Books n'Whatnot

Mailbox Monday - Far From Here and The Orchid House

2012-02-20T00:00:00.000-08:00

Currently on a Blog Tour with a New Host Each Month

Title: Far From Here
Author: Nicole Baart
Publisher: Howard Books (February 2012)
Format: Trade Paperback; Pgs 352
Genre: Fiction
Source: Simon and Schuster

Danica Greene has always hated flying, so it was almost laughable that the boy of her dreams was a pilot. She married him anyway and together, she and Etsell settled into a life where love really did seem to conquer all. Danica is firmly rooted on the ground in Blackhawk, the small town in northern Iowa where they grew up, and the wide slashes of sky that stretch endlessly across the prairie seem more than enough for Etsell. But when the opportunity to spend three weeks in Alaska helping a pilot friend presents itself, Etsell accepts and their idyllic world is turned upside down. It’s his dream, he reveals, and Danica knows that she can’t stand in the way. Ell is on his last flight before heading home when his plane mysteriously vanishes shortly after takeoff, leaving Danica in a free fall. Etsell is gone, but what exactly does gone mean? Is she a widow? An abandoned wife? Or will Etsell find his way home to her? Danica is forced to search for the truth in her marriage and treks to Alaska to grapple with the unanswerable questions about her husband’s mysterious disappearance. But when she learns that Ell wasn’t flying alone and that a woman is missing, too, the bits and pieces of the careful life that she had constructed for them in Iowa take to the wind. A story of love and loss, and ultimately starting over, Far From Here explores the dynamics of intimacy and the potentially devastating consequences of the little white lies we tell the ones we love.

Title: The Orchid House
Author: Lucinda Riley
Publisher: Atria Books (February 2012)
Format: Trade Paperback; Pgs 464
Genre: Fiction
Source: Simon and Schuster

Spanning from the 1930s to the present day, from the Wharton Park estate in England to Thailand, this sweeping novel tells the tale of a concert pianist and the aristocratic Crawford family, whose shocking secrets are revealed, leading to devastating consequences.

As a child, concert pianist Julia Forrester spent many idyllic hours in the hothouse of Wharton Park, the grand estate where her grandfather tended exotic orchids. Years later, while struggling with overwhelming grief over the death of her husband and young child, she returns to this tranquil place. There she reunites with Kit Crawford, heir to the estate and her possible salvation.

When they discover an old diary, Julia seeks out her grandmother to learn the truth behind a love affair that almost destroyed the estate. Their search takes them back to the 1940s when Harry, a former heir to Wharton Park, married his young society bride, Olivia, on the eve of World War II. When the two lovers are cruelly separated, the impact will be felt for generations to come.

This atmospheric story alternates between the magical world of Wharton Park and Thailand during World War II. Filled with twists and turns, passions and lies, and ultimately redemption.

Review - The Serpents Trail

2012-02-17T12:00:00.000-08:00

Title: The Serpents Trail
Author: Sue Henry
Publisher: Onyx, Pgs 288
Publication Date: March 1, 2005
Format: Audio
Genre: Mystery
Source: Library
Series: Maxie and Stretch #1

When I first picked up this book, I saw the name Sue Henry and immediately remember the Jessie Arnold series that I had started last year and thought that this was another in that series. Well, no, I was wrong; this is a series that involves Maxie and her dog, a mini-dachshund named Stretch, traveling in their trusty Winnebago.

When twice-widowed 63-year-old Maxie gets a call from an old friend living in Colorado, she decides that it is time to take a little trip. Sarah is her dearest college friend and since the diagnosis, Sarah realizes that she only has months to live and wants to see Maxie one last time.

Unfortunately, someone has seen to it that Maxie and Sarah do not have a chance for a last visit. Sarah has been murdered and true to her nature, has left hidden clues for Maxie as to her final wishes and secrets that have been kept hidden.

The storyline progresses incrementally revealing little bits and pieces until the reader gets the fuller picture of whom each character really is and the true character of the killer is revealed. What I enjoyed about this book is that the reader had to follow along and not be misled by outward caring of one character and the aloofness of another. Like many books in this genre, not everything is easily laid out and you do have to pay attention.

Of course, I will continue with this dynamic duo. Who could resist a feisty woman and her trusty dog companion traveling by themselves? Part travelogue, part mystery, this series should take the armchair reader to interesting and varied destinations.

About the Author Sue Henry

Sue Henry’s first Jessie Arnold mystery, Murder on the Iditarod Trail, won both the Anthony and Macavity Awards for Best First Novel. Since then the critically acclaimed series has extended to ten books. The Serpents Trail is the first in a new spinoff series starring Maxie McNabb (first met in Dead North), retiree and avid RVer. Henry is a former college administrator and has lived in Alaska for thirty years. When she’s not RVing the Alaska Highway, or around the Lower Forty-eight, she makes her home in Anchorage.

Review - The Serial Killer Whisperer

2012-02-16T00:00:00.000-08:00

Title: The Serial Killer Whisperer: How One Man's Tragedy Helped Unlock the Deadliest Secrets of the World's Most Terrifying Killers
Author: Pete Earley
Publisher: Touchstone, Pgs 336
Publication Date: January 10, 2012
Format: Hardback
Genre: Memoir
Source: Library

I do not know what direction to go in with this book. There were two main themes, traumatic brain injury and shock and awe of convicted serial killers looking for yet another 15 minutes of fame. The insight into the world of Tony Ciaglia, after he sustained a near fatal blow to the head by a Wave Runner while a 15-year-old teen at a summer camp was fascinating. How the brain compensates and rebels after an injury is what initially drew me into the book, but once the story fell into the black pit of yet another serial killer getting off on telling his story and justifying his actions I lost interest.

If you have read about one serial killer, you have pretty much read about them all. It is never their fault, society does not understand them, and if the victim were not in the wrong place at the wrong time doing the wrong thing then they never would have been singled out. Yada Yada Yada.

Back to Tony, because this is what the real story should have been about. After the injury, Tony fell into a deep depression and was unable to fit into the life he had before, if he was going to mentally survive this new hand that was dealt to him he have to find a purpose . Turns out that the purpose was both obsessive and terrifying at the same time.

Becoming pen pals with death row inmates is not what a parent would want for a child, but with Tony’s injury, he had lost the usual shock and disgust that others feel towards killers. With this ability, he was able to correspond with them in a nonjudgmental way that allowed these men to both open up and confess to crimes that investigators needed answers to.

You will need a strong stomach to get through some of these letters. This is not a book for anyone that is sensitive to this subject matter. I am still not sure if Tony was being played, but I do hope, that somewhere down the road, additional crimes will be solved and families will finally be able to get the long awaited answers that they so desperately need.

Waiting on Wednesday - The Darlings

2012-02-15T00:00:00.000-08:00

Hosted by Breaking the Spine

Title: The Darlings
Author: Christina Alger
Publisher: Pamela Dorman Books, Pgs 352
Publication Date: February 16, 2012
Format: Hardcover
Genre: Fiction

Book Description:

Now that he’s married to Merrill Darling, daughter of billionaire financier Carter Darling, attorney Paul Ross has grown accustomed to New York society and all of its luxuries: a Park Avenue apartment, weekends in the Hamptons, bespoke suits. When Paul loses his job, Carter offers him the chance to head the legal team at his hedge fund. Thrilled with his good fortune in the midst of the worst financial downturn since the Great Depression, Paul accepts the position.

But Paul’s luck is about to shift: a tragic event catapults the Darling family into the media spotlight, a regulatory investigation, and a red-hot scandal with enormous implications for everyone involved. Suddenly, Paul must decide where his loyalties lie—will he save himself while betraying his wife and in-laws or protect the family business at all costs?

Introduction

This is it, he thought, as he clicked on his left blinker. The end of the road.

The sign for the bridge had snuck up on him. He had done this drive before, but not at 2 a. m, and he had never been much of a night driver. There had been a little traffic leaving the city, but now there was almost none. Every time a car passed him on the left he wondered who the driver was and why they were on the road this late. He wondered if they were thinking the same about him.

More than one driver had turned to look at him as he passed by. Checking out the car, he thought. He probably shouldn’t have brought the Aston Martin. Even in the dark it was a real showstopper. Of all his cars, it was his favorite. It was a near- perfect replica of the one driven by James Bond in Goldfinger and Thunderball. The original had sold at auction two years before for over $2 million; he would have bought it in a heartbeat if he had had the opportunity. But this was the next best thing: perfectly restored and refinished in classic silver; even to a professional’s eye, it was almost indistinguishable from the genuine article.

As he merged toward the bridge turnoff , a white Kia pulled up alongside him. For a moment, he locked eyes with the driver. The guy gave him an approving smile, a thumbs-up. Usually he got a little rush from impressing guys like that: some accountant from Westchester who probably made less in a year than he could in a day. This time it sent his heart racing, and not in a good way. It was a miscalculation. This wasn’t the time to be attracting attention.

First Chapter, First Paragraph - Dead and Kicking

2012-02-14T00:00:00.000-08:00

Title: Dead and Kicking
Author: Wendy Roberts
Publisher: Obsidian, Pg 280
Publication Date: December 1, 2009
Format: Paperback
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Source: Paperbackswap.com
Series: Ghost Dusters Mystery #3

Hosted by Diane at Bibliophile by the Sea

Chapter 1

The cemetery smelled of freshly mowed grass. Today Sadie would’ve preferred the pungent stench of body decomposition. She shifted uneasily from one foot to the other and skipped her gaze over the cluster of family and friends to glance upward at the gunmetal sky. She looked anywhere but at the casket just ahead that rested on straps, waiting to be lowered into the gaping hole beneath.

The priest’s voice droned on about how the human body was merely a shell.

Tell me about it, Sadie thought, swallowing a thick lump of emotion.

Book Description:
Sadie Novak cleans up crime scenes for a living and is also blessed-or cursed- with the gift of second sight. This time she's digging out the home of a compulsive hoarder. She discovers unexpected things, including an angry ghost who wants her to go away. And there are even more secrets beneath the surface that someone will kill to keep buried...

Mailbox Monday - and she was

2012-02-13T00:00:00.000-08:00

Currently on a Blog Tour with a New Host Each Month

Title: and she was
Author: Alison Gaylin
Publisher: Harper
Format: Paperback; Pgs 384
Genre: Suspense
Source: Amazon Vine

Brenna suffers from hyperthymestic syndrome, a rare neurological disorder which gives those who suffer from it perfect autobiographical memory. Triggered by the years-ago disappearance of her older sister, the disorder forces Brenna to remember every moment that’s happened since in precise, visceral detail - the good, the bad, the mundane and the tragic. Yet the one event she wants desperately to remember – and solve - grows foggier and foggier in her mind.

In And She Was, a woman's disappearance intersects with a missing child case Brenna investigated eleven years ago – in which 6-year-old Iris Neff walked away from a Labor Day barbecue, never to be seen again. When Brenna is called upon to investigate the disappearance of Carol Wentz, 51, she learns that Carol – like herself – had been secretly obsessed with tracking down Iris, and may indeed have found her.

Reliving life-changing and deeply upsetting memories, Brenna discovers myriad ties between Carol, Iris and other residents of the Westchester County town where they live – and uncovers a shocking web of murder and deception that stretches back more than a decade.

Sunday at the Movies - We Bought a Zoo

2012-02-12T00:00:00.000-08:00

Matt Damon ... Benjamin Mee
Scarlett Johansson ... Kelly Foster
Colin Ford ... Dylan Mee
Maggie Elizabeth Jones ... Rosie Mee

It must be very disappointing for Matt Damon and Scarlett Johansson to be upstaged by a seven-year-old child (played by Maggie Elizabeth Jones), but that is exactly what happened in this Disney family movie. I am not going to go as far as to say that I loved the film, because for me, the movie did not get interesting until we were two-thirds of the way in -- and that is just a bit too far. The scene between Damon and his fourteen-year-old son Dylan, played by Colin Ford, is what opened up this formulaic adaptation, it just took too long to get to the good stuff.

Based on the book by Benjamin Mee, the family is in turmoil following the death of Ben’s wife and the family is in desperate need of a getaway. Not just physically, but emotionally, so when Ben and Rosie go house hunting a curious thing happens. The perfect house is available, the only stipulation, a small zoo is also part of the package.

“You know, sometimes all you need is twenty seconds of insane courage. Just literally twenty seconds of just embarrassing bravery. And I promise you, something great will come of it.”

With no experience and very limited funds, Ben jumps in with both feet, and is able to turn the place into a home for both his family and the abandoned animals.

As I said, this film is based very loosely on a book by Benjamin Mees. The Mee’s zoo is actually located in England whereas the fictional Rosemoor Wildlife Park is portrayed to be located in California. There are a couple of facts that are toyed with, but for a child going to see this movie, that does not matter. The animals are adorable and Rosie will appeal to even the hardest heart.

There have been some complaints about the language used by the 7-year-old daughter, but for me that was not too big of a deal. That is how some children talk, and to be honest, it was a funny scene.

Do I recommend it, yes, but only if you are not expecting high drama and like a little sugar coating.

We Give Books - Miss Rumphius

2012-02-11T11:15:00.000-08:00

We Give Books was started by Penguin Group and the Pearson Foundation to "support literacy through programs that engage entire communities through literacy and awareness programs". The We Give Books program is an initiative that allows anyone with Internet access to give books to children in need. When you sign up you can choose from one of five charities. Then you can select from one of 151 digital picture books (both fiction and non fiction) to read online.

This is all completely free for the reader! Simply choose the charity you want to read for and then select the books you want to read. For each book you read online, a book is donated to a leading literacy group on your behalf. So please sign up and support literacy.

Title: Miss Rumphius
Author and Illustrator: Barbara Cooney
Publisher: Puffin (November 6, 1985)
Format: eBook
Genre: Childrens
Source: We Give Books
Ages: 4 - 7

The Lupine Lady was not always an old woman, a long time ago, she was a young girl named Alice. She loved spending time with her grandfather, an artist, and in the evenings he would tell her stories of is travels and faraway places.

Alice dreamed of living by the sea and traveling to distant places, but her dear grandfather told her that there was a third thing that she must do. Alice must also make the world a more beautiful place.

That is quite an undertaking for a young girl, but as she grew, she never forgot her dreams and desires. Oh, the adventures that Alice had, but now it was time for her third promise. She would find a way to make the world a more beautiful place.

Quite by accident, Miss Rumphius stumbled onto to her way of accomplishing her task. The people called her a crazy old lady, but that did not matter. She knew how she was going to achieve her third and most challenging promise of all.

Instilling dreams and aspirations into a young child and watching them flower is a gift to everyone that they will meet. Read this book to a child and at the end, tell them that there is one last thing that they too much do – make the world a more beautiful place.

Review - The Baker's Wife

2012-02-09T00:00:00.000-08:00

Title: The Baker's Wife
Author: Erin Healy
Publisher: Thomas Nelson, Pg 352
Publication Date: October 4, 2011
Format: Trade Paperback
Genre: Christian Fiction Suspense Paranormal
Source: Amazon Vine

Not too long ago, the question of being gob-smacked by a book came up and I could not recall an incident that had done that to me in a very long time. Then the Baker’s Wife came along and bam, midway through the book and I was questioning what I had missed. Went back to the first chapter and there it was. I did not realize the foreshadowing until it hit me right upside the head. Usually, I am a little better than that, but this time I was caught completely off guard.

Erin Healy has a way of giving a little, letting it stew in your brain and then two or three chapters later explains the parts that you did not know. The interactions of people and their back-stories make you pay closer attention as the layers slowly peel away.

Audrey Bofinger, called by God to be a comfort to others has not always had an easy life, but when a story surfaces about her husband the Pastor of a small church and the questionable acts of their son’s girlfriend, Audrey and Geoff are forced to leave the sanctity of their church and open a small bakery in town.

Early one morning while driving with her son in dense fog, Audrey hits a scooter owned by Julie Mansfield, the wife of the man that ran them out of the church and the father of her son’s girlfriend, leaving nothing but the mangled ruins and blood. Where is the driver of the scooter? Julie Mansfield has a few secrets of her own and when a newly released murderer comes to town searching for forgiveness, their lives intersect with shocking force and each person will have to find forgiveness from those that they have hurt the most.

The Baker’s Wife is a Christian Fiction Suspense book with a wee bit of paranormal thrown in. The paranormal part might throw some people off since it seems to appear in strange ways, but if you can get passed the woo-woo with your dose of scripture, this is a book that will hold your attention and have you flabbergasted at the same time.

The ending does not have the spark or intensity of the first two thirds of the book, but maybe that is just me and others will love it to the end. There just seemed to be something missing, as if the author ran out of ways to surprise the reader. You will not like all the characters in this book, and you are not meant to. Some take a very twisted view with their interpretations, some lie as easily as they breath and some relish in their role as victim. However, all bring something to the table and you as the reader will take something away.

