• “Hogs in the Shadows: Combat Stories from Marine Snipers in Iraq” (956.704 AFO M) by Milo S. Afong. Afong has written gripping, gut-wrenching true stories of those marines in Iraq whose sole purpose on the battlefield is to take out the enemy-one combatant at a time.

Every time a HOG puts his eye to the glass, it means death for whoever is unlucky enough to end up in his crosshairs. No warning shots. No disabling wounds. No regrets. That’s what a HOG does.

Here, former Scout/Sniper Team Leader Milo S. Afong reveals what it takes to be a Hunter of Gunmen. He describes the intensive training that turns expert infantrymen into one-shot life-takers, building Marine Scout/Sniper teams and how they operate in the field-and under fire-and how HOGs get the job done under any conditions.
 

• “Dan Rooney: My 75 Years with the Pittsburgh Steelers and the NFL” (796.332 ROON D) tells the story of the Rooney Family. Team manager  Dan Rooney, son of the Steelers’s colorful founder Art “the Chief” Rooney, tells his life story, one inextricably tangled with the history of the National Football League:
“Pro football was born on the muddy fields of Pittsburgh’s North Side in 1892 — just three blocks from where I was born 40 years later.” Moreover, the Steelers themselves were born just a year after Rooney. Managing the team from the early days of television up through the present, Rooney has seen the “most critical issue facing the league” shift from half-empty stadiums to labor relations.

Tales of classic games and key figures are bolstered by interviews with legends like “Mean”” Joe Greene and winning coach Chuck Noll, as well as current coach Mike Tomlin and others. Thanks to Rooney’s own intimate, first-person accounts of legendary players, flamboyant personalities and never-ending politics, along with a concluding thumbnail history of each NFL franchise, this book is sure to score big points not just with the Steeler Nation but football fans nationwide. — a review taken from Booklist.

•  “Don’t Bet Against Me!: Beating the Odds Against Breast Cancer and in Life” (B FAV D) by Deanna Favre.  Wife of Brett Favre, she is a breast cancer survivor. This is a candid story of both roles as a cancer survivor and wife of a very public, famous football quarterback.  Born in Kiln, Miss., Deanna certainly did not think her life would turn out like it has. This is an engaging book.

• “Keep Walking”  (363.883 JON L) by Larry Jones is what he tells himself when he’s in an impossible situation — whether trying to find the money to drill wells for drinking water in Kenya or getting across Sarajevo alive.
Jones grew up intending to be a minister, but after he was ordained and had his own church, he decided it was more important to go out and feed the needy, not just preach to people about being saved.

  For the last 28 years, Jones, his family and his staff have organized enormous relief efforts for some of the world’s worst crises — Ethiopian famines, the Bosnian war, the Murrah building bombing, 9/11 and Katrina. Although Jones structures this as a memoir, his real focus is on the development of his organization, Feed The Children.

• “Deep Dish” Gina is someone a lot of women can relate to (bad hair day, Martian men), and Tate is the ultimate good ol’ boy who really does ooze charm and can cook.

Their bantering sparkles like champagne, but these two are totally authentic Southerners, including Gina’s family. Yes, her mama does call about every day, and you can still find her type in every small Georgia town.

As a lagniappe, there are three (fairly simple) recipes at the end - what do you expect from a story about two people fighting to get on The Cooking Channel.  

Those who love Dorothea Frank and Anne Siddons will flat-out love this one. Mary Kay Andrews just has Frank’s knack for capturing the rhythm of the South and spinning it into a laugh-aloud, recognize-yourself tale. She’s about as addictive as Coca Cola and Moonpies. Check out “Deep Dish” by Mary Kay Andrews and be prepared to laugh until you cry.

Tax-Aide Program
Gloria Hopkins and her AARP Tax “posse” prepare tax returns at Howard County Library in the basement. April 7 and the 14 are the last two dates that you can get your returns prepared by trained tax people. Hours are 8 a.m. until noon. To get to the basement, you enter at the glass door to the right of the main entrance. There is an elevator for those who need to take it down to the basement.

Howard County Library hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Friday and 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. Saturday. The Internet/Video room is closed from noon until 2 p.m. through Friday and it will close 1⁄2 hour before closing. The Library is located at 500 S. Main St. Our phone number is 264-2260. The Web site is www.howard-county.lib.tx.us

Hollis McCright is director of the Howard County Library.