I received an e-mail suggestion for a New Year’s resolution that I have been considering for 2006. "Life should not be a journey to the grave intending to arrive safely in an attractive and well-preserved body, but rather to skid into the coffin with a martini in one hand and a chocolate bar in the other, body totally worn out and screaming ‘Whoa, what a ride!’ " This is tricky. You wouldn’t want to skid into the coffin too soon. If you drank martinis and ate chocolate all day every day, you might skid into the coffin at 50. Nobody wants that. But if you drink V-8 juice and eat apples all day every day, you might bore yourself to death at 50. It’s difficult to get a full grasp of this concept. In fact, I need a lot more time to deliberate on such a proposition. Until then I’m going to stick to the basics: take my mother shopping more, be more like Martha, exercise, go more places and do new things, help others, spend more time with family and friends, eat sensibly, clean the house, learn something new, get organized, and read more. Speaking of … A brand new book budget is in place for 2006 and just in time for the adult winter reading program, "Cold Hands, Warm Books." Be sure to come in this week to register and get busy reading. "Every Breath You Take" by Judith McNaught. High atop a snow-covered hill, the stately old Wyatt mansion is perched like a crown, its stained glass windows glowing like colorful jewels. Such opulence surely means success and happiness. But on the eve of Cecil Wyatt’s 80th birthday, all the money in the world won’t bring back his missing grandson, William Wyatt. The only thing for certain: Foul play was involved. The family, the police, and the media have tried in vain to discover the young man’s fate. Now suspicion has turned toward William’s own half-brother, the distant and enigmatic Mitchell Wyatt.Kate Donovan never dreamed that a chance romantic encounter on a tropical island paradise would tag her as a suspect in a high-society murder case. But after Kate tangles with the darkly charismatic Mitchell Wyatt, she finds herself cast in a shadow of guilt and mistrust. As the Chicago police tighten their net, it will take all of Kate’s ingenuity to clear her name. With her calm, cool wit and the help of a man who may or may not be a dangerous catch, Kate vows to claim the life and love she desires. "Mad River Road" by Joy Fielding. After spending a year in prison, Ralph Fisher has explicit plans for his first night of freedom: tonight, someone will be held accountable. He goes to murderous lengths to obtain the address of his former wife — the woman he blames for his fate and against whom he has sworn vengeance. Determined to bring her to his idea of justice, Ralph's next step is to travel to Dayton, Ohio, where his ex-wife is struggling to make ends meet on Mad River Road. In Florida, Jamie Kellogg is a pretty, but unaccomplished, 29-year-old woman in a dead-end job, with an ex-husband in Atlanta and a virtual stranger in her bed. But this stranger is everything the previous men in her life weren't: tender, attentive, and adventurous. After convincing Jamie to quit her miserable job, he proposes a romantic getaway. While Jamie wonders if this thrilling man might finally be her Prince Charming, they plan a road trip to visit his son, who lives with his mother on a street called Mad River Road ...