Waiting on Wednesday - Left For Dead

2012-02-08T00:00:00.000-08:00

Hosted by Breaking the Spine

Title: Left For Dead
Author: J.A. Jance
Publisher: Touchstone, Pgs 304
Publication Date: February 7, 2012
Format: Hardcover
Genre: Mystery
Series: Alison Reynolds #4

Book Description:

When Santa Cruz County deputy sheriff Jose Reyes, Ali’s classmate from the Arizona Police Academy, is gunned down and left to die, he is at first assumed to be an innocent victim of the drug wars escalating across the border. But the crime scene investigation shows there’s much more to it than that, and soon he and his pregnant wife, Teresa, both fall under suspicion of wrongdoing.Ali owes Reyes a debt of gratitude for the help he gave her years earlier when she was dealing with a troubled friend. When she’s summoned to his bedside at Physicians Medical Center in Tucson, it’s impossible for her to turn away. And knowing Reyes as well as she does, Ali finds it hard to believe that he’s become mixed up in the drug trade, despite evidence to the contrary. Upon arriving at the hospital, Ali finds that her good friend, Sister Anselm, is there, too—working as a patient advocate on behalf of another seriously injured victim, an unidentified young woman presumed to be an illegal border crosser, who was raped and savagely beaten.Ali becomes determined to seek justice in both cases and secure safety for both victims. Together with Sister Anselm and a conscientious officer who won’t let the case drop despite pressure from above, Ali digs for clues to find the true culprits.

First Chapter, First Paragraph - The Serpents Trail

2012-02-07T00:00:00.000-08:00

Title: Serpents Trail
Author: Sue Henry
Publisher: Onxy, Pg 288
Publication Date: March 1, 2005
Format: Audio
Genre: Mystery
Source: Library
Series: Maxie and Stretch #1

Hosted by Diane at Bibliophile by the Sea

Chapter 1

A PARTIALLY OPEN DOOR ALWAYS HAS A QUESTION IN IT.

At the end of a four-thousand-mile road trip, I stood in the back porch of Sarah Nunamaker’s large Victoria house in the center of Grand Junction, Colorado, uneasily considering the half-open door that swung ever so slightly as the curious fingers of a drying breeze reached in under the sheltering roof to give it a tentative nudge. After a robust and extended use of the heavy brass knocker on the front door had resulted in nothing but echoes and silence from within, I had made my way through a side garden and around to the backyard, glancing up at each window that I passed for evidence of occupation within. AT well after eight o’clock in the dark of the mid-September evening, all of them showed nothing but the mottled reflection of a streetlight that filtered in between the curbside trees. Only one, a rear second-story pane, held a soft hint of illumination that crept through the lace curtains of a room I knew from past visits was Sarah’s bedroom.

Book Description:
At sixty-three, Maxie McNabb is cruising down the Alaska Highway in her brand-new Winnebago. With her mini-dachshund at her side and the open road ahead, she's never been happier. But before her exploration of the Lower Forty-eight gets underway, Maxie needs to figure out who burgled her friend's Colorado home-and why. And the closer Maxie gets to solving the puzzle, the more it becomes chillingly clear that her friend's life isn't the only one on the line.

Mailbox Monday - The Square Root of Murder and The Death Contingency

2012-02-06T00:00:00.000-08:00

Currently on a Blog Tour with a New Host Each Month

Title: Square Root of Murder
Author: Ada Madison
Publisher: Berkley Prime Crime 2011
Format: Paperback; Pgs 288
Genre: Mystery
Source: Paperback Swap
Series: Professor Sophie Knowles #1

From The Back Cover

Between teaching, publishing puzzles and brainteasers, and beading at the local bead shop, A Hill of Beads, Sophie has a full schedule. Finding a chance to unwind isn’t always in the equation. She still manages to make time to celebrate famous scholars of the past with her students. But their latest party makes one of their own a thing of the past….

Dr. Keith Appleton was the most disliked professors on campus, but it was Sophie’s assistant, Rachel, who had a real problem with him – he refused to recommend her to a medical school. Sophie is confident that there’s a calculating murderer among them, and equally confident it’s not Rachel. The only possible answer is for Sophie to eliminate the lowest common denominator from the campus herself.

Title: The Death Contingency
Author: Nancy Lynn Jarvis
Publisher: Good Read Mysteries; 1st edition (November 12, 2008)
Format: Paperback; Pgs 310
Genre: Mystery
Source: Paperbackswap.com

From The Back Cover:

Regan McHenry is a Santa Cruz real estate agent whose work puts her in the midst of mystery, mayhem and even murder. The amateur sleuth uses techniques she’s learned during her career and skills she’s honed as a keen observer of human nature to solve crimes. She just doesn’t always figure things out soon enough to stay out of trouble.

Regan’s business on the upper west side of town has been putting her so close to so many deaths, her associates have started calling her “the grim reaperette”.

The last death in the neighborhood is ruled accidental, but she’s convinced it’s murder. Regan even thinks she knows who committed the crime. Now she has to unravel past secrets to find proof before anyone will take her seriously. And the problem is, she doesn’t want to be right.

Sunday at the Movies - The Pregnancy Project

2012-02-05T00:00:00.000-08:00

Alexa Vega ... Gaby Rodriguez
Walter Perez ... Jorge

I have had this book on my nightstand for about a week, so when I saw that Lifetime was presenting the movie version, I figured it would be a better opportunity to open up a discussion with my daughter in regards to other people’s beliefs and opinions when a teen girl becomes pregnant.

I think I hit a nerve when I asked, “Which of your friends would accept you?” Right away, she knew who would walk out of her life and I think it did dawn on her how tenuous relationships can be when you do not live up to the expectations of others.

For her High School Senior Project, Gaby Rodriguez decided to conduct a social experiment into the thoughts and statements of both students and teachers when a well-liked promising student announces her pregnancy. The truth was, Gaby was not pregnant, she used a fake pregnancy belly and conducted herself the same way she always had. It was others that saw her differently and judged her. Being a child from a single mother who herself had a child at 15, being the sister of a girl that had a baby at 16 and a brother that had gotten his girlfriend pregnant at 17, put Gaby in a difficult position. The community expected her to fail and when she “showed up pregnant” no one was surprised.

What Gaby did not expect was the backlash from her friends and peers when the truth is revealed. Was the base of the anger that she lied to them or that Gaby revealed to them their true ugly selves?

This is a great movie to open up a discussion with your daughters. I am sure that the book went into more detail, but that is not what is important. Talking to our children and helping them to see the big picture is what our job as parents are all about.

We Give Books - Little Dog Lost

2012-02-04T07:45:00.000-08:00

Title: Little Dog Lost: The True Story of a Dog Named Baltic
Author and Illustrator: Monica Carnesi
Publisher: Nancy Paulsen Books (January 5, 2012)
Format: eBook
Genre: Childrens
Source: We Give Books
Ages: 4 - 7

On a very cold wintry day, a group of children notices something out at sea. At first they are unsure what it is and then it dawns on them, it is a dog adrift on a piece of ice. What are they to do? The firefighters are called to help, but the floe is too fast and soon the dog drifts away from the town and people that tried to help. Scared, alone and hungry this young animal is in desperate straights.

There is hope; a ship at sea sees him. Has the miracle arrived that this poor dog needs?

Based on a true story of a dog found after floating 75 miles on an ice floe down Poland’s Vistula River and into the Baltic Sea, this very overly simplified story might leave more questions than answers for a young reader. The back cover of the book tells the whole story and this too would be important to share with a young child.

I am not sure that this would be a book that will draw a child back time and again, but it is a worthwhile read in that it will share with a child the need to help others, including animals, when they can.

Review: Specials

2012-02-02T00:00:00.000-08:00

Title: Specials
Author: Scott Westerfeld
Publisher: Simon Pulse, Pg 384
Publication Date: May 9, 2006
Format: Trade and Audio
Genre: YA Science Fiction
Source: Purchased and Library

Oh goodness, I really should have read this book back in the day when I read the first two in the series. I loved those two books, but the shine is definitely off the apple with this one. Maybe it is because in the intervening years, I have read some remarkable young adult dystopian / science fiction novels and this one is showing its age.

Originally published in 2006, the third book in the Uglies trilogy (which I have come to find out that there is a 4th book in the trilogy) has Tally becoming a member of the surgically enhanced group called the Cutter. This group has found that if you cut yourself, you will become more clear-headed in spite of the brain lesion used to make people pretty-minded. Because of this ability, they have been recruited into Special Circumstances where they are giving additional abilities.

Yes, this is a bit confusing, but when you start the series from the beginning, it does make perfect sense.

This book gets a bit confusing and twisty when a cadre characters and multiple situations are brought in, and once again, if I had read them all at once I am sure I would not constantly be playing catch-up. The Crims, the Smokies, Rusties, Crumblies, Fausto, Zane, etc., your mind begins to reel with the who’s and what-for’s.

Being a Special is not all it is cracked up to be, you become pretty-minded and are repulsed by those less attractive and skilled than you are, so when Tally is cured, a whole new world and set of responsibilities open up for her. What will she do with this and how will she ensure that nature is protected from mankind's excesses.

Apparently, there is a movie in the making for this series. Uglies opened the door for books such as Delirium and Hunger Games, so I guess that it is fitting that Hunger Games continues to hold the door open for Uglies in hope that there is a large enough market for this type of futuristic teen in peril plot.

Waiting on Wednesday - Good in a Crisis

2012-02-01T00:00:00.000-08:00

Hosted by Breaking the Spine

Title: Good in a Crisis
Author: Margaret Overton
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA, Pgs 256
Publication Date: January 31, 2012
Format: Hardcover
Genre: Memoir

Book Description:

During the four years of physician Margaret Overton's acrimonious divorce, she dated widely and indiscriminately, determined to find her soul mate and live happily ever after. While dating one of many Mr. Wrongs, she discovered that she had a brain aneurysm. She discovered it during sex.

Nearly dying is not the same as actually dying. She wrote her own obituary, but then went back to work the next day. There was no relief. So she dated even more wildly awful men, and she crossed streets without looking. Her teenage daughters watched in horror. They'd always trusted her to be the sane one.

She went to Graceland seeking enlightenment and came home with a dancing-pelvis Elvis kitchen clock. She took long midnight walks with her dog. The Fates, amused by her groping, decided to really let her have it: Her daughter and her mother were in serious accidents. Four close friends died within a year. A man crushed her heart.

Through all of this, and while giving comfort to those suffering around her, she came to understand herself as a caretaker who refused to take care of herself. She realized that being a patient had made her a better doctor, and being a doctor had saved her life in more ways than one. So she set out on a course to take control of her future, to understand her strengths, and make herself, finally, independent of men. And then she met Henry. The last man she would date.

Mailbox Monday - Harm None and If You Lived Here

2012-01-30T00:00:00.000-08:00

Currently on a Blog Tour with a New Host Each Month

Title: Harm None
Author: M. R. Sellars
Publisher: E.M.A. Mysteries (May 31, 2000)
Format: Paperback; Pgs 378
Genre: Horror
Source: Paperbackswap.com
Series: Rowan Gant Investigations #1

This one looks like it is going to scare the heck out of me; at the same time, it looks really good.

When a young woman is ritualistically murdered in her Saint Louis apartment with the primary clue being a pentacle scrawled in her own blood, police are quick to dismiss it as a cult killing. Not one for taking things at face value, city homicide detective Ben Storm calls on his long time friend, Rowan Gant-- a modern day practicing Witch-- for help.

In helping his friend, Rowan discovers that the victim is one of his former pupils. Even worse, the clues that he helps to uncover show that this murder is only a prelude to even more ritualistic bloodletting for dark purposes.

As the body count starts to rise, Rowan is suddenly thrust into an investigation where not only must he help stop a sadistic serial killer, but also must fight the prejudices and suspicions of those his is working with--including his best friend.

Title: If You Lived Here, I'd Know Your Name
Author: Heather Lende
Publisher: Algonquin Books (March 29, 2006)
Format: Paperback; Pgs 281
Genre: Memoir
Source: Paperbackswap.com

Overview:

Tiny Haines, Alaska, ninety miles north of Juneau, is accessible mainly by water or air—and only when the weather is good. There’s no traffic light and no mail delivery; people can vanish without a trace; and funerals are community affairs. As both obituary writer and social columnist for the local newspaper, Heather Lende knows better than anyone the goings-on in this breathtakingly beautiful place. Her offbeat chronicle brings us inside her busy life: we meet her husband, Chip, who owns the local hardware store; their five children; and a colorful assortment of friends and offbeat neighbors, including aging hippies, salty fishermen, native Tlingit Indians, Mormon spelunkers . . . as well as the moose, eagles, sea lions, and bears with whom they share this wild and perilous land.

We Give Books - Regards to the Man in the Moon

2012-01-28T08:45:00.000-08:00

Title: Regards to the Man in the Moon
Author and Illustrator: Ezra Jack Keats
Publisher: Aladdin (July 15, 1987)
Format: eBook
Genre: Childrens
Source: We Give Books
Ages: 4 - 7

“All a person needs is some imagination, and a little of that stuff can take you out of this world”

Louie is embarrassed because his friends call him the junkman, so when he tells his dad, both his parents get to work showing Louie and his friends that junk is only in the eye of the beholder.

Louie had no idea that you could build a space explorer with the things in his backyard, but his parent understood and that set Louie on a day of adventure.

“It’s not Voyager 3, it is Imagination 1”

Sometimes you just need the love of a parent and the faith of good friends to help you open your mind and imagine. Most importantly, if you become scared and run out of imagination, hitch your ship to a friend, and they will help you along.

Ezra Jack Keats

Ezra Jack Keats (1916-1983) was born to impoverished Polish immigrants of Jewish descent in East New York. Long before multicultural characters and themes were fashionable, he was the first American picture-book maker to give a black child a central place in children's literature. Keats illustrated over eighty-five books, and wrote and illustrated twenty-four children's classics. He established the Ezra Jack Keats Foundation in 1964.

Review: 77 Shadow Street

2012-01-26T00:00:00.000-08:00

Title: 77 Shadow Street
Author: Dean Koontz
Publisher: Bantam, Pg 464
Publication Date: December 27, 2011
Format: Hardcover
Genre: Horror
Source: Library

Reading 77 Shadow Street has become a journey in patience. After wading through the first 43 pages, I was ready to close up the book and move on. Koontz was up to his usual overly wordy and rambling self and I just was not in the mood for it. Then I hit page 44 and was mesmerized by this book.

This is where I wish I could write the dialogue that begins on page 44 to give you a taste of what would have keep me completely engaged and then poof the amazement was gone. I have absolutely no idea as to what goes on in the mind of this writer, but I am beginning to wonder if a split personality is involved.

When the dialogue is good, it is very good and when he rambles, I scan my way through the next 50 pages. I finally decided to stick with one character, Winny, and focus solely on his story. From time to time, I would check in on other characters to see what they were up to and I am under the impression that three books were mashed into one.

The basic jest is – An old home, built in the late 1800’s has been turned into a high-end apartment building. Every 38 years or so, something freaky happens and the residents are subjected to shadows, voices, fungus on the walls that seem to breath, evil doings of previous tenants and a timeline that blurs past and present in a type of time warp.

Why did I pick Winny to follow? He is a child that has been bullied by his father, a person that came around less often than the Fed-Ex guy and slightly more often than Santa Claus, his whole life and this is the one and only chance that he has to be brave. Young Winston was named after courageous people and just because he has a small body and skinny arms does not mean that cannot do big things. Winny has formed an attachment with Iris, a young autistic girl, and Winny just knows if he can help her, he will not grow up to be the sissy that this dad said “is all but guaranteed”. Iris is not making it easy on him -though when she runs off and Winny is right on her heels.

Other than the Odd Thomas series, I think I am now officially done with Koontz. I miss his old thrillers and once he became commercial, something was lost. I guess there will never be another Watchers or Twilight Eyes - that is too bad because the old Koontz is who I fell in love with and tell people about.

Waiting on Wednesday - Defending Jacob

2012-01-25T00:00:00.000-08:00

Hosted by Breaking the Spine

Title: Defending Jacob
Author: Willliam Landay
Publisher: Delacorte Press , Pgs 432
Publication Date: January 31, 2012
Format: Hardcover
Genre: Legal Thriller

Book Description:

At home, Andy Barber is a quiet family man, a devoted husband and father. At work, he is a trusted senior prosecutor, the District Attorney’s right hand and master trial lawyer. When a teenaged boy is found dead in the woods near Barber’s suburban home, naturally he takes on the investigation, as he has countless homicides before. But the case may be Barber’s undoing: in a terrifying swerve, Barber’s own 14-year-old son, Jacob, is accused of the murder.

The boy insists he is innocent, and Barber rallies to his son’s defense — as any father would, he thinks, as any father must. But defending Jacob exacts a terrible price. Neighbors lock their doors against him. Jacob’s classmates refuse to talk. Barber’s marriage begins to crumble as his beloved wife Laurie buckles under the relentless pressure of suspicion. Finally, as Jacob’s trial intensifies, Barber faces a trial of his own, in which he is forced to confront his own secret history, a past he thought he’d buried long ago.

