Bayou Bytes Blog

Quick! Name a book genre! Did you guess mystery?  If so, then you picked the second most popular genre of fiction books (it just cannot beat that steamy ol' romance genre).  Mysteries range from espionage mysteries to fantasy mysteries to themed mysteries to horror mysteries; the sub genres go on and on. However, in the end, there is no mystery like the classic mystery, with a plucky, eccentric sleuth coming upon a problem (almost always murder) and then proceeding to solve said problem with cunning and little outside help.  This is the tried and true method for writing a mystery and it has endured since the debut of the mystery genre. Courtesy of collinder.com However, no one has quite mastered the art of turning the simplistic formula into a complicated and articulate story like Dame Agatha Christie.  Born in 1890, the English author began her lengthy career during the "Golden Age of Detective Fiction" (1920's and 1930's).  However, where many, many ...

Courtesy of sarahaddisonallen.com Books that randomly appear.  An apple tree that promises to show you the most important moment in your life.  Promises that cannot be broken.  Women whose emotions can leave tangible traces on objects. A lone peach tree that guards an untimely end. Alligators with secrets. Families whose magical tendencies are the talk of the town.  Seven books, seven different sets of magic, hopes, dreams, and perseverance to overcome obstacles grace the novels written by American author, Sarah Addison Allen.  With five stand-alone books ( The Sugar Queen (2008), The Girl Who Chased the Moon (2010), The Peach Keeper (2011), and Lost Lake (2014)), and a budding series stemming from her debut novel ( Garden Spells (2007) and First Frost  (Jan. 2015)), Allen has managed to infuse magic and mysticism in her novels about everyday people and the lives they lead.  However, these are not fantasy novels.  They are novels about lif...

Life is crazy.  Life is hectic.  It is busy, straining, and exhausting.  Yet, now more than ever, people need to make time to just chill out and relax.  What better way to de-stress and disconnect than to cozy up with a book?  This year, 2015, everyone should make the effort to read a book.  Grab an old favorite or, better yet, try something out of your comfort zone.  You will never know the worlds and stories you are missing until you pick up a book and immerse yourself in it.  Reading can help us better communicate, better relax, but most of all, better expand our imaginations. Set some reading goals for 2015! Check out a list of ideas! Come by the library for some books!  We would love to see you!