David Feldman is popular for his “Imponderables” books. Working as a columnist and sportscaster for a number of years, Dave has been asked questions during that time that he felt everybody wondered about from time to time, and decided to compile them into titles of his own.
Inspired by his own mother as she struggled to find the answers to Dave’s “inquiring mind” as he grew up, these books have titles like, “Why Do Dogs Have Wet Noses?” and “Do Penguins Have Knees?” and “When do Fish Sleep?”
While speaking at a recent fundraiser, presidential hopeful Mitt Romney wondered aloud, “Why don’t windows on an airplane open?” Dave Feldman may want to jot down that imponderable for future reference, but meanwhile, I have the answer to the imponderable question, “What is new at the Jasper County Public Library?” Here, my friends, are some new fiction titles for you to ponder upon!
Growing up under the cruel scrutiny of her father, Hector Lewis, Heloise learned early on how to avoid attention of any kind, fading into the woodwork in any given situation. Now living in a comfortable suburb, she is a widow raising a young son. Employed by the State Capitol, Heloise is a lobbyist with a mediocre track record. Heloise, however, has a secret. Discreet meetings in hotel rooms across the area can make Heloise the woman of your dreams. Living a secret life comes at a cost, though; and for Heloise, she may find that the price is higher than she’s willing to pay in “And When She Was Good: A Novel” by Laura Lippman.
“Beautiful Ruins” by Jess Walter is a roller coaster ride of deeply human lives and characters that span fifty years, beginning in 1962 with a young innkeeper who falls in love with a tall, thin vision of a woman; an American starlet who is dying. As the story unfolds and takes the reader across the globe and into the tangled lives of dozens of characters, each life intersects with the next, setting the story that began with two star-crossed lovers in motion.
Caroline and Issy are mother and daughter, forging a life for themselves after leaving an affluent life in Singapore behind and starting over again in an English village. At thirty eight, Caroline cooks dinners to earn enough money to get by; at fifteen, Issy secretly blames her mother for their change in lifestyle and begins to make some dangerous choices. As happiness for these two women hangs in the balance, love, hate, blame and responsibility for their decisions bring them on a collision course in “A Place in the Country” by Elizabeth Adler.
The disappearance of a young Israeli woman prompts her boyfriend, an American nuclear engineer, to journey to Herod’s 2000 year old mountain fortress, where his discovery sets a pursuit by the dark side of Israeli Intelligence in motion. In a race against time and the forces that are hot on his trail, he struggles to uncover the truth, unaware that there is an even deeper, darker secret dangerously lurking in “The Last Man” by P.T. Deutermann.
Once a New York textile designer, Avery Baker has changed gears by inheriting her aunt’s old Maine cottage. Finding her niche in renovating the cottage and other humble abodes, Avery is challenged on a very different level when a mystery surfaces behind the walls of centuries-old house on a remote island where deadly secrets await in “Mortar and Murder” by Jennie Bentley.
“Why Do Pirates Love Parrots?” is Dave Feldman’s newest title, set to be released on November 4. Other points to ponder include “Why Don’t Cats Like to Swim?” and “Why Do Clocks Run Clockwise?” The answers to these questions, I confess, I do not know; but, if you were to ask me, “Where can I find the best fiction titles in town?” I would be able to answer that without a moment’s ponder…your local branch of the Jasper County Public Library, of course!