First Chapter First Paragraph - Specials

2012-01-24T00:00:00.000-08:00

Title: Specials
Author: Scott Westerfeld
Publisher: Simon Pulse, Pg 384
Publication Date: May 9, 2006
Format: Audio
Genre: YA
Source: Library
Series: Uglies #3

Hosted by Diane at Bibliophile by the Sea

Chapter 1

The six hoverboards slipped among the trees with the lightning grace of playing cards thrown flat and spinning. The riders ducked and weaved among ice-heavy branches, laughing, knees bent and arms outstretched. In their wake glowed a crystal rain, tiny icicles shaken from the pine needles to fall behind, aflame with moonlight.

Plot introduction

The Uglies series is set at least 3 centuries in the future, after current civilization was destroyed by a bacterium which de-established all petroleum products, causing widespread chaos. The survivors of this disaster established cities much smaller than those currently existing, each of which is independently governed with limited traveling. At the age of sixteen, each person undergoes an operation which boosts their immune system and reflexes while giving them well-proportioned, symmetrical faces based on an international standard, so that all pretties look nearly identical. They are also given brain lessons which make them peaceful and compliant. Before they receive the operation, children are referred to as "uglies", and are kept separate from their older friends. Later operations follow to show signs of increasing age while maintaining this beauty, and the lesions may be removed for pretties entering careers which require quick thinking. Pretties who work for Special Circumstances, a group which ensures the city's security are given an operation to make them look terrifying, become very strong and fast, and have incredibly fast reflexes. Specials also receive brain surgery to make them obedient.

Mailbox Monday - Mind Over Murder

2012-01-23T00:00:00.000-08:00

Currently on a Blog Tour with a New Host Each Month

Title: Mind Over Murder
Author: Allison Kingsley
Publisher: Berkley (September 6, 2011)
Format: Paperback; Pgs 272
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Source: Paperbackswap.com
Series: A Raven's Nest Bookstore Mystery #1

Overview

Cousins and best friends, Clara and Stephanie Quinn run The Raven's Nest Bookstore, where people go to find their most coveted reads. But they have no idea it's the psychically-gifted Clara who's reading them...

The bookstore has made an enemy of the town crier, Ana Jordon, who claims that the store's occult collection is "poisoning" the town's youth. Meanwhile, the store's number-one employee, Molly, has made no secret of her anger over Ana's antics. So when Ana is found dead, killed by the bust of Edgar Allen Poe sculpted by Molly, the evidence is stacked against her. And Clara must rely on her gift to make sense of this senseless murder...

Pseudonym for Kate Kingsbury.

Thank You - Liebster Blog Award

2012-01-22T16:04:00.000-08:00

Thank you to Thrilled by Books for this award.

The Liebster Blog Award is intended to draw attention to small but worthy blogs with less than 200 subscribers.

And Thank You for the kind words............

Books n'Whatnot - This is a very lovely blog with enjoyable reviews. For anyone looking for a book review blog with a wide selection of genre's to choose from, this would be it.

We Give Books - Ladybug Girl

2012-01-21T08:47:00.000-08:00

Title: Ladybug Girl
Author: Jacky Davis
Author and Illustrator: David Soman
Publisher: Dial (March 13, 2008)
Format: eBook
Genre: Childrens
Source: We Give Books
Ages: 4 - 7

Playing dress up is very important in a young child’s life and no child appreciates this more than Lulu.

Lulu is a smart and imaginative child, but when her mother tells her that she has to find her own entertainment for the day Lulu is lost. What can she do? Her brother Max does not want her around with his friends so off to her room she goes. That is not what a Ladybug Girls wants so out to the backyard she goes.

Ladybug girl has found her power in this outdoor world and sets about fixing and doing and helping. Just what Ladybug Girls are meant to do. See, she is not too little like her brother said; she can do many things.

Feeling as big as the whole outdoors, has put her in the perfect mood to realize that she is not so little after all.

Cute book with adorable illustration - my favorite being a little Ladybug Girl with her trusty dog looking over a large wall of books and counting all the L’s. This is a very powerful picture that has stayed with me more than another other illustration in the book.

Review: Quilter's Apprentice

2012-01-20T12:00:00.000-08:00

Title: The Quilter's Apprentice
Author: Jennifer Chiaverini
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Publication Date: April 6, 1999
Format: Audio
Genre: Women's Fiction
Source: Library
Series: Elm Creek Quilts Series #1

Sometimes simple is best or so the story goes when Sarah McClure, an unfulfilled accountant, followers her new husband Matt to a small college town in Pennsylvania as he works on a crew as a landscape designer. Sarah struggles to find her place in this small town until one day she accompanies Matt to the crotchety Mrs. Compson’s old family home.

Sylvia Compson, a master quilt maker, does not make getting to know her easy; when she offers Sarah a job helping her to organize the old homestead for sale, Sarah takes up the offer with apprehension. As their friendship grows, Sylvia reveals the old stories and heartaches that surround Elm Creek Manor. While the women work together and quilt, a bond is formed and a future is developed for both Sarah and Elm Creek Manor.

This book is a little too happily ever after for my tastes. Being the first in a series, I am sure that the characters will come more to life in future books, but I came away from this book feeling that Sarah, the main character, did not have much depth, so I found very little to draw me back to her. Because of this, I do not see myself continuing with this series.

Review: Scarecrows

2012-01-19T12:00:00.000-08:00

Title: Scarecrows
Author: Tom Upton
Publisher: Hightowne Press
Publication Date: April 17, 2009
Format: eBook
Genre: Horror
Source: Amazon Digital / Kindle

First, you have to get past the poor grammar, spelling and awkward sentences, this is not a well-edited manuscript. Second, read the story that is being told and do not get hung up with the little things like correct tense, word usage or missing letters.

Horror is a very interesting genre, if it is done poorly, it is a travesty, if it is done well, you check under your bed. Mr. Upton has a very good story to tell and if he was blessed with the editors, this writer would be spoken about as a new rising talent.\

I picked up Scarecrows on a whim, read a couple of pages and put down the current Koontz so I could finish this book. Yes, to me it was that good.

When an unforeseen storm blows into a small Wisconsin town, the police force and its band of volunteers are not prepared for the evil that is about to be unleashed on them. Now, we are not talking zombies exactly, more like reanimated dead people. Apparently, there is a fine line between the two and only the town whack-job, a PTSD suffering ex-Viet Nam vet knows how to handle this situation.

There are parts in this book that will make you shutter, there are parts that will make you blush, there are parts that will make you laugh and what is truly funny – it is not always the parts that you would imagine.

This book is not completely plausible, but that does not mean it is not a darn good read and if you are starting to burn out on the current batch of horror writers, check out what Mr. Upton has to offer. Just do not be too meticulous about little things, like everything your English teachers taught you.

Waiting on Wednesday - The Pregnancy Project

2012-01-18T00:00:00.000-08:00

Hosted by Breaking the Spine

Title: The Pregnancy Project: A Memoir
Author: Gaby Rodriguez (Author), Jenna Glatzer (Contributor)
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers, Pgs 224
Publication Date: January 17, 2012
Format: Hardcover
Genre: Memoir

Book Description:

It started as a school project…but turned into so much more.

Growing up, Gaby Rodriguez was often told she would end up a teen mom. After all, her mother and her older sisters had gotten pregnant as teenagers; from an outsider’s perspective, it was practically a family tradition. Gaby had ambitions that didn’t include teen motherhood. But she wondered: how would she be treated if she “lived down” to others' expectations? Would everyone ignore the years she put into being a good student and see her as just another pregnant teen statistic with no future? These questions sparked Gaby’s school project: faking her own pregnancy as a high school senior to see how her family, friends, and community would react. What she learned changed her life forever, and made international headlines in the process.

In The Pregnancy Project, Gaby details how she was able to fake her own pregnancy—hiding the truth from even her siblings and boyfriend’s parents—and reveals all that she learned from the experience. But more than that, Gaby’s story is about fighting stereotypes, and how one girl found the strength to come out from the shadow of low expectations to forge a bright future for herself.

About the Author

Gaby Rodriguez made national headlines in 2011 when, as a seventeen-year-old high school senior from Toppenish, Washington, she revealed she had faked a pregnancy for a class project. Her grades were in the top 5 percent of her graduating class, and she was a commencement speaker. She was also in the ASB Leadership group and president of the school's chapter of M.E.Ch.A (Movimiento Estudiantil de Chicanos de Aztlan: Chicano Student Movement of Aztlan). She was raised by her single mom, has seven brothers and sisters, and has been dating her boyfriend Jorge since 2008. She is currently attending college.

First Chapter, First Paragraph - 77 Shadow Street

2012-01-17T00:00:00.000-08:00

Title: 77 Shadow Street
Author: Dean Koontz
Publisher: Bantam, Pg 464
Publication Date: December 27, 2011
Format: Hardcover
Genre: Horror
Source: Library

Hosted by Diane at Bibliophile by the Sea

For me, this book did not get interesting until page 44. If you are not a Koontz fan, you might give up before this point, but if you have been reading his books for awhile, you know that you have to hang in there until it gets good - then the ride begins.

Chapter 1

Bitter and drunk, Earl Blandon, a former United States senator, got home at 2:15 a.m. that Thursday with a new tattoo: a two-word obscenity in blue block letters between the knuckles of the middle finger of his right hand.

About the Book:

I am the One, the all and the only. I live in the Pendleton as surely as I live everywhere. I am the Pendleton’s history and its destiny. The building is my place of conception, my monument, my killing ground. . . .

The Pendleton stands on the summit of Shadow Hill at the highest point of an old heartland city, a Gilded Age palace built in the late 1800s as a tycoon’s dream home. Almost from the beginning, its grandeur has been scarred by episodes of madness, suicide, mass murder, and whispers of things far worse. But since its rechristening in the 1970s as a luxury apartment building, the Pendleton has been at peace. For its fortunate residents—among them a successful songwriter and her young son, a disgraced ex-senator, a widowed attorney, and a driven money manager—the Pendleton’s magnificent quarters are a sanctuary, its dark past all but forgotten.

But now inexplicable shadows caper across walls, security cameras relay impossible images, phantom voices mutter in strange tongues, not-quite-human figures lurk in the basement, elevators plunge into unknown depths. With each passing hour, a terrifying certainty grows: Whatever drove the Pendleton’s past occupants to their unspeakable fates is at work again. Soon, all those within its boundaries will be engulfed by a dark tide from which few have escaped.

Mailbox Monday - Charity's Point and Practical Jean

2012-01-16T05:42:00.000-08:00

Currently on a Blog Tour with a New Host Each Month

Title: Death at Charity's Point
Author: William G. Tapply
Publisher: Ballantine Books 1984
Format: Paperback; Pgs 231
Genre: Mystery
Source: Paperback Swap
Series: Brady Coyne #1

From the Back Cover:

A legal thriller without a courtroom? A lawyer who's actually a nice guy? Here's the brief. . .
The Lawyer. . . Boston's Brady Coyne is keyed way down. He'd rather fish than fight. When he's full of beans, they're from a can, washed down with beer. He's not partnership material--legal or matrimonial. Barrister to the Brahmins through a quirk of Fate, Brady finds his clients usually demand his personal, discreet attention.

The Client. . . Elderly Florence Gresham is wealthy and whipcord tough. A realist, she's accepted the loss of her elder son to the jungles of Vietnam and the suicide of her husband. But when her scholarly, reclusive younger son steps off a cliff, Florence won't buy the coroners obvious conclusion.

The Case. . . What happened to George? His mother wants Brady to uncover the truth. She offers an incentive: a hefty percentage of the double indemnity life insurance policy payoff--assuming, of course, that Brady overturns the suicide verdict. And low key or not, barrister Brady likes to win...

Title: Practical Jean
Author: Trevor Cole
Publisher: Harper Perennial (October 11, 2011)
Format: Paperback; Pgs 320
Genre: Satire
Source: Paperback Swap

From Amazon:

Jean Vale Horemarsh is content, for the most part, with the small-town life she’s built: a semi-successful career as a ceramics artist, a close collection of women friends (aside from that terrible falling-out with Cheryl years ago), a comfortable marriage with a kind if unextraordinary man. But it is only in watching her mother go through the final devastating stages of cancer that Jean realizes her true calling. No one should have to suffer the indignities of aging and illness like her mother did—and she, Jean Horemarsh, will take it upon herself to give each of her friends one final, perfect moment . . . and then, one by one, kill them.

Of course, female friendships are quite complicated things, and Jean is soon to discover that her plan isn’t as simple as she initially believed it to be.

We Give Books - You Can't Go To School....

2012-01-14T08:08:00.000-08:00

Title: You Can't Go To School Naked
Author: Dianne Billstrom
Illustrator: Don Kilpatrick III
Publisher: Putnam Juvenile (July 3, 2008)
Format: eBook
Genre: Childrens
Source: We Give Books
Ages: 3+

Told in a rhyming fashion, this adorable book follows the parents reasoning as to why their son has to wear clothing to school. All the reasons are quite plausible, but their son is not quite sure.

All they want him to do is to consider the consequences, well, that is a mighty big task for a little boy, but that night has he sleeps he lets their tales roll around in his head like a big pot of soup.

As morning dawns, the little boy has come up with the perfect solution. It might not be ideal is all public situations, but for now it will work and the little boy is quite please with himself for coming up with the idea.

I am sure that all parents have had to deal with this while raising their children. It is a cute story that will surely have both the reader and the listener giggling together and coming up with their own consequences.

This would be a fun addition to a child’s library.

Review: Entangled

2012-01-13T00:00:00.000-08:00

Title: Entangled
Author: Barbara Ellen Brink
Publisher: CreateSpace
Publication Date: November 20, 2010
Format: eBook
Genre: Mystery
Series: Frederickson Winery #1
Source: Amazon Digital / Kindle

What an absolute jumbled mess. There is a possibility that this would have made an adequate short story, but somewhere along the way, Barbara Ellen Brink was told to add a little here and a little more there and we will call it a book.

A very bad idea.

Ms. Brink will add long meanderings that add absolutely nothing to the story. Her main character arrives as a wine novice and then suddenly waxes on about wines with no training, skill or gained knowledge and poof she is a winemaker. No. If you are looking for a good mystery series involving wine and vineyards, checkout Ellen Crosby and her Wine Country Mysteries series.

“Perhaps once a deep chardonnay, the color had faded over the years to a tawny brown. I swirled the liquid lightly around the sides of the glass to let the alcohol evaporate and breathed in the heady bouquet. A nutty, toasty sensation was followed with the underlying hint of something floral. Roses perhaps."

Billie Fredrickson a 28-year-old divorce attorney inherits a winery from an uncle that she has very little recollection of. When she arrives at the estate, with the full intention of selling the property, her uncle’s attorney – who also happened to be a childhood friend, helps her to navigate the estates history and entanglements.

Something happened to Billie when she was last on the estate. Something that happened to her as an eight year old and being back on the property has reawakened memories that only appear in her nightmares.

“...we pick and choose the memories we need to remember, not necessarily the most important ones, but those useful to our continued wellbeing.”

There is nothing new to this plotline. It has been used repeatedly and when you come to the “climatic” moment, you yawn and have no further attachment to Billie or the other characters involved in this fiasco than you did before the stunning moment.

I see how others have loved this book, now I am beginning to wonder what I missed. There is no depth to any of the characters introduced. The petty squabbling between Billie and her mother seems to have no point and no resolution. Of course, every book must have a love interest, but within a short span, Billie goes from despising the man to suddenly throwing herself at him. Where was the development to get from point A to point B? Most importantly, the “bad guy” was barely mentioned for the first two-thirds of the book and suddenly he is a pivotal character. Once again, no, there needed to be more and this ran along the lines of – we had better find a bad guy fast, whom should we use, oh, I have an idea, it is not a good one, but we can make it work.

I recommend that you pass on this book.

Review: Christmas Letters

2012-01-12T00:00:00.000-08:00

Title: Christmas Letters
Author: Debbie Macomber
Publisher: Mira
Publication Date: October 1, 2006
Format: Audio
Genre: Romance
Source: Library
Series: Blossom Street #6

The overall story line of K.O. (Katherine O’Connor) is thin and you do not walk away from Blossom Street knowing anymore about the inhabitants than you did before you read this book.

Katherine works from her townhome as a part time transcriptionist while trying to find a new job; to supplement her income she writes Christmas letters for friends and new business contacts. When her sister Zelda (really, the names in this book) goes on and on about a new book that she has read that will change the lives of her daughters written by childless Dr. Wynn Jeffries called the “Free Child” method, Katherine knows that she has heard more than she can handle.

What a coincidence, but Dr. Jeffries just happens to live in Katherine’s building and when she confronts him on his hokum and bull they spend the evening together and the world is raining down sunshine and lollipops.

Oh, but that is too simple, there must be conflict and drama. That comes in the form of twin girls that Katherine will be watching for an evening and she invites the good doctor to tag along so he can spread his educated knowledge on the situation.

