I do hope that you have enjoyed the summer. Bear with me and I'll tell you about mine.

I started off with a quick trip to Toronto, right downtown, where I saw the late Carol Shields finding out that unless she brandishes her pen and uses her wit, her life and happiness and that of her daughter will be affected forever.

From there I went to small town Whitfield, Ontario, to visit with new confidant, Clara Callan, who had much to impart about betrayal and self esteem. Then on I traveled to Northern Ontario, where I visited Crow Lake, a little known place in the heart of the Canadian Shield, but certainly not in the back of beyond. Here I quickly became immersed in the goings on. Next on the Canadian trip was a ride in a time machine to visit with John James Audubon in Labrador, desperately questing to grasp the mysteries of Creation. With him, I learned much about ornithology and cartography and the challenges associated with being a pioneer in these sciences. Down to Washington next, to visit Lucy Mercer,extremely ( you get my meaning?) close friend of Theodore Roosevelt, and secretary to his wife Eleanor. While I was in the area I went to New Hampshire where I was so very pleased to meet a friend of John Irving's, a lady who had been a widow for one year.

I would never ignore an invitation from Pat Conroy, and so further south to Orlando I journeyed, to learn all about basketball in a boy's private school, rekindling my acquaintance with Pat's father and poor mother. Unfortunately, it was to be Pat's Losing Season, but he bravely demonstrated that courage and hope are never losing qualities.

Across the ocean, back to the land of my birth and I visited an old haunt in Yorkshire with my new friends Dalziel and Pascoe. On Beulah Height, we had scones with slatherings of butter and lots of jam; all very cozy, but of course something unmentionable happened.........After the UK trip, I decided to go to Botswana to take a secretarial course at the Kalahari Typing School, but I found out that it was just for Men, and so I trekked further on up to the Holy Land with Anita Diament, women's activist; not, perhaps the best place to be right now, but again I went on a time machine, and had a wonderful experience, staying in a Red Tent with Dinah, daughter of Leah, begot by Jacob. Leaving these colourful characters behind, I moved on to India and picked up a sea trip with Pi back to Canada and accompanied by a tiger! I found that I really liked sailing, and for my last trip I decided to live it up and accompany Diane Stuemer and her family on their circumnavigation of the world in their boat The Northern Magic. This Voyage left an indelible mark on me, and I feel that I shall never be the same again. I've broadened my knowledge and my horizons. I've seen places intimately, not as a tourist, but with informed guides; best of all, I suffered no jet lag and never missed a day behind the counter at the library either, for you must have realized by now that these are all book titles.

You can go to all these places, too, in your own time and at your own pace, by merely giving us a call or clicking onto our website (www.county.wellington.on.ca/library/iBistro). You can change the itinerary or add different ports of call, and the cost is absolutely nothing.

New books added to the shelves since the last Lines;

Non-fiction

Benoit, Tod.      Where are They Buried? How Did They Die? Fitting ends and final resting places of the famous and infamous.

Brown, Simon.      Feng Shui for Wimps; yin and yang yourself to happiness.

Deacon, Carol.      Complete step by step guide to Cake Decorating.

Gopaul, V. Mitra      Family Virtues; give your child the spiritual edge.

Hobbs, Angela.      Sick House Survival Guide; simple steps to healthier homes.

Kieves, Tama..      This Time I Dance; how one Harvard lawyer left it all to have it all.

Lillard, Paula.      Montessori From The Start; the child at home from birth to 3.

OrthoBooks.      Start To Finish Sheds and Gazebos.

Pollan, Michael.      Gardener's Bed Book; short and long pieces to be read in bed by those who love growing things.

Sklar, Jill.      Eating for Acid Reflux.

Slaughter, Carolyn.     Before The Knife; memories of an African childhood.

Spufford, Francis.      The Child That Books Built.

Stuemer, Diane.      The Voyage of the Northern Magic.

Yanick, Paul.      Quantum Medicine

Younker, ed.      Canada's Everyday Diabetes Choice Recipes.

Zimmerman, Susan.     7 Keys to Comprehension; how to help your kids read it and get it!

Fiction

Adams, David Richard.     River of the Brokenhearted

Bernhardt, Wm.     Death Row.

Collins, Michael.      Resurrectionists. (shortlisted for the Booker Prize)

Cussler, Clive.     White Death. Evanovich, Janet. To The Nines

Evans, Richard Paul.     Last Promise. Forbes, Colin The Cell

Forrester, Helen.     A Cuppa Tea and an Aspirin.

Grippando, James.     Last To Die. Higgins, Jack. Bad Company

Hoffman, Alice.      Probable Future. Iles, Greg. Footprints of God

Lively, Penelope.     The Photograph Oates, Joyce Carol. Tattooed Girl.

Sanders, Lawrence.      McNally's Dare. Steel Danielle. Johnny's Girl.

Our local kids have really been involved this summer with the Reading Club, and there's hardly been a moment when we have not had a child sitting in the library engrossed in a book. How rewarding!

Next month we'll know who read the most books. Happy reading -Frankie