June 21st is the beginning of summer. Get out the Bar-B-Que grill and try some of Pat and Gina Neely's flavorful grilled dishes. Down home with the Neely's, a southern cookbook has everything from how to soak woodchips for grilling, to the Neely's signature spice rubs as well as their southern recipes with a kick, and If that's not enough to satisfy you, the Husband and Wife team host their own cooking show Down home with the Neely's on the Food Network channel which airs Saturday's @11:00 a.m.

Today is so beautiful out, friends! Take advantage of the sunshine and warm weather and make a trek outside. Celebrate Nature Photography Day and create some art by capturing the world around you.  Michigan is full of parks, lakes, and gardens. Check out an old favorite or discover a new one. Good luck and happy snapping!

              
Don't judge a book by it's cover' we're told, but what about it's title?  5 bestselling novels with titles that intrigued me enough to check them out:.

If you're a fan of Walter Mosley and enjoy stories featuring a 'real' private eye try...Loren D. Estleman, Robert J.

The Ford Piquette Avenue plant in Detroit may be the most significant auto-heritage site in the world. In 1904 the Ford Motor Company built the Piquette plant as its first factory building. Here is where Henry Ford and his team built the first 12,000 Model Ts and many subsequent models. The Ford Piquette Avenue plant is on the National Register of Historic Places. It is a State of Michigan Historic Site and a City of Detroit Historic District. The plant offers tours for the public.

Looking for a good legal thriller? Read John Grisham or Scott Turow? Check out these award winning authors...

Greg Iles’ stories have been described as terrifying, suspenseful, and intense, words which also describe Jefferson Bass's FLESH & BONE, DEJA DEAD by Kathy Reich, Alex Kava's A PERFECT EVIL, DARKLY DREAMING DEXTER by  Jeff Lindsay, or  Karin Slaughter's BLINDSIGHTED.

If you enjoy humor with your mystery, like Tim Cockey’s or Janet Evanovich’s stories, you might try Mischief in Maggody by Joan Hess,Carl Hiaasen's Powder Burn, Biggie and the Poisoned Politician by Nancy Bell, Sanibel Flats by Randy Wayne White, Bubbles Unbound by Sarah Strohmeyer, Murder Grins and Bears It: a Yooper Mys

Date: Sunday, June 7, 2009
Location:  Riverside Park, Ypsilanti

The 13th annual Ypsilanti Orphan Car Show displays orphan vehicles that are makes, not models, of cars, trucks, motorcycles that are no longer manufactured. A large percentage have been out of production for over fifty years. The show features a "pass-in-review" by make or group, with several automotive historians describing the vehicles as they pass by. A good chance to enjoy a bit of the outdoors while viewing the vintage vehicles!

The general reading public seldom gets a chance to vote for their favorite book and/or author but here's your opportunity to do so. The Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel awards in July at the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival in Harrogate, England.  Laura Lippman, Mark Billingsham, Val McDermid, and Simon Kernick are among the 14 contenders. 

David Suchet is filming 4 new Poirot mysteries for PBS.  Hercule Poirot is Agatha Christie's famous Belgian detective.  Mr. Suchet has portrayed Poirot for 21 years on public television's Mystery! series in over 60 episodes.

Just in time for summer vacation, Park & Read passes have arrived at the library. A joint venture of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, Macy's, the Hammock Company, and the Library of Michigan, the Park & Read program provides a free one-day vehicle permit to any Michigan State Park & Recreation Area - and at many parks, a free hammock to use for the day. Like the popular Museum Adventure Pass program, the passes are "checked out" for seven days; you pick the day you want to use it. So come in for a pass & a book to read while lolling in that hammock.

Ian Rankin, author of the Rebus series, has a new series which will debut in England this Fall.  He spoke about this and his venture into music recently on Scotland on Television (stv.tv).

Celebrated Canadian author Alice Munro has won the third Man Booker International Prize. One of the richest and most prestigious international literary awards, Munro will take home £60,000.

As part of our ongoing effort to make Canton Library an environmentally friendly building, our Housekeeping staff will be trained and certified in "green" cleaning procedures. It doesn't cost more to use safe effective cleaning products and procedures. In fact, in most cases, it costs less. The benefits are obvious. You get a clean , healthy building without using the products which are harmful to our environment. Using "green"  cleaning products is also much healthier for our Housekeeping staff. There is a wealth of information about "green buildings" available from the U.S. Green Building Council website.  We are also changing over our hand soap to a foaming cleanser and will be installing roll towel dispensers in our restrooms.

If you like the humor found in Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series, may we suggest:

• Murder Grins and Bears It: A Yooper Mystery by Deb Baker
• Size 12 is Not Fat by Meg Cabot
• Bubbles Unbound by Sarah Strohmeyer
• Tourist Season by Carl Hiaasen
• The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith

On May 7, 2009, the federal government issued the first economic recovery payments to people receiving Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits.  The payments are being issued on a staggered basis throughout the month of May.  If you have not received your payment by June 4, 2009, contact the Social Security offices at 1-800-772-1213 (TTY 1-800-325-0778) or visit your local Social Security office (34010 Plymouth Road, Livonia, MI 48150) to report your payment has not arrived.