Yes, well, we all know how that is going to end.

Other than the fact that this is a series that I started years ago and that some books are better than others, I do not know why I keep picking them up. I am way too skeptical for superficial romances and happily ever after’s. But what is a girl to do?

If you have already started this series, than by all means continue. This thin edition is a quick read and hopefully will lead to a better book next time.

Waiting on Wednesday - The Serial Killer Whisperer

2012-01-11T00:00:00.000-08:00

Hosted by Breaking the Spine

Title: The Serial Killer Whisperer: How One Man's Tragedy Helped Unlock the Deadliest Secrets of the World's Most Terrifying Killers
Author: Pete Earley
Publisher: Touchstone, Pgs 336
Publication Date: January 10, 2012
Format: Hardcover
Genre: True Crime

Book Description:

Fifteen-year-old Tony Ciaglia had everything a teenager wants—good grades, good athletic skills, and good friends—until he suffered a horrific head injury at summer camp. Pronounced clinically dead three times by helicopter paramedics before he reached a hospital, Ciaglia lapsed into a coma. When he emerged his right side was paralyzed and he had to relearn how to walk, talk, and even how to eat. His brain damage also required him to take countless pills to control his emotions.

Abandoned and shunned by his friends, he began writing to serial killers on a whim and discovered that the same traumatic brain injury that made him an outcast to his peers now enabled him to connect emotionally with notorious murderers. Soon many of America’s most dangerous psychopaths were revealing to him heinous details about their crimes—even those they’d never been convicted of. The killers opened up to him, trusted him, and called him a “best friend.”

But there was a price. As Tony found himself being drawn deeper and deeper into their violent worlds of murder, rape, and torture, he was pushed to the brink of despair and, at times, forced to question his own sanity—until he found a way to use his gift. Asked by investigators from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children to aid in solving a murder, Tony began launching his own personal searches for forgotten victims, with clues often provided to him voluntarily by the killers themselves.

The Serial Killer Whisperer takes readers into the minds of murderers as never before—straight from a killer’s thoughts to paper. It is also an inspiring tale of an American family whose idyllic life is shattered by a terrible accident, and how healing and closure came to a tormented man in the most unlikely way—by connecting with monsters.

First Chapter, First Paragraph - The Quilter's Apprentice

2012-01-10T00:00:00.000-08:00

Title: The Quilter's Apprentice
Author: Jennifer Chiaverini
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Publication Date: April 6, 1999
Format: Audio
Genre: Fiction
Source: Library
Series: Elm Creek Quilters #1

Hosted by Diane at Bibliophile by the Sea

Chapter 1

Sarah leaned against the brick wall and tried to look comfortable, hoping no one walking by would notice her or wonder why she was standing around in a suit on such a hot day. She shaded her eyes with her hand and scanned the street for Matt's truck -- their truck -- but she didn't expect to see it. He wasn't late; she was early. This interview had been her shortest one yet.

A drop of perspiration trickled down between her shoulder blades to the small of her back where her silk blouse was tucked into her navy skirt. She removed her suit jacket and folded it over her arm, but she knew she wouldn't feel comfortable until she was back in her customary T-shirt and shorts. A barrette held her hair away from her face, and the back of her neck sweltered beneath the thick, brown waves. The people who slowly passed on their way to jobs, shopping, or summer classes at nearby Waterford College looked as uncomfortable and as drained by the humidity as Sarah felt. In a few months, she knew, she'd be griping about the snow like everyone else in central Pennsylvania, but today she longed for autumn.

Book Description:

After moving with her husband, Matt, to the small college town of Waterford, Pennsylvania, Sarah McClure struggles to find a fulfilling job. In the meantime, she agrees to help seventy-five-year-old Sylvia Compson prepare her family estate, Elm Creek Manor, for sale. As part of her compensation, Sarah is taught how to quilt by this cantankerous elderly woman, who is a master of the craft.

During their lessons, Mrs. Compson reveals how her family was torn apart by tragedy, jealousy, and betrayal, and her stories force Sarah to face uncomfortable truths about her own alienation from her widowed mother. As their friendship deepens, Mrs. Compson confides in Sarah the truth about why she wants to sell Elm Creek Manor. In turn, Sarah seeks a way to bring life and joy back to the estate so Mrs. Compson can keep her home-and Sarah can keep her cherished friend. The Quilter's Apprentice teaches deep lessons about family, friendship, and sisterhood, and about creating a life as you would a quilt: with time, love, and patience, piecing the miscellaneous and mismatched scraps into a beautiful whole.

About the Author:

Jennifer Chiaverini is the author of the New York Times bestselling Elm Creek Quilts series, as well as five collections of quilt patterns inspired by her novels. She has taught writing at Penn State and Edgewood College and designs the Elm Creek Quilts fabric lines from Red Rooster Fabrics. A graduate of the University of Notre Dame and the University of Chicago, she lives with her husband and two sons in Madison, Wisconsin.

Mailbox Monday - A Code of Jewish Ethics

2012-01-09T06:00:00.000-08:00

Currently on a Blog Tour with a New Host Each Month

Title: A Code of Jewish Ethics: Volume 1: You Shall Be Holy
Author: Rabbi Joseph Telushkin
Publisher: Harmony (March 7, 2006)
Format: Hardcover; Pgs 576
Genre: Non-Fiction
Source: Purchase

Have you ever had an ethical question rolling around in your head and suddenly you pick up a book and your dilemma is staring you right in the face with a complete answer and direction? Funny, I know, but sometimes things are just meant to be. I am not Jewish nor have I ever studied the Jewish faith, but I do not think that a specific religion is a necessary component when dealing with an ethical issue. Sometimes multiple viewpoints will get you to the best decision.

This is not a book to be read in one sitting, it is a book to be picked up thought about and discussed. This might be a very interesting way to spend 2012.

Book Description:

A Code of Jewish Ethics, Volume 1: You Shall Be Holy is the initial volume of the first major code of Jewish ethics to be written in the English language. It is a monumental work on the vital topic of personal character and integrity by one of the premier Jewish scholars and thinkers of our time.

With the stated purpose of restoring ethics to its central role in Judaism, Rabbi Joseph Telushkin offers hundreds of examples from the Torah, the Talmud, rabbinic commentaries, and contemporary stories to illustrate how ethical teachings can affect our daily behavior. The subjects dealt with are ones we all encounter. They include judging other people fairly; knowing when forgiveness is obligatory, optional, or forbidden; balancing humility and self-esteem; avoiding speech that shames others; restraining our impulses of envy, hatred, and revenge; valuing truth but knowing when lying is permitted; understanding why God is the ultimate basis of morality; and appreciating the great benefits of Torah study. Telushkin has arranged the book in the traditional style of Jewish codes, with topical chapters and numbered paragraphs. Statements of law are almost invariably followed by anecdotes illustrating how these principles have been, or can be, practiced in daily life. The book can be read straight through to provide a solid grounding in Jewish values, consulted as a reference when facing ethical dilemmas, or studied in a group.

Vast in scope, this volume distills more than three thousand years of Jewish laws and suggestions on how to improve one’s character and become more honest, decent, and just. It is a landmark work of scholarship that is sure to influence the lives of Jews for generations to come, rich with questions to ponder and discuss, but primarily a book to live by.

Sunday at the Movies - Taken

2012-01-08T00:00:00.000-08:00

Taken

Liam Neeson ... Bryan Mills
Maggie Grace ... Kim
Famke Janssen ... Lenore

The next time your little darlings want to travel for Spring Break sit their little tokhes down to watch this movie, then have them write a 5 page report on human trafficking and guaranteed they will not want to leave their rooms until they are 30. You, as a parent, might not sleep for the next 20 years, but certainly, you will see the world from a different more paranoid perspective and will hold on to those little honeys with all your fingers and all your claws.

Liam Neeson plays Bryan Mills a retired CIA agent that has recently retired and moved to Los Angeles in hopes of building a better relationship with his daughter. Ex-wife and daughter ambush and guilt Bryan into signing the papers that will allow their daughter to leave the country and soon Kim and her friend Amanda are jetting off to Paris only to be befriended by an Albanian gang of human traffickers.

The intensity is nonstop and the perils that both Bryan and his daughter have to face leave your heart and stomach somewhere in the middle of your throat.

This movie is not for the squeamish. There are brutal fight scenes and the subject matter might be too much for some to handle, but over all, this is a very good movie. Liam Neeson does a remarkable job in portraying both the professionally trained killer and the deeply loving and scared father.

This is a movie not to be missed.

We Give Books - Happy Birthday in Dragon Wood and Belinda Begins Ballet

2012-01-07T00:00:00.000-08:00

Title: Happy Birthday in Dragon Wood
Author: Timothy Knapman
Illustrator: Gwen Millward
Publisher: Puffin (January 5, 2012)
Format: eBook
Genre: Childrens
Source: We Give Books
Ages: 0 - 5

This is a perfect book for a little boy. Just imagine if the usual storyline was switched and Dragons were waiting for Benjamins. What if Dragons needed a magical boy to come to their neighborhood to teach them how to play football? Keep in mind that what they call football is what American’s call soccer, but that is really beside the point with this adorable book that show how different our world is to the Dragon world and how the food we eat and our customs are alien to them. Most confusing – you blow on a candle to put it out. How can that be?

A charming book that shows our need for friendship and sharing no matter what our differences are.

Title: Belinda Begins Ballet
Author and Illustrator: Amy Young
Publisher: Viking Juvenile (February 14, 2008)
Format: eBook
Genre: Childrens
Source: We Give Books
Ages: 4 - 7

Everything about Belinda was tiny, except for one thing – her enormous feet. We are not talking just regular large feet; we are talking feet so large you could ski with them.

When Talent Show time comes around, it is not all fun and games for this sweet young girl when Mrs. Rhino thinks that her only talent appears to be that of a clown.

Then one day sad Belinda happens upon a ballet dancer. Seeing her float on the stage sparks an idea and a smile for Belinda. Maybe, just maybe.

Sometimes you have to see in yourself what other do not.

This story brought a tear to my eye. To see a young child grow her own wings is an inspiration to all.

Review - Ghoul Interrupted

2012-01-06T00:00:00.000-08:00

Title: Ghouls Interrupted
Author: Victoria Laurie
Publisher: Penguin Group
Publication Date: December 27, 2011
Format: eBook
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Series: A Ghost Hunter Mystery #6
Source: Amazon Digital / Kindle

Finally, Victoria Laurie has broken away from the Scooby-Do feel of the previous books in the Ghost Hunters Mystery series. I was beginning to get a little worried on the future of these books with the same path being taken book after book. Gilley will always be the neurotic best friend of M.J. and he will always be able to eat his way through the left side of the menu, but I think this little buttercup is starting to man-up.

After a frantic call M.J., Heath and Gilley hightail it to New Mexico to investigate the death of Heath’s uncle on the Zanto Pueblo. The Whitefeather’s are a difficult bunch, but with the spirit of Sam, Heath’s deceased grandfather to guide them, the trio takes on an ancient evil life-force that has unleashed it hatred on the descendants of the original Whitefeather. It is now up to M.J. and her team to put this malevolent Jeannie back into its bottle and prevent any more deaths.

I am not sure if there is any factual history to the Native American tale that was told in these pages, but I found the storyline fascinating. Ms Laurie drew me right into the legend of great white hawk and the great black hawk and that set the overall feel for the book.

Is the book one hundred percent plausible? Of course not, but it is not meant to be. This is a cozy mystery with a bit of an edge and a can-can dancing parrot. With this story, you will be entertained and drawn in a bit deeper than the previous books. This time I can say that I look forward to the next book in the series.

Review - 10th Anniversary

2012-01-05T00:00:00.000-08:00

Title: 10th Anniversay
Author: James Patterson and Maxine Paetro
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Publication Date: May 2, 2011
Format: Audio
Genre: Mystery
Source: Library

The Women’s Murder Club is the only series by James Patterson that I read. I have tried a couple of the others, but this is the one that I keep coming back to. I have been trying to figure out what it is exactly that pulls me back and all I have come up with is that I am not completely sold on Lindsay Boxer, the main character, but I adore the down to earth common sense of Dr. Claire Washburn, the medical examiner. There is something very appealing about her character that has me paying closer attention when her character is taking center stage. Which in my opinion should happen more often.

What keeps me engaged are the multi-story lines. Some I seem to pay closer attention to and others allow my brain to check out from time to time. Occasionally, in the books, the storylines come together with a neat little bow at the end but others do not and you have to keep the cast of characters straight and the importance of little details with each vignette.

Lindsay is investigating a teenage girl left to fend for herself after delivering a baby, but where is the baby, who is the daddy and which lie is actually the truth? Then you have Yuki Castellano prosecuting a make or break case that has many twists and turns and Lindsay must risk her friendship with Yuki when she doubts the facts in that case. Plus, Cindy Thomas is once again getting in over her head on a story. In addition to all that is going on, you must also keep straight who is dating whom, but most importantly, why is Lindsay getting so emotional.

The best way to describe Patterson’s books is brain candy with an occasional chewy part. They are easy to pick up and put down at will without feeling that you have to go back and reread the previous chapter to get back into the flow. This is book number 10 with the 11th due out soon and with Patterson’s co-writers, there is no telling how long and how far this series will go.

Just wonder where he will go next with the little teaser at the end of this book. Oh, and by the way, please bring back more Claire and I will be a happy little reader.

Waiting On Wednesday - The Crown

2012-01-04T00:00:00.000-08:00

Hosted by Breaking the Spine

Title: The Crown
Author: Nancy Bilyeau
Publisher: Touchstone, Pg 416
Publication Date: January 10, 2012
Format: Hardcover
Genre: Mystery
Series: Joanna Stafford #1

Book Description:

An aristocratic young nun must find a legendary crown in order to save her father—and preserve the Catholic faith from Cromwell’s ruthless terror. The year is 1537. . .

Joanna Stafford, a Dominican nun, learns that her favorite cousin has been condemned by Henry VIII to be burned at the stake. Defying the sacred rule of enclosure, Joanna leaves the priory to stand at her cousin’s side. Arrested for interfering with the king’s justice, Joanna, along with her father, is sent to the Tower of London.

The ruthless Stephen Gardiner, Bishop of Winchester, takes terrifying steps to force Joanna to agree to spy for him: to save her father’s life she must find an ancient relic—a crown so powerful, it may hold the ability to end the Reformation. Accompanied by two monks, Joanna returns home to Dartford Priory and searches in secret for this long-lost piece of history worn by the Saxon King Athelstan in 937 during the historic battle that first united Britain.

But Dartford Priory has become a dangerous place, and when more than one dead body is uncovered, Joanna departs with a sensitive young monk, Brother Edmund, to search elsewhere for the legendary crown. From royal castles with tapestry-filled rooms to Stonehenge to Malmesbury Abbey, the final resting place of King Athelstan, Joanna and Brother Edmund must hurry to find the crown if they want to keep Joanna’s father alive. At Malmesbury, secrets of the crown are revealed that bring to light the fates of the Black Prince, Richard the Lionhearted, and Katherine of Aragon’s first husband, Arthur. The crown’s intensity and strength are beyond the earthly realm and it must not fall into the wrong hands.

With Cromwell’s troops threatening to shutter her priory, bright and bold Joanna must now decide who she can trust with the secret of the crown so that she may save herself, her family, and her sacred way of life. This provocative story melds heart-stopping suspense with historical detail and brings to life the poignant dramas of women and men at a fascinating and critical moment in England’s past.

First Chapter, First Paragraph - The Baker's Wife

2012-01-03T00:00:00.000-08:00

Title: The Baker's Wife
Author: Erin Healy
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Publication Date: October 4, 2011
Format: Trade Paperback
Genre: Inspirational Mystery/Suspense
Source: Amazon Vine

Hosted by Diane at Bibliophile by the Sea

Chapter 1

March

The day Audrey took a loaf of homemade rosemary-potato bread to Cora Jean Hall was the day the fog broke and made way for spring. Audrey threw open the curtains closest to the dying woman’s bedside, glad for the sunshine after months of gray light.

Audrey moved quietly down the hall into the one-man kitchen, where she sliced the bread into toast, brewed tea, then leaned out of the cramped space to offer some to Cora Jean’s husband, Harlan. He refused her without thanks and without looking up from his forceful tinkering with an old two-way radio. Over the past month, his collection of CBs and receivers had overtaken the small living room. His grieving had started long ago and was presently in the angry stage. Clearly, he loved his wife. The retired pharmacist dispensed her medications with faithful precision but didn’t seem to know what else to do. If not for the radios, Audrey believed, he might have wandered the house helplessly and transformed from smoldering to explosive.

Book Description:

Before Audrey was the baker's wife, she was the pastor's wife.

Then a scandalous lie cost her husband a pastoral career. Now the two work side-by-side running a bakery, serving coffee, and baking fresh bread. But the hurt still pulls at Audrey.

