Delve into reading in 2011

Many people take time at New Year's to evaluate what they've done in the past year and plan out what they hope to do in the coming year. From health initiatives to a more positive outlook on life, new habits and goals abound.

Starting today, the Southeast Missourian feature pages will help you plan for the new year. Tuesday's health page will feature new foods to introduce to your diet. Wednesday's Home & Garden page lists 11 restaurants to visit if you travel. Friday's SE Live has a few staple CDs everybody should own -- or at least hear.

Today, Good Times attempts to enrich your life with good reads and volunteer opportunities. After you've gotten the news of the day, lounge in the literary world with these books recommended by staff members at the Cape Girardeau Public Library.

Adult fiction

"Full Dark No Stars" collects four of Stephen King's short novels into one read. The stories -- as the name suggests -- are grim and "Stephen King over-the-top" according to Sharon Anderson, the youth services coordinator at the library.

She's also read "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett. Paula Fetherston, who collected titles for the adult recommendations, also endorsed this book in 2010. It tells a story about the civil rights movement through the eyes and experiences of three women in Mississippi -- a young girl fresh out of college, an old black maid and a sassy old cook. If you didn't get to it last year, put it on the top of the stack for 2011.

To delve further into history, pick up "My Name is Mary Sutter" by Robin Oliveira. It follows a headstrong midwife to Washington, D.C. to tend wounded soldiers during the Civil War.

"Freedom" by Jonathan Franzen is a lighter read that made Oprah's Book Club. Franzen returns to fiction in this fun and tragic telling of contemporary love and marriage.

"The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake" by Aimee Bender tackles the subject of hidden emotions in marriage, love and life. It's told through the eyes of a young girl who can taste emotions in everything she eats. She knows her "happily married" mother is lonely and unhappy in the suburbs and that something is seriously wrong with her brother.

For a more action-packed read, Lee Child's "61 Hours" offers a thrilling story about a bus crash, a snowstorm, an assassin headed to a South Dakota town and the people who try to stop it all.

Ariana Franklin continues her Mistress of the Art of Death series with "A Murderous Procession," a murder mystery set in the 1100s about Adelia, a woman who is sent along to protect a princess and discovers a murder plot she must stop to save the princess, herself and her captive daughter.

Picture books

Involve your children in your habit with books like "Can You Make a Scary Face" by Jan Thomas. It's interactive and encourages toddlers and preschoolers to participate and make scary faces, stand up, sit down, and pretend to wiggle a bug off their nose, out of their mouth and away from their shirt.

"A Sick Day for Ames McGee" by Philip C. Stead is a bit more calming. It's about a zoo keeper who spends special time with each animal during his day. One day he's sick, and the animals go to him.

"It is my personal favorite of the year," said Anderson, the youth services coordinator. "It's such a sweet story with a nod to the nostalgic with the drawings."

For a slightly older child, third to fifth grades, Anderson recommended "14 Cows for America" by Carmen Agra Deedy. The book is about how the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attack on the World Trade Center touched people across the world.

Juvenile fiction

It may be an attempt to involve more young boys in reading, but many young fiction novels center on young boys. "Cosmic" by Frank Cottrell Boyce is a contemporary fantasy book about Liam Digby, who is so unusually tall that people think the young boy should act like an adult, which leads him to compete against adults for a chance to go into space. He ends up stuck between two worlds --- only this time, he's 239,000 miles from home.

"The Lost Hero" by Rick Riordan follows boys and girls through Camp Half-Blood, a "school for bad kids" where they actually find out they have problems concentrating because they are demigods. Riordan also authored the popular Percy Jackson and the Olympians series.

For girls or the open-minded child who wants to get away for an imaginary summer, "Turtle in Paradise" and "One Crazy Summer" by Jennifer Holm and Rita Williams-Garcia, respectively, are both fish-out-of-water tales about young girls thrown into odd situations for a summer.

For stories about overcoming physical limitations, Sharon Draper's "Out of My Mind" and Karen Cushman's "Alchemy and Meggy" fit the bill. Draper's story introduces Melody who cannot walk or talk, but she has a photographic memory. She can remember every detail of everything she has ever experienced, and she refuses to be defined by cerebral palsy. "Alchemy and Meggy" takes place in 1573 as the disabled and destitute Meggy discovers her other strengths.

Teen fiction

Anderson maintains that a well-written young adult fiction book will overshadow an adult book in quality and entertainment value. "Incarceron" by Catherine Fisher is the story of Finn, a 17-year-old prisoner who has no recollection of his life outside Incarceron but is determined to escape.

And the books have hidden lessons. "Wintergirls" by Laurie Halse Anderson tells the story of 18-year-old Lia who comes to terms with her best friend's death from anorexia as she struggles with the same disorder.

"Will Grayson, Will Grayson" by John Green and David Levithan and "The Dark Days of Hamburger Halpin" by Josh Berk tackle teen angst and the challenges of finding yourself and fitting in. "Will Grayson, Will Grayson" is about two boys with the same name -- but not much in common outside of that -- whose lives intersect in unexpected ways.

Hamburger Halpin is about a boy who moves from his all-deaf school to a public high school and faces bullying before he solves a mystery surrounding the death of a popular football player. "Heist Society" by Ally Carter is another crime mystery where teenagers must resteal priceless paintings to save one's father from a vengeful collector.

In the fantasy adventure realm, "Beautiful Creatures" by Kami Garcia takes place in South Carolina where 16-year-old Ethan meets and likes Lena, a classmate with a dark secret to be revealed on her 16th birthday. "Clockwork Angel" by Cassandra Clare is the first in a series and follows a teenaged orphan on her search for her missing brother. She ends up in the Victorian-era London's dangerous supernatural underworld and discovers she has powers, too.