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If you resolve to live a cleaner, leaner, and greener life in 2008, check out these books:

Help! Around the House: a mother's guide to getting the family to pitch in and clean up Don Aslett

As a mother, you may often feel as though you do all the housework. The author believes that it doesn't have to - and shouldn't - be that way. He explains why and how to enlist the help of children, how to assign cleaning tasks to children based on their age, how to help children succeed at household chores, and what to do when children ignore or partially complete their cleaning responsibilities. This book will show you that you don't have to go it alone when it comes to keeping your home clean.

Souls of Angels by Thomas Eidson Here's the latest novel by the author of The Missing and St.Agnes Stand. Isadora Lugo, now Sister Ria, returns to her family estate in California from the streets of India. She's come home to help her troubled father who has been recently convicted of killing a young, pregnant prostitute. Sister Ria bravely seeks the truth behind both the gruesome murder and her painful childhood. A great western and mystery mix!

In the sequel to the Hugo Award-winning Spin, Robert Charles Wilson further explores the mystery of the "hypotheticals," small machines that have engineered a new planet called Equatoria for humanity. On that world, a journalist searches for her hypothetical-obessed father, a charter pilot with a checkered past, and a boy genetically engineered to communicate with the hypotheticals come together to pursue this enigmatic artificial intelligence that opened up a portal between the two planets.

This is character-driven science fiction, and not technologically dense as the genre can be. Reading the first novel, while not essential, would be both helpful and enjoyable.

Project Gutenberg is a great site for readers of ebooks and listeners of audiobooks. The site features titles in open formats, without problematic "DRM" (digital rights management) systems that prevent access. The works are public domain, but if you need a classic for school and our copies are checked out, or if you would like to explore the great books of the past, check out Project Gutenberg.

Sock knitting is portable and relatively quick with a wide variety of patterns for many skill levels. Two recently published books give knitters new approaches to sock knitting.

New Pathways for Sock Knitters, Book One Cat Bordhi
Ms. Bordhi has the unique ability to see objects in new and different ways. In this first book of a three part series, she offers eight new sock "architectures," master patterns for socks outside of traditional methods that can then be customized for any foot, yarn or needle. Experimentation is encouraged and soon you will be knitting socks in a completely different way.

Young Rennie Stroud faces the trials of World War 2 when her older brother is sent to fight in Europe and the government sets up an internment camp for the Japanese outside her small Colorado town. Hostilities escalate between the camp, called Tallgrass, and townspeople after a local girl is murdered and prejudices mar justice. A dramatic, memorable novel narrated through the innocent voice of a thirteen year old girl.

A charming, ambitious political candidate returns to his family home in Nantucket as his mother falls victim to Alzheimers. The visit forces him to reevaluate his future when family relationships become unexpected priorities. An honest and heartfelt book by the author of All That Matters.

After his wife and son are killed in an explosion, ex-cop Matt Stromsoe takes a job as a bodyguard for a television weather forecaster being harassed by a stalker. He must protect her from powerful people who will stop at nothing for greed and revenge. A finely crafted suspense novel!

The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield

In this story within a story, a lonely biographer is summoned to a remote estate to interview a reclusive best-selling novelist. In a race against time, the biographer tries to come to terms with her own identity while sorting out the truths of another's. Voted a "sure bet" by the Popular Materials Department.

A strong senses of place and a quest for self-discovery propel the reader through this very engaging novel.