Driving early one morning to the bakery, Audrey's car strikes something-or someone-at a fog-shrouded intersection. She finds a motor scooter belonging to a local teacher. Blood is everywhere, but there's no trace of a body.

Both the scooter and the blood belong to detective Jack Mansfield's wife, and he's certain that Audrey is behind Julie's disappearance.

But the case dead-ends and the detective spirals into madness. When he takes her family and some patrons hostage at the bakery, Audrey is left with a soul-damaged ex-con and a cynical teen to solve the mystery. And she'll never manage that unless she taps into something she would rather leave behind-her excruciating ability to feel other's pain.

From Erin Healy:

The Irish girl in me has long been fascinated by the concept of thin places, a Celtic name for locations where the veil between physical and spiritual realities is so slim that a person can see through it. For me, thin places are revelations, bridges between the seen and unseen elements of our lives. Read my books and journey with me into the mysterious places where the spiritual world intersects what is familiar to us, and changes it forever.

Mailbox Monday - Midwife of Venice and The Possibility of You

2012-01-02T00:00:00.000-08:00

Currently on a Blog Tour with a New Host Each Month

Title: The Midwife of Venice
Author: Roberta Rich
Publisher: Gallery Books (February 14, 2012)
Format: ARC Trade Paperback; Pgs 321
Genre: Historical Fiction
Source: Simon and Schuster

Hannah ha-Levi, a midwife in the Venetian ghetto is put in terrible danger. She has gained renown for her skill in coaxing reluctant babies out of their mother’s bellies using her “birthing spoons” as rudimentary forceps. One night a Christian nobleman, Conte Paolo di Padovani appears at Hannah’s door in the Jewish ghetto with an impossible request.

He implores Hannah to help his dying wife and save their unborn child. But a Papal edict has made it a crime, punishable by death, for Jews to give medical treatment to Christians. The Conte offers her a huge sum of money, enough to enable her to sail to Malta to ransom her beloved husband, Isaac. He was captured at sea and is a slave of the Knights of St. John.

Hannah acquiesces and delivers the infant, Matteo, a child who captures her heart. As she prepares to depart for Malta to rescue Isaac, she discovers that the baby’s uncles are plotting to murder the baby in order to seize the family fortune.

Title: The Possibility of You
Author: Pamela Redmond
Publisher: Gallery Books (February 28, 2012)
Format: ARC Trade Paperback; Pgs 343
Genre: Fiction
Source: Simon and Schuster

Overview

1916. It was the one thing Bridget was supposed to never let happen. But no matter how many times she replayed the steps in her head, she couldn’t reanimate the small pale boy who lay limp in her arms
.
1976. Billie felt as if she’d been wrenched in half more surely than when the baby had been cut from her body. But she felt something else too: happy to think only of her own needs, her own tears. So light she could float away, somewhere no one would ever find her.

The present. Even if Cait never found her birth mother, even if she decided not to have this baby, to leave her lover and kiss her parents good-bye, she was surrounded by so much emotion, so many questions, that she felt as if she might never be free again.

Can we ever atone for the sins of the past? Or does each generation of women invent itself anew? In a complex and beautifully told masterpiece set against key moments for women in the last century, New York Times bestselling author Pamela Redmond intertwines the heartrending stories of Bridget, Billie, and Cait, and explores the ways in which one woman’s choices can affect her loved ones forever. As these three women search for identity and belonging, each faces a very personal decision that will reverberate across generations, tearing apart families, real and imaginary, perfect and flawed, but ultimately bringing them together again.

Reading Challenge Addict 2012

2012-01-01T00:00:00.000-08:00

This challenge will begin on January 1, 2012 and end on December 31, 2012

Hosted by The Reading Challenge Addict

I think I have actually lost my mind. After taking 2011 off and not participating in any challenges, I have gone over board and signed up for a dozen this time around. No, I have no idea what I was thinking, but to make it a bit easier, I will only be taking part in challenges that let you cross post. In the past, I refused to muddy the waters and let each challenge stand for itself. That was just crazy thinking.

The Eclectic Reader and Finishing the Series look to be my hardest challenges, only because the” Eclectic Reader” will force me out of my comfort zone and “Finishing the Series” includes books that I have been putting off - so I will concentrate on those first.

Thank goodness that I can cross post since as this stands, I would be responsible for 150 books.

Maybe I should also sign up for the 100-book challenge …. It is an addiction I tell you.

Click on the tabs above for links to the challenges that I will be participating in.

Eclectic Reader Challenge (0/12)
eBook Challenge (0/15)
Cozy Mystery Challenge (0/12)
Finishing the Series Challenge (0/12)
Library Challenge (0/12)
Audio Challenge (0/12)
First in a Series Challenge (0/12)
Reading from My Shelves Challenge (0/50)
Mystery and Suspense Challenge (0/12)
Serial Killer Challenge (0/10)
New Author Challenge (0/10)
What’s In A Name Challenge (0/6)

We Give - Blue Chicken and Little Owl's Night

2011-12-31T00:00:00.000-08:00

Title: Blue Chicken
Author and Illustrator: Deborah Freedman
Publisher: Viking Juvenile (September 15, 2011)
Format: eBook
Genre: Childrens
Source: We Give Books
Ages: 4 - 7

Poor chicken, all he wanted to do was help watercolor illustrator Deborah Freeman paint the barn, but in his enthusiasm the blue paint is toppled over and now the farm and all the animals have turned blue.

But, he has an idea. Maybe, just maybe his idea will work to set everything right.

In this very simple book, your child, with your help, will be able to point out colors and animals. The very simple text will be easy for both of you to enjoy and the illustrations are beautiful and relaxing.

By the end, you can both ponder which barn needed to be painted.

Very cute indeed.

Title: Little Owl's Night
Author and Illustrator: Divya Srinivasan
Publisher: Viking Juvenile (September 1, 2011)
Format: eBook
Genre: Childrens
Source: We Give Books
Ages: 4 - 7

I did not like this book for a child. The story seems to begin in the middle with Little Owl ending his evening of watching his friends in the forest gather their food and talking to one another. As Little Owl arrives home, he asks him mama what daytime is like and as she is describing it, Little Owl falls to sleep without being able to see it for himself.

Granted, it takes place mostly at night, but I think it is too dark for a child, there was very little that held my attention so I am sure a child would become bored very quickly. One other thing to consider, a parent might have to explain what the term “Fade to ghosts” means and that might not appeal to many families.

This book is a pass.

Breaking Point

2011-12-30T00:00:00.000-08:00

Title: Breaking Point
Author: Dana Haynes
Publisher: Minotaur Books
Publication Date: November 8, 2011
Format: Hardcover
Genre: Thriller
Source: Library

Who are the good guys, who are the bad guys, is the tall blonde bad or the solidly muscled woman with the spiky hair good? Breaking Point by Dana Haynes throws so many characters at you that you find yourself taking inventory from time to time wondering if you have everyone straight and you just know, that by the end of the book, you might just change your opinion of some very interesting people.

“We’ve got false federal agents, a wingless airliner flying under a balloon, air tankers barnstorming us every five minutes, a missing crasher, and a forest fire at the back door. Absolutely nothing could surprise me today.”

When Patriots meet up with science and technology, the lines are a blurred as to what is best for the country. When certain weaponry has been banned for the good of mankind, renegade corporations set out to test the boundaries and when a change of heart comes over them, someone must die and if that someone is on an airplane with other Americans, well that is just the cost of doing business.

Kiki Duvall, Tommy Tomzak and Isaiah Grey are traveling on a midsized aircraft when it plummets from the sky. Being trained Crashers (the NTSB team that goes in after an airliner goes down) they are well equipped to handle the initial parts of the investigation, that is until apparent survivors show curious injuries during their autopsies.

I enjoy this series, the subject is terrifying in its reality and Dana Haynes has a way of describing people and situations to the point that you are right there with them. Start with Crasher and then continue with this book. The intensity will keep you tuned in and the humor will have you wondering if you should be laughing, but to be honest, sometimes humor is what gets you through tough situations.

Gabby

2011-12-29T00:00:00.000-08:00

Title: Gabby: A Story of Courage and Hope
Author: Gabrielle Giffords (Author), Mark Kelly (Author), Jeffrey Zaslow (Contributor)
Publisher: Scribner
Publication Date: November 15, 2011
Format: Hardcover
Genre: Memoir
Source: Library

I finally understand why I took so long to finish this book – HOPE. Something that is in short supply of during these times and I found that Gabrielle Gifford’s most challenging moment offers hope to the rest of us. The gunshot wound that she received to her head would have killed most people, but she fought, her husband fought, her parents fought and every one of her loved ones fought. This is a person that is loved and because of that love, we saw a miracle happen.

On January 8, 2011, while in Tucson at a Congress on Your Corner event Gabrielle Gifford’s was shot at point blank range. The book does not give much time, less than a paragraph more along the lines of three sentences, to the person who pulled the trigger. The effort of this book does not dwell on the evil, it concentrates on the positive. That with determination and patience – and top-notch medical care – a devastating brain injury did not end the life of a promising and beloved woman.

We may not all know the story of her husband, the astronaut Mark Kelly and Gabby, but through this book we get to see the man and woman that they are. His humor, his fight, his frustration – but most of all, we see the love he has for his wife. More importantly, through these pages, we see a determined woman, a young girl wanting to right wrongs and a politician that does not take the powers given to her for granted.

I know that the main point of this book was to introduce me to Gabrielle Gifford’s, but I think my take away was more about neuroscience. Mark Kelly does a remarkable job in explaining some of the intricacies of the human brain and how they translate into future abilities and disabilities.

Now I do not know if it was right to laugh during the experiences that were related in this story, but there is humor. Laugh out loud funny accounts of how the brain can fixate on a word and how when you can’t come up with the exact right term a substitute word can be funny , maybe not appropriate, but none the less funny.

Inspiring is a good word for this book. To see a good outcome from a horrible situation. I do not know if it would be realistic to think that Ms. Gifford’s will return to politics, but every life-challenging situation needs an advocate. Spinal injury had Christopher Reeves and traumatic brain injury now has Gabrielle Gifford’s. I just hope that she picks up this sword and fights for all – civilian and service personnel – that have had to battle the bureaucracy to get the care and treatment that they and their loved ones need and deserve.

Waiting on Wednesday - Ghoul Interrupted

2011-12-28T00:00:00.000-08:00

Hosted by Breaking the Spine

Title: Ghoul Interrupted
Author: Victoria Laurie
Publisher: Obsidian
Publication Date: December 27, 2011
Format: Kindle Edition, Pg 352 (paperback version)
Genre: Mystery
Series: Ghost Hunter Series #6

Book Description:

M.J. Holliday and her crew interrupt the frantic schedule of their reality TV show, Ghoul Getters, and hotfoot it to New Mexico, where a dreadful demon is waging tribal warfare. Same Whitefeather- M.J.'s spirit guide-urgently needs her help to stop this evil spirit from wiping out the descendants of his tribe. It doesn't take a psychic to predict that M.J.'s going to have a devil of a time making New Mexico a demon-free zone.

Chapter 1

I've always believed in ghosts. Actually, I had no choice in the matter. My childhood was full of encounters with disembodied voices, strange blue flashes, flickering shadows at the edge of my peripheral vision, and odd-looking orbs appearing right over my head.

And then, of course, my mother died and her ghost came to see me.

First Chapter, First Paragraph - 10th Anniversary

2011-12-27T00:00:00.001-08:00

Title: 10th Anniversary (The Women's Murder Club)
Author: James Patterson, Maxine Paetro
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Publication Date: May 2, 2011
Format: Audio
Genre: Thriller
Source: Library

Hosted by Diane at Bibliophile by the Sea

Chapter 1

A TEENAGE GIRL wearing a neon green plastic poncho, naked underneath, stumbled along a dark road. She was scared out of her mind and in pain, the cramps coming like repeated blows to her gut and getting worse. Blood had started coming out of her a while ago, and now it was running fast and hot down her legs.

What had she done?

People always told her she was a smart kid, but—and this was a fact—she'd made a horrible mistake, and if she didn't get help soon, she was going to die.

But where was she?

Summary

For every secret

Detective Lindsay Boxer's long-awaited wedding celebration becomes a distant memory when she is called to investigate a horrendous crime: a badly injured teenage girl is left for dead, and her newborn baby is nowhere to be found. Lindsay discovers that not only is there no trace of the criminals—but that the victim may be keeping secrets as well.

For every lie

At the same time, Assistant District Attorney Yuki Castellano is prosecuting the biggest case of her life—a woman who has been accused of murdering her husband in front of her two young children. Yuki's career rests on a guilty verdict, so when Lindsay finds evidence that could save the defendant, she is forced to choose. Should she trust her best friend or follow her instinct?

There's a different way to die

Lindsay's every move is watched by her new boss, Lieutenant Jackson Brady, and when the pressure to find the baby begins interfering with her new marriage to Joe, she wonders if she'll ever be able to start a family.

Mailbox Monday - Original Sin and Loving Frank

2011-12-26T05:47:00.000-08:00

Currently on a Blog Tour with a New Host Each Month

Title: Original Sin: A Sally Sin Adventure
Author: Beth McMullen
Publisher: Hyperior
Publication Date: June 15, 1995
Format: Paperback; Pgs 291
Genre: Spy-Mom Thriller
Source: Paperback Swap
Series: Sally Sin #1

After falling in love and making a quick exit from her nine-year career in the USAWMD (United States Agency for Weapons of Mass Destruction), ex-spy Sally Sin does her best to become Lucy Hamilton, a stay-at-home mom in San Francisco. No one, not even her adoring husband Will, knows about her secret agent escapades--chasing no-good masterminds through perilous jungles, escaping evil assassins, and playing dangerous games of cat and mouse with her old nemesis, Ian Blackford, a notorious and dashing illegal arms dealer.

In her new life as Lucy Hamilton, she squeezes inside forts crafted from couch cushions by her three-year-old son Theo, makes organic applesauce, and frequents the zoo. But sometimes her well-honed spy reflexes refuse to lay low. She can't help breaking into her own house to check on the babysitter or stop herself from tossing the yoga instructor who gets on her nerves. And when Ian Blackford, who is supposed to be dead, once again starts causing trouble for the USAWMD, the agency becomes desperate to get Sally back on the job.

How can Sally or Lucy or whatever her name is save the planet while at the same time keeping her own family's world from spinning out of control?

Every bit as much fun as a spy-mom thriller ought to be, Original Sin is a fast-paced adventure story for mothers and spies, and anyone who has ever dreamed about being either.

Title: Loving Frank
Author: Nancy Horan
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Publication Date: April 8, 2008
Format: Paperback; Pgs 400
Genre: Fiction
Source: Purchase

A fictionalization of the life of Mamah Borthwick Cheney, best known as the woman who wrecked Frank Lloyd Wright's first marriage. Despite the title, this is not a romance, but a portrayal of an independent, educated woman at odds with the restrictions of the early 20th century. Frank and Mamah, both married and with children, met when Mamah's husband, Edwin, commissioned Frank to design a house. Their affair became the stuff of headlines when they left their families to live and travel together, going first to Germany, where Mamah found rewarding work doing scholarly translations of Swedish feminist Ellen Key's books. Frank and Mamah eventually settled in Wisconsin, where they were hounded by a scandal-hungry press, with tragic repercussions. Horan puts considerable effort into recreating Frank's vibrant, overwhelming personality, but her primary interest is in Mamah, who pursued her intellectual interests and love for Frank at great personal cost. As is often the case when a life story is novelized, historical fact inconveniently intrudes: Mamah's life is cut short in the most unexpected and violent of ways, leaving the narrative to crawl toward a startlingly quiet conclusion. Nevertheless, this spirited novel brings Mamah the attention she deserves as an intellectual and feminist.

Seizure

2011-12-23T00:00:00.000-08:00

Title: Seizure
Author: Robin Cook
Publisher: Berkley
Publication Date: October 5, 2004
Format: Audio
Genre: Medical Suspense
Source: Library

I think that my brain checked out somewhere in the middle of this book. The beginning concept of the book, embryonic transplant cells to cure or alleviate Parkinson’s disease, is in itself an interesting concept. That is where the good part of the story ended. Why Dr. Cook needed to throw in the Mafia and a religious angle made no sense. Neither of them was fully explained and neither of them added to the overall storyline.

In what is purported to be a collision of power, religion and bioscience Dr. Cook takes the reader down the road with Dr. Daniel Lowell who is trying to develop the HTSR technique that involves replacing damaged DNA with replacement healthy cells. Where and how they get these cells might make a reader angry, but that is what biomedical controversies are built on. When Dr. Lowell runs into a roadblock by the name of Senator Ashley Butler, he thinks that his medical advancements are doomed. That is until Senator Butler covertly asks to be his human guinea pig.

Somewhere in this long drawn out book is an interesting plot. Unfortunately, Dr. Cook throws too much in and dilutes all the interesting parts. I suggest that you pass on this particular book and check out some of his others. He seems to run hot and cold in his reviews, but there are good ones out there.

