Janet Rudolph of Mystery Fanfare announced her picks for Best Mysteries of 2009. Her number one choice: Dog On It by Stephen Quinn.

• Bray, Libba - Going Bovine
• Cullen, Dave - Columbine
• Katcher, Brian - Almost Perfect
• Kelly, Jacqueline - The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate
• Rapp, Adam - Punkzilla
• Small, David - Stitches
• Smith, Sherri L.

During the Christmas season, lots of people get so busy and stressed with everything that has to be done. Just a few minutes with a funny Christmas book, can really be a great break. The Christmas scrapbook: a harmony story by Philip Gulley can make you laugh out loud, which is always good. It will get you in shape for doing your ho, ho, ho's during the Christmas season.

   

Have you ever ho-hummed your way through the Chicken Dance at a wedding or birthday party? Do you prefer if people don't step on your blue suede shoes? If so, you will enjoy the book Chicken Dance. There is going to be a talent show in the barn. The winner will receive tickets to see Elvis Poultry live! Chickens Marge and Lola are besides themselves with desire to win, but how can they when the ducks win every year? The chickens discover that sometimes, just doing what you always do can really get you places. For a humourous read, curl up with Chicken Dance, and if it gets you all shook up, it might be a good time to introduce your kids to Elvis Presley and transform your living room into your very own dance party!

Holiday Romance Anthologies! Popular authors serve up frothy holiday fun in these seasonal short story collections. Mary Balogh, Nicola Cornick, and Courtney Milan penned stories for The heart of Christmas. That holiday feeling is written by perennial favorites Debbie Macomber, Sherryl Woods, and Robyn Carr. Find more tinsel-filled tales in a variety of genres under Christmas stories.

On Thursday, December 10, the Mystery Writers of America announced that Dorothy Gilman, the 86-year-old American author of the long-running Emily Pollifax (aka Mrs. Pollifax) spy novel series, has been chosen as the group’s 2010 Grand Master. She follows in the footsteps of last year’s prize recipients, James Lee Burke and Sue Grafton.

There's nothing better on cold, snowy days than curling up under a blanket with a mug of hot cocoa and a good book. If you're in need of any good reads to curl up with, keep in mind that Saturday, December 12, is National Day of the Horse. There's no shortage of horse books available at the library.

 Just where did those puppet kits go? They are having their tags replaced but will be back out soon, and ready for checkout. Keep your eyes peeled and enjoy!

New York lawyer-turned-novelist Joseph Teller has won the 2009 Nero Award for his novel The Tenth Case (Mira). That announcement came during the annual Black Orchid Weekend, hosted in New York City by the Nero Wolfe fan organization, The Wolfe Pack. The other two crime novels in contention were The Dark Tide, by Andrew Gross (HarperCollins), and The Fault Tree, by Louise Ure (Minotaur Books).

If you like to listen to an audio book and quilt at the same time then Jennifer Chiaverini's Elm Creek quilt novels is your answer. The series has 14 books and in all the books the story and the art of quilting are neatly stiched. You can learn more about the quilts discussed in those stories by going into Jennifer Chiaverini's web site at http://elmcreek.net. The Winding Ways quilt pattern is easily explained in Nancy Elliott MacDonald's book Winding Ways Quilts A practically Pinless Approach.

Busy Moms Book Club has been canceled for the December 17th meeting. Please join us on Thursday, January 21st at 11:00AM in the Children's Library Purple Room for friendship and a fun discussion! Our selection is Dewey: the Small Town Library Cat Who Touched the World. A film adaptation of this best-seller starring Meryl Streep is heading to the big screen around Christmas 2010.

Fans of Denise Mina or Minette Walters should try:

• Mallory's Oracle by Carol O'Connell
• A Perfect Evil by Alex Kava
• Judgment Calls by Alafair Burke
• Detective Inspector Huss by Helen Tursten
• Echoes of Lies by Jo Bannister
• Dead Wrong by Mariah Stewart
• Death's Autograph by Marianne MacDonald
• Baltimore Blues by Laura Lippman

Follett writes on a wide range of subjects, from espionage suspense stories to chronicling the building of a medieval church. There are a assortment of appealing aspects to choose from with Follett's books:

• For a spy thriller try Day of the Jackal by Frederick Forsyth
• The Eagle has Landed by Jack Higgins is a fast-paced, espionage story set in World War II
• For an elegant historical, try the Robert Harris Roman series that begins with Imperium
• For fans of Follett's medieval-period books, try The Heaven Tree Trilogy by Edith Pargeter

Every year, hundreds of people and organizations put together lists of picks for the most notable happenings of the year. One man, Rex Sorgatz, has assembled a "meta-list," or list of lists, for the last 8 years. 2009 is no exception.

Aside from Rex's list, you may also be interested in Eat Me Daily's Best Cookbooks of 2009 Roundup. The "Best Horizon-Expander," Vefa's Kitchen, is available here at CPL.

Lastly, the history community lost a great cultural scholar, Ronald T. Takaki. Harry Allen has written a heartfelt obituary that mentions Dr. Takaki's book, A Different Mirror: A History of Multicultural America.

This book may be one of the craziest, most inventive things I've seen lately. Chris Wooding, author of Storm Thief, breaks some new gound with his book Malice. Half of the story is fiction and half is graphic novel, and the main characters travel between the two in a weird, fascinating mix. A few have tried this risky move and failed, but Wooding pulls it off with a story revolving around a comic book that you can go inside if you know the right ritual. Menacing things happen there, of course, once you do... This book is unique, and even has an eye-popping, raised cover image. Just, cool.

Benny and Shrimp by Kate Mazetti. Can two lonely middle-aged misfits, a widowed librarian and a bachelor milk farmer, find love in such a complicated relationship? Find out in this refreshingly fun and quirky Swedish bestseller.

Blindman's Bluff by Faye Kellerman

The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barberry

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

The Pearl Diver by Jeff Talarigo is the Canton Seniors Book Group final selection for this year. Copies of the book will be distributed at the May 26, 2010 meeting. After May 26  copies ask for a copy at the Canton Public Library's Adult Reference Desk. Participants must register with the Senior Adult Department at the Summit by calling (734) 394-5485. If you have questions, contact Joyce Simowski or Elaine Skrzynski at the Canton Public Library (734) 397-0999.

Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver is the selected book in March. Copies of the book will be distributed at the February 24, 2010 meeting or can be picked up at the Canton Public Library's Adult Reference Desk after February. Participants must register with the Senior Adult Department at the Summit by calling (734) 394-5485. If you have questions, contact Joyce Simowski or Elaine Skrzynski at the Canton Public Library (734) 397-0999.

Here is where the landscape, the country, and the people all play a part in forming life-changing experiences in the real and fictional worlds of Africa!

• The challenge for Africa by Wangari Maathai
• A beautiful place to die by Malla Nunn
• Ivory's ghosts: the white gold of history and the fate of elephants by John F. Walker
• Playing the enemy: Nelson Mandela and the game that made a nation by John Carlin
• Cry, the beloved country by Alan Paton
• A change of altitude by Anita Shreve
• Tea time for the traditionally built by Alexander McCall Smith
• The Egyptologist by Arthur Phillips
• The laughter of dead kings by Elizabeth Peters
• Heart of darkness by Joseph Conrad

Want books with plenty of romance, but no hanky-panky? Try the Regency romances of Georgette Heyer, Shirley Marks or Barbara Metzger. If you like historicals set in America, check out Carolyn Brown or Nancy J. Parra. Hate historicals, but love contemporaries? Take a look at Holly Jacobs or Elisabeth Rose.