- Lincoln Jones returns to his Newton County roots with High Grade
My book store in Granby will be closed for the week of Sept. 9th for our annual family trip.
I have signed up for 2 craft fairs this year, so will be closed Sept 22nd for the one at Crowder College, and Oct.20th for the Maple Leaf in Carthage. I will also be closed Sept 29th because I will be doing a weaving demonstration (in period costume) at Prairie Jubilee, Prairie State Park, north and west of Carthage. These are all on Saturdays. For information about any of these events feel free to call me at 472-7111 or you can find info on line.
Weaving class has started for the fall semester at Crowder College, so I will open the book store at noon on Wednesdays again. Sorry for any inconvenience.
I plan to start doing a feature author each month. I am still working on my idea and plan to have specials on a different author for each month. Look for that in October.
I mentioned last month that I had received a call from an author in Arizona. Mr. Jones was born in Granby, raised in Neosho and after retiring he finally had time to write this book that he says has been in his head for 20 years. After my column last month I got a call from a cousin of Mr. Jones and I was able to connect her with Mr. Jones and as a result located a picture of his Great grandmother and her tombstone for him. It has been fun being the “Granby Sleuth.”
High Grade
by
D. Lincoln Jones
What if a soldier returned from war: but he had no memory of home? This first novel by Mr. Jones is part non fiction but mostly fiction. It is based on stories passed down from his family of story tellers. Using old documents to keep it authentic he nails this one. His Great great grandfather (Ben) went off to fight in the Civil War, leaving behind a wife and 4 children. He is later followed by his son ( Matt). When Ben is seriously wounded he is sent to a boat to be taken to St. Louis, the nearest hospital of the time. He never showed up, dead or alive. He is gone. The story line goes back and forth between 1860 to 1865 and you get a feel for Ben and his family and his needing to go into the Union Army. Then you see him as a lost man who ends up in Colorado with no memory of his past life, only his bible with names that haunt him. Even though he had no memory, Ben retained the values and skills he had before his injury and that carries him to start a new life.
I feel Mr. Jones really developed the characters and probably stayed true to the family stories that he was told all his life. He wanted to tell a story of “What if” Ben had lived and what might his life have been like. We learn about Matt who ended up in Granby Mo. Will Ben find his way back? I will have to ask you to read to book to learn the answer. In real life “Matt” is the Great Grandfather of the author. He was a minister and a sheriff in Granby. His real name was Nimrod Columbus Jones. He died in 1920's in Granby and his descendants live on.
I loved this book and will keep copies in the store to sell for 14.99. The same price that it sells for on Amazon but no shipping fee for you. You can also order it thru Amazon for your E-reader. I understand from my communications with Mr. Jones that he is wrapping up a sequel to this book and I look forward to learning what happened to the rest of Ben's family.
Explosive Eighteen
by
Janet Evanovich
Evanovich is up to book eighteen (that I know of) with her Stephanie Plum series. By the way, I read in the paper that Evanovich ranks up there with the top money makers with this series.
In this book Stephanie is still the ditsy bounty hunter in Trenton NJ. She gets a photo slipped into her travel bag and everyone is out to get it back, as it is linked to a big international murder. Of course while this is playing out, she and her sidekick Lulu is trying to round up the local bond jumpers so that she can make money to live on. She somehow manages to solve the mysteries and not get killed. She counts on her luck more than any real skills. Her romance still is going back and forth between the same two guys and you are left to still wonder who she will end up with. These Evanovich books are fun to read.
At the present time I find there is a book #19 available, plus she has another series started featuring Lizzy and Diesel. I picked one up at the library in audio book form. That is new for me and I was amazed how many audio books are available there.
Thought for the day: Patience is the ability to idle your motor when you feel like stripping your gears.