The Hunger Games

2011-12-22T11:27:00.000-08:00

Title: The Hunger Games
Author: Suzanne Collins
Publisher: Scholastic
Publication Date: July 3, 2008
Format: Trade Paperback
Genre: YA - Fiction
Source: Purchase
Series: The Hunger Games #1

I will be the first to admit that I am hard on books, especially when they have high ratings and the main topic of conversation amongst my friends is how much I will love it. For the first hundred and fifty pages I was bored senseless and even put the book down a couple of times only to hear my daughter go on and on about how much she loved it.

Ok, except for mushy-gushy girl books, we usually agree so once again I picked up the book and plodded on.

Well heck, this book got good very quickly. Once the Hunger Games themselves started, the storyline and the characters mesmerized me to the point that I finished the last 200 pages in one sitting.

Katniss Everdeen has not had it any harder than the others children from her area, but when her younger sister is called during the reaping, she know that she must step in and take her place. She does not think that she can win the games, but she knows for sure that she does not want her sister to die. With Peeta, a boy from her area, they take on the Hunger Games.

Throughout the book, Katniss has to keep reminding herself that there can only be one winner in these games. Games that take place in an area that was once known as North American and is now split up in districts that send young teens to a battle ground to fight to the death to bring honor back to their people and their district. All the while being broadcast in full gory detail back to the audience that is betting on who will win.

"He is luring you in to make you easy prey. The more likable he is the more deadly he is."

The rules of the game state that there can only be one winner. From the first salvos to the last cannon shot, the combatants must form allies and know that at the end all but one of them will die. That is until there is a game changing moment and you wonder if the rules of the heart and the rules of the game can coincide.

This is only the first in a trilogy and I hope that they next book can keep up the lightning pace and note that this one ended on.

Waiting On Wednesday - The Anatomist's Apprentice

2011-12-21T00:00:00.000-08:00

Hosted by Breaking the Spine

Title: The Anatomist's Apprentice
Author: Tessa Harris
Publisher: Kensington Books
Publication Date: December 27, 1011
Format: Trade Paperback, Pg 304
Genre: Mystery
Series:Dr. Thomas Silkstone Mysteries #1

Book Description:

A new mystery series set in eighteenth-century England, Tessa Harris introduces Dr. Thomas Silkstone, anatomist and pioneering forensic detective…

The death of Sir Edward Crick has unleashed a torrent of gossip through the seedy taverns and elegant ballrooms of Oxfordshire. Few mourn the dissolute young man—except his sister, the beautiful Lady Lydia Farrell. When her husband comes under suspicion of murder, she seeks expert help from Dr. Thomas Silkstone, a young anatomist from Philadelphia.

Thomas arrived in England to study under its foremost surgeon, where his unconventional methods only add to his outsider status. Against his better judgment he agrees to examine Sir Edward’s corpse. But it is not only the dead, but also the living, to whom he must apply the keen blade of his intellect. And the deeper the doctor’s investigations go, the greater the risk that he will be consigned to the ranks of the corpses he studies…

First Chapter First Paragraph - Kill Switch

2011-12-20T00:00:00.000-08:00

Title: Kill Switch
Author: Neal Baer and Jonathan Greene
Publisher: Kensington Books
Publication Date: December 13, 2011
Format: Hardcover
Genre: Thriller
Source: Library

Hosted by Diane at Bibliophile by the Sea

Chapter 1

Present Day

On any given day, the ten separate jails that make up New York City’s Rikers Island correctional facility hold between fifteen and eighteen thousand inmates, making it the world’s largest penal colony. Of those inmates, some three thousand are classified as mentally ill. That whopping number makes Rikers one of the largest mental institutions in the United States and the best place for a budding forensic psychiatrist like Claire Waters to study the criminal mind.

From Kensington Books

Meet Claire Waters, a young, dedicated forensic psychiatrist with unnervingly personal insights into the criminal mind. Haunted by a disturbing childhood incident—and driven by her demons—Claire has always been drawn to those rare "untreatable" patients who seem to have no conscience or fear. But one shocking case could make or break her career...and it's waiting for her in the psychiatric wing of New York City’s Rikers Island.

His name is Quimby. A deranged inmate whose boyish good looks hide a sordid history of dysfunction and abuse, Quimby triggers something in Claire she'd rather not face. As she tries to unlock Quimby’s past, she unwittingly reveals her own painful secrets—leaving herself dangerously vulnerable. When the case propels her into the mind of another killer—a homocidal maniac who's watching her every move—it could only end in madness, murder, or both...
Brilliantly constructed and breathtakingly suspenseful, Kill Switch is a masterful combination of murder, mystery, and modern forensics that will keep you turning the pages to the final shocking conclusion.

Mailbox Monday - Mrs. Piggle Wiggle Treasury and Die Buying

2011-12-19T06:15:00.000-08:00

Currently on a Blog Tour with a New Host Each Month

Title: The Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle Treasurey
Author: Betty MacDonald
Illustrator: Hilary Knight
Publisher: Harper Collins
Publication Date: June 15, 1995
Format: Paperback; Pgs 392
Genre: Children
Source: Paperback Swap

Summary

This treasury contains the first three books in the Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle series.

Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle

From her upside-down house, the eccentric Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle issues to parents her marvelous cures for such common children's diseases as Won't-Put-Away-Toys-itis, Answerbackism, and Fighter-Quarrelitis.

Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle's Magic

It's impossible to upset Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle. Whatever happens, she takes it in stride, and usually laughs about it, too. If you give her a gift, she will treasure it. If you break something, she'll show you how to fix it. If you tell her what you dreamed last night, she'll listen — and even help you tell the parts you forget.

Hello, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle

The incomparable Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle loves children good or bad and never scolds but has positive cures for Answer-Backers, Never-Want-to-Go-to-Bedders, and other boys and girls with strange habits.

Title: Die Buying
Author: Laura Disilverio
Publisher: Berkley Prime Crime
Publication Date: August 2, 2011
Format: Paperback; Pgs 276
Genre: Cozy Myster
Source: Paperback Swap
Series:A Mall Cop Mystery #1

OVERVIEW:
Emma-Joy “EJ” Ferris, a security officer with the Fernglen Galleria, likes mall cop work, although it’s usually more humdrum than the military policing she did until an IED left her with a bum knee and a medical retirement at thirty-one. Relocated to Vernonville, Virginia, 50 miles from Washington D.C., EJ deals with shoplifting teens, vandals spray-painting Christian graffiti on cars, and a boss who acts like the halls of Fernglen are the mean streets of Newark. She also copes with her 83-year-old Grandpa Atherton, a long-retired CIA operative who likes to “keep his hand in” by purchasing all the latest techno-gadgets and spying on mall customers and shopkeepers. EJ’s boredom vanishes the week someone “liberates” all the reptiles, including a 15-ft python, from The Herpetology Hut (known to mall denizens as Herpes Hut) and a body turns up, posed as a mannequin, in the window of Diamanté, an upscale boutique. With the help of her mall “family”–her friend Kyra who runs the magic store; Joel, her fellow mall cop who hero worships her; and the attractive and mysterious Jay Callahan who recently bought the cookie franchise—and her Grandpa Atherton, EJ must quickly catch the killer since fear of another murder is emptying the mall faster than you can say, “All sales final.”

Sunday at the Movies - Home by Christmas

2011-12-18T08:34:00.001-08:00

Linda Hamilton ... Julie Bedford
Rob Stewart ... Michael
Brenda Crichlow ... Selma
Garwin Sanford ... George Bedford
Brittney Wilson ... Andie Bedford

Why is it that a woman is expected to suspend reality and become completely brain dead to watch a romance movie? Maybe I just answered my own question when I added in the term romance movie.

Linda Hamilton plays Julie a woman who has just realized that her husband is seeing a much younger woman. Now this is where the viewer is expected to become dumb. Julie lives in an upper income community and only accepts $25,000 as her half equity in the home and asks for no alimony. Moves into a questionable neighborhood, gets behind on her bills (where is the money). Gets mugged, goes to the hospital and has no medical insurance, loses her checkbook and credit cards, is evicted from her apartment for being one week late with the rent, bank takes an unprecedented amount of time in refunding the stolen funds. Sleeps in a car. Squats in an unoccupied open house. Orthopedic surgeon rides in and saves the day. The End.

Really?

Who believes this stuff and feels good after a movie like this? Now look around, whom do you know that has had their life fall out from underneath them and a knight rides in and saves the day?

This is why I cannot watch movies like this. I guess I need a bit more reality and a lot less fluff to set the example that a woman can pick herself up by her proverbial bootstraps and make it on her own.

We Give Books

2011-12-17T05:40:00.000-08:00

Thanks to An Abundance of Books for leading me to this site.

We Give Books was started by Penguin Group and the Pearson Foundation to "support literacy through programs that engage entire communities through literacy and awareness programs". The We Give Books program is an initiative that allows anyone with Internet access to give books to children in need. When you sign up you can choose from one of five charities. Then you can select from one of 151 digital picture books (both fiction and non fiction) to read online.

This is all completely free for the reader! Simply choose the charity you want to read for and then select the books you want to read. For each book you read online, a book is donated to a leading literacy group on your behalf. So please sign up and support literacy.

Title: Big Red Lollipop
Author: Rukhsana Khan
Illustrator: Sophie Blackall
Publisher: Viking Juvenile (March 4, 2010)
Format: eBook
Genre: Childrens
Source: We Give Books

How embarrassing for Rubina she has been invited to a birthday party and is suddenly embarrassed at the thought of having to bring her little sister with her. Her mother, Ami, does not quite understand the American tradition of not bringing your sister to a party and informs Rubina that if Sana cannot go, neither can she.

In a “what comes around, goes around” theme, Sana is invited to a party and she must take her younger sister. How will this unfold and what lessons will be learned by both Rubina and Sana?

Designed for Reading level: Ages 4 and up, the overall theme of sibling rivalry is well covered, but there will still need to be some discussion on sharing and respect for others and their things, and how best to handle situations that benefit all involved.

Title: Corduroy Lost and Found
Author: B. G. Hennessy
Contributor: Don Freeman
Illustrator: Jody Wheeler
Publisher: Viking Juvenile (September 14, 2006)
Format: eBook
Genre: Childrens
Source: We Give Books

Corduroy is back, ok he was back five years ago, but I just came across this book today.

All Corduroy wants is to give his best friend in the world Lisa a gift for her birthday, but in his misadventure he becomes lost and only being found again does he find the meaning of gift giving and friendship.

Reading level is for ages 3 and up, but Corduroy will always be cherished and you can start reading to your young one as soon as you add this one to their nursery bookshelf.

Title: The Night Before First Grade
Author: Natasha Wing
Illustrator: Deborah Zemke
Publisher: Grosset & Dunlap (July 21, 2005)
Format: eBook
Genre: Chilrens
Source: We Give Books

Oh, what an adorable story. Told in a rhyming fashion, with a couple of miscues and using a couple of the same lines from T’was a Night Before Christmas, Jenny is preparing for first grade and is excited for her new adventure. Unfortunately, this excitement turns to anxiety as she learns that her best friend will be in a different classroom. Being the brave first graders that they are, they go their own separate ways only to discover that after making new friends first grade will be twice as fun.

For ages 4 and up, this will be a good book to read together before the beginning of a new school year to help alleviate the anxiety of going into a big kid class.

Agatha Raisin and the Haunted House

2011-12-16T06:00:00.000-08:00

Title: Agatha Raisin and the Haunted House
Author: MC Beaton
Publisher: St. Martin's
Publication Date: March 1, 2005
Format: Audio
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Source: Library
Series:Agatha Raisin #14

As I have said before, the Agatha Raisin books are no longer about the dead body in the other room; they are about the interactions between the recurring cast of characters and the maturing of Agatha. As she comes to realize that she is important and that people do care about her - even if she tries to stare them down with her bear like eyes and doesn’t understand that when she spout off at the mouth there is a living breathing human being at the pointy end of her jabs – they just have to be willing to get beyond the wall that she has built.

What could be more tempting than a report of a haunted house? Agatha, with the help of her new neighbor Paul Chatterton, head out to do a little detecting and spend the night doing their own Ghost Hunters type of investigating. But when Agatha gets a little more than what she was expecting and the nasty Mrs. Witherspoon is soon found dead, Agatha once again finds herself knee deep in an investigation and Bill Wong must come to the rescue.

A new day has dawned for Agatha. No longer is she languishing away because a man is not paying attention to her. She is now seeing them as a distraction and she has a new direction in life.

By the way, when did Agatha get sexy? I remember the previous books discussing her in a frumpy sort of way. Now she is turning heads and the ladies of Carsley are a bit on the jealous side. This is a new turn and I hope that it will add yet another dimension to a wonderfully curious woman.

Waiting On Wednesday - 1222

2011-12-14T05:59:00.000-08:00

Hosted by Breaking the Spine

Title: 1222: A Hanne Wilhelmsen Novel
Author: Annne Holt
Publisher: Scribner
Publication Date: December 27, 1011
Format: Hardcover, Pg336
Genre: Thriller

Book Description:

A TRAIN ON ITS WAY to the northern reaches of Norway derails during a massive blizzard, 1,222 meters above sea level. The passengers abandon the train for a nearby hotel, centuries-old and practically empty, except for the staff. With plenty of food and shelter from the storm, the passengers think they are safe, until one of them is found dead the next morning.

With no sign of rescue, and the storm continuing to rage, retired police inspector Hanne Wilhelmsen is asked to investigate. Paralysed by a bullet lodged in her spine, Hanne has no desire to get involved. But she is slowly coaxed back into her old habits as her curiosity and natural talent for observation force her to take an interest in the passengers and their secrets. When another body turns up, Hanne realizes that time is running out, and she must act fast before panic takes over. Complicating things is the presence of a mysterious guest, who had travelled in a private rail car at the end of the train and was evacuated first to the top floor of the hotel. No one knows who the guest is, or why armed guards are needed, but it is making everyone uneasy. Hanne has her suspicions, but she keeps them to herself.

First Chapter First Paragraph - Breaking Point

2011-12-13T06:37:00.000-08:00

Title: Breaking Point
Author: Dana Haynes
Publisher: Minotaur Books
Publication Date: November 8, 2011
Format: Hardcover
Genre: Thriller
Source: Library

Hosted by Diane at Bibliophile by the Sea

Prologue: The Crash

Dr. Leonard Tomzak was a modern American male. He knew it was considered inappropriate to stare openly at a pretty girl with long legs as she approached. Expecially in public.

Book Description:

Three NTSB experts - people brought in to help investigate whenever a plane goes down - find themselves victims and witnesses rather than investigators when the plane they are on crashes.

En route to a conference, three NTSB experts -- known to insiders as "Crashers" -- Tommy Tomzak, a pathologist from Texas; Kiki Duvall, a sound engineer and former naval officer; and Isaiah Grey, investigator and former FBI agent – are aboard a twin turbo prop plane when, just outside of Helena, Montana, the plane crashes into a thickly forested moutainside. But the crash isn’t an accident - it was brought down on purpose - and the "Crashers" weren't the target. The plane was brought down by mercenaries, led by an enigmatic, shadowy self-described patriot known only as Calendar, using weapons technology banned by international treaty. The targets - three men who planned to blow the whistle on the weapons technology and the power brokers behind its development.

In a twisty, compelling thriller that goes from the streets of Spain, to the mountains of the western United States, to the heart of the dark, hidden corridors of power where there are dangerous secrets that few suspect and fewer know, the “Crashers” are literally dropped in the middle of a case that neither starts, nor ends, with a plane crash with some of their own on-board. A new team of Crashers fights time, as a fire rages ever closer to the wreckage, conflicting and confusing evidence, and unpredictable outside forces trying to prevent them from uncovering the truth. With alllies - unseen and even unknown - working behind the scenes to help them, the team is trapped in the midst of a high-stakes game of cat-and-mouse with the deadliest of consquences, a game that not all of them will survive...

Mailbox Monday - Sheetcake Named Desire

2011-12-12T06:07:00.000-08:00

Currently on a Blog Tour with a New Host Each Month

Title: A Sheetcake Named Desire
Author: Jacklyn Brady
Publisher: Berkley Prime Crime
Publication Date: August 2, 2011
Format: Paperback; Pgs 304
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Source: Paperback Swap
Series: A Piece of Cake Mystery

Summary

Sweet Success can be a motive for murder.

There aren’t many things pastry chef Rita Lucero hates more than losing. But two years after her marriage to fellow baker Philippe Renier fell apart, she’s still trying to get him to sign the divorce papers. Exasperated, Rita visits Philippe’s high-end New Orleans shop, Zydeco Cakes, to get his signature—and discovers that her marriage is already over when she finds Philippe dead with a chef’s knife in his chest.

