Jill Tempest (click to e-mail)

In March 1987, Jill Tempest came to the Jackson-George Regional Library System to be the Moss Point City Library Branch Manager. Since October 1995, Jill has been the Branch Manager for the Ocean Springs Municipal Library, ranked as one of the busiest libraries in the state of Mississippi. "Writing the library column has been great fun." Tempest said. "I welcome ideas for future columns."

Reading is second nature to me. I have been known to say that “If I had to choose between reading and breathing, I would have to think about it.” When I read, I like to aim for those stories that stay with you even after you've turned the last page. If you've never found such a gem, hopefully this list will help. Enjoy!

Curious Incident with the Dog in the Night-time. Despite his overwhelming fear of interacting with people, Christopher, a mathematically-gifted, autistic fifteen-year-old boy, decides to investigate the murder of a neighbor's dog and uncovers secret information about his mother.

Susan Elizabeth Phillips has written a contemporary romance novel, Match Me If You Can, that’s delightful and fun with clever dialogue. Perfect For You is the name of the match-making service Annabelle Granger has inherited. Having never quite accomplished anything in life (career-wise) Annabelle is in over her head but determined to succeed. And as luck would have it she signs on Heath Champion, a handsome, powerful and rich sports agent as her first client. It's a daunting task, but Annabelle has rolled up her sleeves and sets out to scour the earth (well at least the immediate vicinity) until she finds the perfect woman. Throw in some competition to spice things up and the sparks start flying.

Bestselling author and attorney Scott Turow is quoted as saying "The Dive from Clausen's Pier is one of those small miracles that reinforce our faith in fiction. It does what the best novels so often do, making the largest things visible by its perfect rendering of life on the smaller scale.” The plot begins with a disaster that could happen, out of the blue, in anybody’s life, and it forces us to ask how we would bear up in the face of tragedy and what we know, or think we know, about our deepest allegiances. Elegantly written and ferociously paced, emotionally nuanced and morally complex, a gifted new novelist emerges.

The Time-Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger is a thoroughly enjoyable first novel with a plot that in a film would be called "high concept." Henry, a librarian at Chicago 's Newberry Library, suffers from Chrono-Displacement Disorder, which causes him to frequently be misplaced in time, yanked from one period of his life to another. He meets Clare when he is thirty-six, and she is six; they marry when she's twenty-three and he's thirty-one. This sure-to-be-beloved-of-many love story describes how each progresses through life - Henry weaving in and out of time, and Clare aging normally year after year, continuing to be devoted to one another. Niffenegger wisely tells their story from both points of view, which deepens the emotional zing of the novel. Enjoy being in the hands of a born storyteller.

Author Dorothea Benton Frank writes true gems in her series of books with wonderful characters who spout witty dialogue, the luscious South Carolina Low Country setting she is famous for, and hefty helpings of the food and manners bred as only the South can breed. Even if you're not reading them on the beach, you will smell the salt air and experience the sand between your toes. The books of the series are Sullivan’s Island, Plantation , Isle of Palms , Shem’s Creek and Pawleys Island . These are must reads with well-drawn characters as they face life’s challenges.