the right man, despite the jury's verdict, Monk devotes himself to setting the record straight. Monk's wife, Hester, who works with London's downtrodden, provides support

Pursuit by Karen Robards (3/24/09)

When rookie lawyer Jessica Ford gets the call from her boss, John Davenport, the senior partner at the illustrious law firm for which she works, she can tell he is well on his way to being drunk. He needs Jess to meet First Lady Annette Cooper, for whom Davenport is a personal lawyer, at a Washington, D.C., hotel. Jess is thrilled: this high- profile assignment must mean that she’s earned her boss’s trust and she’s on her way to bigger things. But unfortunately, bigger isn’t always better.Jess doesn’t remember much—only that in the course of the late-night meeting with Annette Cooper, she ended up in the backseat of a car, speeding off into the darkness. All Jess knows is that the car crashed en route, and the other three passengers were killed, including the First Lady. Badly injured, Jess is the only survivor of what is trumpeted around the world as a tragic accident.

The Lost Quilter by Jennifer Chiaverini (3/31/09)
Master Quilter Sylvia Bergstrom Compson treasures an antique quilt called by three names -- Birds in the Air, after its pattern; the Runaway Quilt, after the woman who sewed it; and the Elm Creek Quilt, after the place to which its maker longed to return. That quilter was Joanna, a fugitive slave who traveled by the Underground Railroad to reach safe haven in 1859 at Elm Creek Farm.
Though Joanna's freedom proved short-lived -- she was forcibly returned by slave catchers to Josiah Chester's plantation in Virginia -- she left the Bergstrom family a most precious gift, her son. Hans and Anneke Bergstrom, along with maiden aunt Gerda, raised the boy as their own, and the secret of his identity died with their generation. Now it falls to Sylvia -- drawing upon Gerda's diary and Joanna's quilt -- to connect Joanna's past to present-day Elm Creek Manor.

Lavender Morning by Jude Deveraux (3/31/09)
Jocelyn Minton is a woman torn between two worlds. Her mother grew up attending private schools and afternoon teas, but she married the local handyman. After her mother died when Joce was only five years old, her father remarried into his own class, and Joce became an outsider -- until she met Edilean Harcourt. Although she was sixty years Joce's senior, Miss Edi was a kindred soul who understood her like no one else ever had.
When Miss Edi passes away, she leaves Joce all her worldly possessions, including an eighteenth-century house and a letter with clues to a mystery that began in 1941. As she begins to dig into Miss Edi's mystery, she soon discovers some shocking surprises about her family's history and her own future -- and she meets a man with his own mysterious past.

In the Dark by Brian Freeman (3/31/09)
Two young lovers. A sultry summer night. One brutal, cold-blooded murder. In this stunning, atmospheric thriller, Brian Freeman takes you deep into Detective Jonathan Stride’s complicated past.
It’s the case that has haunted Stride for thirty years. During the summer after his junior year of high school, he fell in love with beautiful Cindy Starr, the girl who would become his wife. But on the Fourth of July, the same night that Jonny and Cindy cemented their love, Cindy’s older sister Laura was savagely murdered. The police suspected a vagrant of committing the crime, but no one was ever arrested, and the case was closed.

As he unearths the explosive events that led to Laura’s murder, Stride discovers that the ripples of her death changed everyone’s lives, including his own. Can Stride put to rest the ghosts of his past, or will they devour him whole?

Dare To Die by Carolyn Hart (3/31/09)
Annie and Max Darling are completely unprepared when the arrival of a mysterious young woman shocks their sea island and stirs up more than just gossip.
It turns out that Iris, the beautiful stranger, is a former resident of Broward's Rock. Her arrival throws the normally happy town into a downward spiral that pits neighbor against neighbor.
Things take a turn for the worse when Annie befriends Iris and invites her to attend the Darlings' party at the pavilion where Death is the uninvited guest.

Malice by Lisa Jackson (3/31/09)

The scent is unmistakable gardenias, sweet and delicate, the same perfume that his beautiful first wife, Jennifer, always wore. Opening his eyes in the hospital room where he's recovering from an accident, New Orleans detective Rick Bentz sees her standing in the doorway. Then Jennifer blows him a kiss and disappears. But it couldn't have been Jennifer. She died twelve years ago...
Once out of the hospital, Bentz begins to see Jennifer everywhere. Could she still be alive? But it was Bentz who identified Jennifer's body after her horrible car wreck, and there had been no question in his mind that it was her crumpled form behind the wheel, her clothes, her wedding ring. He's never doubted it until now. He can't tell his new wife, Olivia, about the sightings or his secret fear that he's losing his mind. But Olivia is also hiding a secret...

The Secret by Beverly Lewis (3/31/09)

In the seemingly ordinary Amish home of Grace Byler, secrets abound. Why does her mother weep in the night? Why does her father refuse to admit something is dreadfully wrong? Then, in one startling moment, everything Grace assumed she knew is shattered. Her mother's disappearance leaves Grace reeling and unable to keep her betrothal promise to her long-time beau. Left to pick up the pieces of her life, Grace questions all she has been taught about love, family, and commitment. Heather Nelson is an English grad student, stunned by a doctor's diagnosis. Surely fate would not allow her father to lose his only daughter after the death of his wife a few years before. In denial and telling no one she is terminally ill, Heather travels to Lancaster County--the last place she and her mother had visited together. Will Heather find healing for body and spirit? As the lives of four wounded souls begin to weave together like an Amish patchwork quilt, they each discover missing pieces of their life puzzle.