Rita is shocked to discover the body, and overwhelmed to learn that since the divorce wasn’t final, she now inherits part ownership in Zydeco Cakes. But it’s a mixed blessing: the gorgeous shop is actually in financial trouble, and Rita’s windfall sets her up as a prime suspect in Philippe’s murder. Her former mother-in-law demands that Rita find out who killed her son, and his former employees don’t know whether to trust her. The feeling is mutual—especially since the real culprit is still out there, and Rita may be the next victim served.

Sunday at the Movies - Moneyball

2011-12-11T07:59:00.000-08:00

Brad Pitt ... Billy Beane
Jonah Hill ... Peter Brand
Philip Seymour Hoffman ... Art Howe

When they say that this is Brad Pitt’s best movie to date, you know I had to be there. Add to it that it was a sports themed movies and I knew that this movie was for me.

But here is my dilemma, it wasn’t Brad’s best movie to date, Meet Joe Black is still his best movie with Legends of the Fall being a close second, but I do think that it was Jonah Hills’ best movie to date. For me, Jonah stole this movie; his straight man one-liners were what carried the movie from so-so to watch again status.

Billy Beane (Brad Pitt) is the manager of the 2002 Oakland A’s. He knows that he does not have the finances to put together a team like the Yankee’s, but that does not mean that there is not underrated talent out there. With the help of Peter Brand (Jonah Hill), a computer-generated analysis of players is created with a team salary cap of only $41 million. With the help of Sabermetrics (a specialized analysis of baseball through objective and empirical evidence), they put together a team that on paper looks good, but on the field, well, that leaves people scratching their heads.

You have to appreciate the underdog feel throughout this movie and even though the true events took place over nine years ago, you find yourself sitting in the audience cheering on this team.

I love sports movies, the feeling of hope and the love of the game. Take the time to watch this feel good movie and spend sometime laughing at all the very funny lines:

Matt Keough: And he's got an ugly girlfriend
Scout Barry: What does that mean?
Matt Keough: Ugly girlfriend means no confidence.

Billy Beane: When your enemy's making mistakes, don't interrupt him.

We Give Books

2011-12-10T06:25:00.000-08:00

Title: Trixie and Jinx
Author: Dean Koontz
Illustrator:Janet Cleland
Publisher: Putnum Juvenile
Publication Date: September 16, 2010
Format: eBook
Genre: Childrens 5+
Source: We Give Books

Quite a schizophrenic tale. Half the story is in rhyme and the other half is using words that I think might be over a young child’s head leaving the reading partner to explain what some of the words mean and losing the overall flow of the story.

Trixie and his dog companion Jinx have to spend a week apart and poor old Trixie is struggling to find a new friend. This tale does emphasis the special place a good friend holds in our lives, so from that standpoint, this could be a good conversation starter.

Dean Koontz is an adult horror writer, so when I saw his name associated with a children’s book, I was curious. Not a good match. He needs to bring his craft down a notch or two to speak more clearly to his young audience.

Title: Llama Llama Mad at Mamma
Author and Illustrator: Anna Dewdney
Publisher: Viking Juvenile
Publication Date: September 6, 2007
Format: eBook
Genre: Childrens 3+
Source: We Give Books

Poor Llama is not having a good day. Mamma wants to do a little shopping and poor Llama just wants to stay home and play with his toys. Little Llama has no say, so off to Shop-o-Rama they go, with its long lines, itchy clothes and boring stuff, but what is a Llama to do? Well, apparently it is time for Llama drama.

It’s not just Llama who learns a lesson today.

Cute story that puts the complete shopping experience with a child into perspective.

Title: The Hat
Author and Illustrator: Jan Brett
Publisher: Putnum Juvenile
Publication Date: September 29, 1997
Format: eBook
Genre: Childrens 4+
Source: We Give Books

Beautiful illustrations.

Hedgie learns the lesson of making the best of a bad situation when he comes across a sock and after getting his head stuck in it, decides that instead of telling his barnyard friends of his misfortune, he was going to pretend how cool clothing can be.

An adorable story that you will enjoy reading over and over.

Invisible

2011-12-08T06:35:00.000-08:00

Title: Invisible
Author: Lorena McCourtney
Publisher: Fleming H. Revell
Publication Date: August 1, 2004
Format: eBook
Genre: Christian Mystery
Source: Amazon Digital Services
Series: Ivy Malone Mystery #1

When I read a book jacket I get an idea stuck in my head on what a book will be about and I decide if it will appeal to me or not. Yes, it is a form of judging a book by its cover and yes, I do plead guilty to that. When I read the basic description of Invisible by Lorena McCourtney, I got into my mind that she was literally “invisible”. I was thinking along the lines of the Bailey Ruth Series by Carolyn Hart. A series that I enjoyed but unfortunately, that is not the kind of invisible that Ivy is.

Ivy Malone is a middle aged woman (even though I have no idea what that really means since she seems to be rather fit when outrunning a junk yard dog) that has gotten to the stage in her life where she is no longer noticed by other people. With this newfound realization, she has decided it would be a perfect opportunity to investigate the death of a local woman.

There are multiple storylines going on here from cemetery vandalism, to business fraud to young love to Ivy being alone with a man, and somehow, most of them come together at the end. The story is long and drawn out in an overly simplistic and boring way that still has me wondering how I managed to finish this book.

I missed that this was a Christian fiction book before I began reading and the constant Bible references were a bit too much for my enjoyment. The characters were too boring, the plots were unrealistic and Ivy herself was not a convincing or engaging character. Guess I need more bite and less preaching in my mysteries

Waiting On Wednesday - Barnheart

2011-12-07T07:21:00.000-08:00

Hosted by Breaking the Spine

Title: Barnheart: The Incurable Longing for a Farm of One's Own
Author: Jenna Woginrich
Publisher: Storey Publishing
Publication Date: November 16, 2011
Format: Trade Paperback
Genre: Memoir

Book Description:

Whether they’re about raising chickens or herding sheep, the tales of Jenna Woginrich have caught the imagination of thousands of young homesteaders. As she learns traditional farming skills by trial and error, Woginrich records her offbeat observations and poignant moments with honesty, humility, and humor.

In BarnHeart, she lands at a small rented farm and struggles to find her place in a reserved rural community filled with working farmers who are scraping by and wealthy vacation-home owners with fancy barns that never house livestock. Although her barnheart — a term Woginrich coins to describe her state of longing for a farm of her own — never subsides, she makes do on her rented farmstead, caring for her sheep, chickens, geese, ducks, rabbits, a goat, and a turkey, until relationships sour and she’s abruptly forced to leave. Where will she and her animals go? Will she finally be able to afford the farm she’s always dreamed of?

Even when dealing with cranky neighbors, small-town politics, and the loneliness that comes with running a farm on her own, Woginrich never loses her sense of humor. Readers will recognize themselves and find inspiration in this appealing story of longing and striving for a more authentic life.

I enjoyed her previous book Made From Scratch and I look forward to reading this one as well.

First Chapter, First Paragraph - Seizure

2011-12-06T06:11:00.000-08:00

Title: Seizure
Author: Robin Cook
Narrator:George Guidall
Publisher: Putnam / Recorded Books
Publication Date: 2003
Format: Audio
Genre: Medical Thriller
Source: Library

Hosted by Diane at Bibliophile by the Sea

First Paragraph:

6:30PM, Wednesday, February 20, 2002
One Year Later

It seemed to Daniel Lowell that the taxi had senselessly pulled to a stop mid-block in the center of M Street in Georgetown, Washington D.D., a busy four-lane thoroughfare. Daniel had never liked riding in taxis. It seemed the height of ridiculousness to trust one’s life to a total stranger who more often than not hailed from a distant Third World country and frequently was more interested in talking on his cell phone than paying attention to driving. Sitting in the middle of M Street in the darkness with rush-hour taffic whizzing by on both sides and the driver carrying on emotionally in an unknown language was a case in point. Daniel glanced over at Stephanie. She appeared relaxed and smiled at him in the half-light. She gripped his hand affectionately.

Book Description:

What could bring the enigmatic Shroud of Turin, a notorious southern senator, and a gifted, vigorously entrepreneurial researcher together? Religion, politics, and bioscience collide in the latest medical thriller from the master in the field.

Senator Ashley Butler is a quintessential southern demagogue, whose support of traditional American values includes a knee-jerk reaction against virtually all biotechnologies remotely associated with human reproduction. As the chairman of a subcommittee on health policy, he introduces legislation to ban a new cloning procedure that would take stem cell research to the next level. Dr. Daniel Lowell, the inventor of the technique, sees the proposed ban as a blow to his biotech startup, and to people poised to benefit from its promised therapies.

The two formidable egos clash during the Senate hearing, but the men have a common desire. Butler's hunger for political power far outstrips his purported concern for the unborn, while Lowell's craving for personal wealth and celebrity overrides ethical considerations for patients' well-being. Further complicating the situation is the confidential news that Senator Butler has developed a progressive form of Parkinson's disease, which threatens his political future and leads the senator and the researcher into a Faustian pact. After a perilous attempt to prematurely harness Lowell's new technology, the senator is left with the horrifying effects of temporal lobe epilepsy—seizures of the most bizarre order.

With a plot torn from today's headlines, Seizure is a cautionary tale for a time when politics clashes with biotechnology, when we are pulled into a promising yet frightening new world.

Mailbox Monday - Town in a Lobster Stew

2011-12-05T06:37:00.000-08:00

Currently on a Blog Tour with a New Host Each Month

Title: Town in a Lobster Stew
Author: B. B. Haywood
Publisher: Berkley Prime Crime
Publication Date: February 1, 2011
Format: Paperback; Pgs 365
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Source: Paperback Swap
Series: Candy Holliday Mystery #2

Summary

Things start to boil over at the annual Lobster Stew Cook-Off when an award-winning recipe is stolen and a seven-time contest champion mysteriously disappears—leaving Candy no choice but to find out who in Cape Willington, Maine, would get steamed enough to break the law.

First book in the Candy Holliday Murder Mystery series was:

Town In a Blueberry Jam
In the seaside village of Cape Willington, Maine, Candy Holliday has an idyllic life tending to the Blueberry Acres farm she runs with her father. But, when an aging playboy and the newly crowned Blueberry Queen are killed, Candy investigates to clear the name of a local handyman. And as she sorts through the town’s juicy secrets, things start to get sticky indeed...

B. B. Haywood is a pseudonym of writing team Beth Feeman and Robert Feeman. They conceived the idea for the Candy Holliday mysteries while driving around the Maine countryside, stopping at different small towns throughout the state.

We Give Books

2011-12-03T06:03:00.000-08:00

Title: Goodnight iPad: a Parody for the next generation
Author: Ann Droyd
Publisher: Blue Rider Press
Publication Date: Ocober 27, 2011
Format: eBook
Genre: Childrens (4 – 7)
Source: We Give Books

It is so much fun to go back and read children’s books. The simplicity and beauty of the story and illustrations are a joy.

Goodnight iPad is a parody of the much beloved Goodnight Moon book. Those of us who have had to battle teens over shutting down their electronics and just reading a book will find the humor not only in the words, but also in the illustration. And if you look close, even the daddy is a bit troubled by having to give it all up for the evening.

A sweet fun book that you will not mind reading over and over to your young ones.

Title: The Snowy Day
Author: Ezra Jack Keats
Publisher: Viking
Publication Date: 1962
Format: eBook
Genre: Childrens 5+
Source: We Give Books

This book has been around for 50 years and still holds the magic of the first snowstorm of the season.

In its day, this was ground-breaking work in that for the first time showed a young African American child putting on his snowsuit and having a glorious adventure in the first snow of the season.

A sweet story that is as much fun now as it was when my children were young.

Title: Why Lion Roarrrs!
Author: Tiger Aspect
Publisher: Puffin
Publication Date: May 2011
Format: eBook
Genre: Childrens 5+
Source: We Give Books

Wow, this story has a tale to tell. Poor lion does not feel very big and when crocodile takes over the watering hole and starts to bully the other animals, tiny flea has to help lion discover his voice so he can help all of his friends. Beautiful illustrations and a good starting point to discuss bullying with your children.

Agatha Raisin and the Curious Curate

2011-12-02T08:30:00.000-08:00

Title: Agatha Raisin and the Curious Curate
Author: MC Beaton
Publisher: St. Martin's
Publication Date: August 5, 2004
Format: Audio
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Source: Library
Series:Agatha Raisin #13

For me, the actual murder in the Agatha Raisin books is secondary to the ongoing of the characters involved. With each book you pick up, Agatha finds herself embroiled in another domestic situation, with it being either her missing almost ex-husband James, the new neighbor – which is always an attractive man, Bill Wong – her favorite policeman, or my favorite Mrs. Bloxby. A perfect counterbalance to Agatha, who always keeps things in perspective and possesses the perfect words of wisdom that Agatha needs to hear even if she does not want to.

Since all the Agatha books involve a murder, The Case of the Curious Curate begins with the arrival of a very attractive man - the golden haired Curate Tristan Delon. Though initially beguiled, Agatha starts to wonder if the young man is too good to be true, that is until he is found dead in the Vicar’s study and Agatha must unsnarl the goings on to help her friends the Bloxby’s.

At first blush you would not think that the village of Carsely would be capable to such evildoings, but as the bodies start to pile up. Not only does Agatha needs to dig deeper into this murder to find the killer, but also to prevent further wrong doings and to make sure that the right person is behind bars.

I truly enjoy this series, Agatha to grow on you. She can be the pushiest most annoying character that you run across, but deep down the woman cares for those around her, she just has a harsh and pushy way of showing it.

Start at the beginning and watch Agatha grow as a woman but also as a friend. Under all the gruffness, she is very charming.

A Novel Challenge 2012

2011-12-01T05:43:00.000-08:00

Last year I had decided that I was going to take a break from challenges. The stress of reading a book only because it fit into a certain category was just plain silly so I backed away and read more for pleasure.

It has been a nice year. I have added more movie watching and finally have a grasp on blogging.

For 2012, I have decided to get back into reading challenges – which I know I am going to go overboard on, that is just my nature when it comes to book challenges. The one change I will personally make is to allow overlapping of categories / challenges. In the past, I was a stickler for only one category per book. Once again, that was silly and took a great deal of fun out of the whole experience.
I have added tabs in my heading line for the challenges that I will be participating in.

Please stop by A Novel Challenge and check out the ever-growing list of challenges and MeMe’s that you too can participate in.

Waiting on Wednesday - Triple Shot

2011-11-30T06:26:00.000-08:00

Hosted by Breaking the Spine

Title: Triple Shot
Author: Sandra Balzo
Publisher: Severn House Publishers
Publication Date: December 1, 2011
Format: Hardcover
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Series: Maggy Thorson #7

Plot:

There’s a chill in the Wisconsin air, and it's a shot in the arm – a triple espresso shot – to Uncommon Grounds, the Brookhills coffeehouse owned by Maggy Thorsen and real estate maven Sarah Kingston. Their new autumn drink is a huge success. But two estate agents have died lately, and Sarah herself is under investigation for irregularities at her job. Then a stench begins to percolate through the coffeehouse, and soon it’s clear that corpses – like other bad things – do indeed come in threes . . .

I have not gotten this far yet in the series, but I am glad too see that they are continuing

First Chapter First Paragraph - Invisible

2011-11-29T06:27:00.000-08:00

First Paragraph:

The sign arched over the gravel driveway proclaimed “Country Peace” in rusty wrought iron. Beyond the sign, the havoc in the cemetery challenged that claim of serenity.

The weathered gravestone of one Emil Riptone lay at the edge of the road, lump of concrete clinging to its base. Beyond it, another fallen headstone had split in two, creating an irreparable rift between William and Bertha Bartholomew. Across the weedy hillside, I could see at least three other uprooted grave markers.

Book Description:

She's not your average crime fighter! Ivy Malone has a curiosity that sometimes gets her into trouble, and it's only aggravated by her discovery that she can easily escape the public eye. So when vandals romp through the local cemetery, she takes advantage of her newfound anonymity and its unforeseen advantages as she launches her own unofficial investigation. Despite her oddball humor and unconventional snooping, Ivy soon becomes discouraged by her failure to turn up any solid clues. And after Ivy witnesses something ominous and unexplained, she can't resist putting her investigative powers to work again. Even the authorities' attempts to keep Ivy out of danger and her nosy neighbor's match-making schemes can't slow her down. But will the determination that fuels this persistent, quirky sleuth threaten her very safety?

