All patrons, residents and library lovers are invited to the Friends Annual Meeting this Sunday at 2:00 pm, in the Library. We are very excited this year to be able to host Nancy Wright Beasley, the author of Izzy’s Fire and Reflections of a Purple Zebra. She has also been a frequent contributor to Richmond Magazine, and is known throughout the region as a gifted writer and speaker. Limited copies of her books will be available for sale, and she will of course be signing them.

Izzy’s Fire, a People’s Choice award winner, is the moving story of Edna Ipson, her family and five other families as they struggled first to escape from the Kovno Ghetto during the Holocaust and then to survive in hiding until their miraculous emergence into freedom. Some of the surviving members of the Ipson family still live in Richmond, and their story formed the genesis of the

Reflections of a Purple Zebra is a collection of Ms. Beasley’s favorite articles and essays that she has written for Richmond Magazine. Humorous and poignant in turns, these stories present life as we all know it in vibrant and eloquent words. Each offering is like a new present to be opened and savored.

Fern Michaels has written a series that I have thoroughly enjoyed called the sisterhood or also the revenge of the sisterhood.

They are about a group of women who have joined forces to bring their own justice where the system has failed them.  You will meet Myra Rutledge, a wealthy woman who finances their adventures.  Myra has also lost her only daughter to a drunken driver; Nikki Quinn, a lawyer and adopted daughter of Myra; Kathryn Lucas, a trucker; Alexis Thorne, a former securities broker; Julia Webster, a plastic surgeon; Yoko Akia, a flower-shop owner; and Isabele Flanders, an architect.  Each of these women have been failed by the justice system but they intend to correct this.

Join these women in their adventures as each woman has her day, so to speak.

The action is fast faced and I found it very hard to put these books down. 

You might want to start with the first book, “Weekend warriors”.  For our commuting friends the library also has the entire series on CD audio-books.

Most people know that I really enjoy British mysteries, but not many people realize that it’s because I enjoy historical mysteries. Set something in the past, and I’ll jump for it. Then, I’ll taste it for accuracy and decide if I want to keep reading.

 One author that recently passed my test was Elliott Roosevelt. Granted, his series is old, and he actually died about 15 years ago, but he’s an author that I hadn’t read. His books are short, fairly well written for the genre, and set in the past. Specifically, set in the 1940′s White House of FDR and Eleanor Roosevelt.

While the story of the first one was somewhat predictable, what I found truly interesting was depiction of Eleanor and FDR. While I have no doubt that many of the details received a fresh coat of paint, as it were, I can’t help but believe that the characterizations were for the most part accurate.

Let’s bactrack for a moment. Elliott Roosevelt writing about Eleanor Roosevelt. Surely, there’s a connection, you think. Indeed, he was Eleanor and FDR’s fourth child, and the co-author of a non-fiction biography, The Roosevelts of Hyde Park.

I came across his mystery series as I was re-evaluating books in the collection. Several of them have not been borrowed for a while, so I thought I’d give them a read before I discarded them. They are currently on the wait-and-see pile.

If you have an interest in American mysteries, they are worth a read. They aren’t heavy, nor are they particularly twisty. But, they are fun, and the reader (that’s you!) gets a dollop of history in with it. Can’t get much better than that when you are in a spring fever, can’t-get-up-the-energy-to-do-anything sort of mood.

BOOK: Murder and the First Lady by Elliott Roosevelt.