Mailbox Monday - Angelina's Bachelors

2011-11-28T05:56:00.000-08:00

Currently on a Blog Tour with a New Host Each Month

Title: Angelina's Bachelors
Author: Brian O'Reilly
Publisher: Gallery Books
Publication Date: August 9, 2011
Format: Trade Paperback; Pgs 384
Genre: Fiction
Source: Simon and Schuster

Summary

When Angelina’s husband suddenly dies of a heart attack, she is devastated. When she loses her job a few days later, she’s in real trouble. To escape her worries, she dives into the thing that has always brought her comfort—cooking. As a young woman, she had planned on culinary school, but her mother’s, and then father’s, terminal illnesses rerouted her dreams. Still, she’s a world-class amateur and treats her close-knit South Philly neighborhood to the results of her recent grief. One fan is Basil Cupertino, neighbor Dottie’s retired brother, who’s recently moved in. Basil—escaping his sister’s almost deadly cooking—makes Angelina a proposition: He will pay her handsomely for breakfast and dinner six days a week. Trying to hold poverty and depression at bay, Angelina agrees. Word spreads through the neighborhood, and soon Basil and Dottie’s handsome nephew Guy (escaping the seminary) joins in, as does young Johnny from across the street, the discerning Mr. Pettibone, the elderly Don Eddie and his driver Big Phil, and Jerry, who’s known Angelina forever. Her bachelors are treated to exquisite fare, and also company—the motley crew make a companionable dinner club in Angelina’s home. One night, feeling tired and faint, Angelina gets bittersweet news: After years of trying, she is four months pregnant. The thought of raising a child alone is terrifying, but the bachelors help out, and soon Angelina’s grief is replaced with the somber joy that her husband will live on. There are some mishaps along the way, including the city trying to shut her down, but Angelina triumphs when her long-lost dream of owning a restaurant becomes a reality.

Sunday At The Movies - Breaking Dawn

2011-11-27T06:00:00.000-08:00

Taylor Lautner ... Jacob Black
Gil Birmingham ... Billy
Billy Burke ... Charlie Swan
Kristen Stewart ... Bella Swan
Ashley Greene ... Alice Cullen
Jackson Rathbone ... Jasper Hale
Peter Facinelli ... Dr. Carlisle Cullen
Elizabeth Reaser ... Esme Cullen
Kellan Lutz ... Emmett Cullen
Nikki Reed ... Rosalie Hale
Robert Pattinson ... Edward Cullen

I was a bit apprehensive when it came to seeing this movie. I never read past book number 3 due to Bella’s incessant whining, so the idea of seeing this movie was hovering somewhere at the bottom of my to-do list.

To my relief I enjoyed this film, it was surprisingly funny and the intensity of some of the scenes had you staring slack jawed at the screen. From what I can tell, no extra fluff was included and the story flowed very well from start to finish without me having to constantly ask what was going on. Too many writers and directors assume that the audience is made up of diehard fans and skip too many vital parts, glad to see that this time was different. Well, if parts were skipped that is fine, because what I saw worked.

Having not read the book, I had no idea what to expect in this show. Not sure how much to reveal here since any plot points will be a movie giveaway, all I can say is that the special effects people are geniuses. The visuals that they were able to accomplish are stunning and to my utter amazement, the flow was steady and at no time did I check my watch to see how much longer I had to sit there.

The end, well, that was perfect. Just enough to make you anticipate the next and final installment of the Twilight series.

Countdown to Christmas Week 6

2011-11-26T06:19:00.000-08:00

The Abandoned

2011-11-25T06:37:00.000-08:00

Title: The Abandoned
Author: Amanda Stevens
Publisher: Mira
Publication Date: April 1, 2011
Format: eBook
Genre: Paranormal
Source: NetGalley
Series: The Graveyard Queen (prequel)

Let us just say that it is a good thing I had read book number two - or is it book number one if you do not count the prequel, I always get confused when authors do this - or I would have never continued with this series.

The Abandoned comes across more of an outline for a book then an actually novel, with no real catch or lure.

Ree Hutchins is a graduate student working in a psychiatric hospital on the evening of the death of Violet Tisdal, one of their longest residing patients. Ree is curious about this woman and on the chance of returning files to the “dungeon”, Ree snoops out her patient’s records only to be attacked by an unknown assailant, a person who is determined to keep Violet’s past a secret.

Being a paranormal novel, you know that the spooky factor has to come in to play, so one evening Ree finds herself half-undressed in a cemetery in front of Hayden, a moonlighting ghost hunter. She has no idea how she got there, but was it possible that the spirit of Violet or Ilsa, Violet’s mother, entered her and was now using Ree to exact revenge.

See how convoluted this tale is? The storylines are not developed and you are left wondering, “what am I missing, what am I not being told about the past”. Sudden character comments are made and you find yourself going back a couple of pages, trying to figure out what you missed only to realize that it was never there in the first place.

My advice, skip this book and start with The Restorer you will like that installment much better.

Lucky Stiff

2011-11-24T05:54:00.000-08:00

Title: Lucky Stiff
Author: Deborah Coonts
Publisher: Forge Books
Publication Date: February 15, 2011
Format: Audio
Genre: Mystery
Source: Library
Series: Lucky O'Toole #2

When listening to the audio version, you have to separate the storyline from the narrator. Bless Renee Raudman’s heart for attempting all the different accents, but the poor girl cannot keep them straight. Her Australian accents falls into to Midwest cowboy and what I think is a Hispanic cab driver slowly turns into a something that sounds more Asian. It got to the point that every time an accent would come up I would be more in tuned with how it would be butchered then with the actual words that were being said.

Once you are pasted that, I do like this series. Deborah Coonts has a way of naming her characters that have you chuckling at her creativity; it appears that very few have a normal name, which I guess is ok since this is Las Vegas.

Just another day for Lucky O’Toole, head of customer relations at a Las Vegas strip mega hotel. A truck carrying bees has had an accident and thousand of those pesky things are now attempting to descend on the tourist downtown. A district attorney with a beast of a wife is trying to CYA – literally. Then there is Numbers Neidemeyer (love that name) who has an unexpected death in a shark fish tank and the Beautiful Jeremy Whitlock is standing accused of her murder.

With a few more distractions thrown in, Lucky has to hold it all together and work on her personal life, keep her staff in line, keep the working girls out of the bathroom stalls, head off her mother’s next ill reasoned adventure, help a heavyweight fighter through his last bout and remember where she left the Ferrari .

As I said, all in a day’s work.

I do like this series, the storylines are fun and the things that Lucky gets herself into are very entertaining. If the accents do not bother you, check out the audio, but if that would be a distraction, definitely pick up the book. It is a fun series to follow.

Waiting on Wednesday

2011-11-23T06:04:00.000-08:00

Hosted by Breaking the Spine

Title: The Immortalist
Author: Kyle Mills
Publisher: Thomas & Mercer
Publication Date: December 6, 2011
Format: Hardcover
Genre: Thriller

Plot:

What would you do to save the life of your child?

It’s a question microbiologist Richard Draman thought he’d answered when he walked away from his career to focus on curing a genetic defect that is causing his daughter to age at a wildly accelerated rate. But now he and his wife Carly are being forced to come to terms with the fact that eight-year-old Susie’s time is running out. Then they receive an unexpected gift: startling new research into the fundamental secrets of life that could be the miracle they’ve been looking for.

When Richard is arrested on a trumped-up charge of having stolen the data, he takes his family and runs, seeking out a retired special-forces operative and old friend to help dig up the truth behind the controversial experiments. Determined to either save Susie’s life or die trying, the Dramans plunge into a bloody conflict between two powerful factions vying for control of a discovery that could change the face of humanity.

First Chapter First Paragraph

2011-11-22T06:24:00.000-08:00

Title: The Abandoned
Author: Amanda Stevens
Publisher: Mira
Publication Date: April 1, 2011
Format: eBook
Genre: Paranormal
Source: Amazon Digital Services
Series: Graveyard Queen (prequel)

Hosted by Diane at Bibliophile by the Sea

First Paragraph:

Ree Hutchins was dozing at the old woman’s bedside, a dog-eared copy of The Call of the Wild open on her lap, when Violet Tisdale passed away.

Exhausted from her hectic schedule, Ree had fallen asleep reading from the leather-bound edition Miss Violet always kept on her nightstand. Ree often wondered how many times the old woman had heard Buck’s story during her confinement at the Milton H. Farrante Psychiatric Hospital. She was well into her eighties and had been institutionalized for as long as anyone could remember. Other than her clothing and toiletries, the book was the only personal item in her quarters, although the inscription in the front read: To my daughter, Ilsa, on the occasion of her tenth birthday. June 3, 1915.

No doubt the tattered volume was a hand-me-down from some former staff member or another patient perhaps, because no one could remember the last time Miss Violet had a visitor.

Back Cover Summary:

When her favorite patient at a private mental hospital passes away, psychology student Ree Hutchins mourns the elderly woman’s death. But more unsettling is her growing suspicion that something unnatural is shadowing her.

Amateur ghost hunter Hayden Priest believes Ree is being haunted. Even Amelia Gray, known in Charleston as the Graveyard Queen, senses a gathering darkness. Driven by a force she doesn’t understand, Ree is compelled to uncover an old secret and put abandoned souls to rest—before she is locked away forever…

An ebook exclusive prequel to The Graveyard Queen series.

Mailbox Monday

2011-11-21T06:27:00.000-08:00

Currently on a Blog Tour with a New Host Each Month

Title: Dire Threads
Author: Janet Bolin
Publisher: Berkley
Publication Date: June 7, 2011
Format: Trade Paperback; Pgs 336
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Source: Paperback Swap
Series: Threadville Mystery #1

Summary

Willow Vanderling wants to leave her New York City life behind and has joined good friend Haylee in tour bus destination town Threadville. Nicknamed for the abundance of fiber art and fabric stores, Elderberry Bay, PA, looks like a perfect setting for Willow's new machine embroidery shop. And it is, until a powerful bully from the village is found dead in Willow's backyard, and she was the last one to wish him dead! Being the newest shopkeeper in town, Willow has no way to figure out her allies, initially. But as she and Haylee sleuth, they learn about the village's dark secrets.

Sunday at the Movies

2011-11-20T12:12:00.000-08:00

Angelina Jolie ... Christine Collins
Gattlin Griffith ... Walter Collins
Michael Kelly ... Detective Lester Ybarra
Frank Wood ... Ben Harris
John Malkovich ... Rev. Gustav Briegleb
Colm Feore ... Chief James E. Davis

No matter what you think of Angelina Jolie’s personal life, you have to admit that this woman can act. From the first scene of 1928 Los Angeles, to the final frame, I was captivated by this movie.

As single mother Christine Collins returns from work, her nine year old son Walter is missing. The police department refuses her initial call, but eventually is willing to file a missing persons report. Five months later a child is found who fits a very loose description, but Christine knows that this boy is not her son and will not give up until her Walter is located.

The corrupt police department refuses to believe her and begins to label her both a liar and a hysterical woman. Back in that day, when called hysterical, a woman would be locked up and treated to horrific conditions.

With the help of a local minister, attorney and an investigator, all points converge on a ranch where a young boy tells a shocking tale of kidnapping, abuse and murder.

There are a few continuity inconsistencies in the movie, but that should not take away from the story that this movie tell.

The Changling, in part, is based off the true story of the Wineville Chicken Coop Murders.

If you are interested in the full background story, please check out the Wiki page on this time Los Angeles history. A fascinating read.

Countdown to Christmas Week 5

2011-11-19T06:18:00.000-08:00

The Boy in the Suitcase

2011-11-18T09:45:00.000-08:00

Title: The Boy in the Suitcase
Author: Lene Kaaberbol and Agnete Friis
Publisher: Soho Crime
Publication Date: November 8, 2011
Format: Trade Paperback, 313 pgs
Genre: Mystery
Source: Library

From start to finish, the only word that I could use to describe this book is intense. From the first paragraph, you are drawn into the life of Nina Borg as she enters a station to retrieve a package for a friend and comes away with a young boy who has been drugged and lying near lifeless in a suitcase.

No, that is not giving away too much since that is pretty much the title of the book, but what the title does not tell you is what got us to this point. Is there more to this story than the obvious dark side of human kind.

Nina Borg is not your usual protagonist, she has some dark secrets of her own and only in future books, do I think, you will see more of what and who she is. Obsessed with her work as a Danish Red Cross nurse and helping immigrant refugees, Nina has seen the good and the bad in people and carries all of their scars; but what Nina finds in the train station locker will spin her world.

There are many storylines going on and the reader is pulled from one to the other knowing that they will all come to a climatic ending. But what ending will it be – as a mother searches for her missing son, a nurse trying to find where a child belongs, and a wealthy man who has set this whole nightmare in motion.

Kaaberbol and Friis know how to bring an intense book to a climatic end. The reader is left with only one thought, “Wow”. Riveting and entertaining, this book is a proposed first in a series and I certainly hope that the future storylines will captivate me as this one has.

Sauvignon Secret

2011-11-17T14:22:00.000-08:00

Title: Sauvignon Secret
Author: Ellen Crosby
Publisher: Scribner
Publication Date: August 16, 2011
Format: Audio
Genre: Mystery
Source: Library
Series: Wine Country Mystery #6

If rumors are true, this is the last in the Lucie Montgomery wine making series by Ellen Crosby. Apparently, she has deciding to branch off in a new direction, which I find disappointing, since this is one of my favorite series and I hate to see them go. When you are six books into a series, the characters begin to feel more like friends, then actual words in a book.

"I didn’t want to kill Paul Noble. Yes, I said I did. Worse, I said it in a public place. In my defense, half a dozen people at that same meeting chimed in. “Get in line” or “join the club” or “you and me both. It was a figure of speech, and everyone in the room—twenty-five northern Virginia winemakers like me—knew it."

Lucie Montgomery is left rethinking her words when she finds the body of Paul Noble, a local wine merchant, hanging from a beam in an apparent suicide with a bottle of Montgomery Vineyards wine tipped over underneath him. This is so not going to be a good day and as the story of Paul’s past comes to the forefront; Lucie slowly unravels the cover-up of classified government research, murders and other secrets that might have been better left buried.

Branching out from the usual Virginia landscape, Lucie and her grandfather travel to San Francisco, Napa and Sonoma as they uncover the clues to this murder mystery. Quinn Santori reappears, but as Lucie and her self-confidence grow, she and Quinn must decide if they have a future together. Do they have enough to keep them together or is it time to go their separate ways.

I guess we will have to see what Ms Crosby’s decision will be concerning this series, but I do hope that she will give us a new book from time to time and we can keep connected to the vineyard and the people of Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains.

Waiting On Wednesday

2011-11-16T05:30:00.000-08:00

Hosted by Breaking the Spine

Title: Best Friends, Occasional Enemies: The Lighter Side of Life as a Mother and Daughter
Author: Lisa Scottoline (Author), Francesca Serritella (Author),
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Publication Date: November 22, 2011
Format: Hardcover, 288 pages
Genre: Humor / Semi Biographical

Book Description:

New York Times bestselling author Lisa Scottoline and her daughter Francesca Serritella are the best of friends—99.9% of the time. They’re number one on each other’s speed dial and they tell each other everything—well, almost everything. They share shoes and clothes—except one very special green jacket, which almost caused a catfight.

In other words, they’re just like every mother and daughter in the world. Best friends, and occasional enemies. Now they’re dishing about it all—their lives, their relationship, and their carb count.

Inspired by their weekly column, “Chick Wit” for The Philadelphia Inquirer, this book is one you’ll have to put down—just to stop laughing.

Lisa on Being a Mom - Motherhood has no expiration date. Francesca lives in the city, and I worry about her all the time. My daughter moved out, so why am I still lactating?

Francesca on Being a Daughter - My mother is always right. Just ask her.

Lisa on Things Every Daughter Should Know - Your mother is always thinking about you, but that’s not creepy. Your mother will never forget who did you dirty in the sixth grade, for which you can thank her. And your mother will never stop asking you if you need to go to the bathroom, before you leave the house. Well, do you?

Francesca on Closet Wars - My mom is a great dresser. Mostly because she’s wearing my clothes.

Lisa on Aging Gracefully - My sex drive is in reverse, I have more whiskers than my cat, and my estrogen replacement is tequila.

Francesca on Apartment Living - When I saw a mouse, the first person I called was Mom. She told me to call my super, but I felt bad bothering him. I hate to bother people. But I love to bother my mother.

First Chapter First Paragraph

2011-11-15T05:51:00.000-08:00

Title: Hunger Games
Author: Suzanne Collins
Publisher: Scholastic
Publication Date: September 14, 2008
Format: Trade Paperback
Genre: YA - Science Fiction
Source: Purchase
Series: Hunger Games #1

Hosted by Diane at Bibliophile by the Sea

First Paragraph:

When I wake up, the other side of the bed is cold. My fingers stretch out, seeking Prim's warmth but finding only the rough canvas cover of the mattress. She must have had bad dreams and climbed in with our mother. Of course, she did. This is the day of the reaping.

Summary:

In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. Long ago the districts waged war on the Capitol and were defeated. As part of the surrender terms, each district agreed to send one boy and one girl to appear in an annual televised event called, "The Hunger Games," a fight to the death on live TV. Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives alone with her mother and younger sister, regards it as a death sentence when she is forced to represent her district in the Games. The terrain, rules, and level of audience participation may change but one thing is constant: kill or be killed.

Mailbox Monday

2011-11-14T05:50:00.000-08:00

Currently on a Blog Tour with a New Host Each Month

Title: Blood of the Prodigal
Author: P.L. Gaus
Publisher: Plume
Publication Date: September 28, 2011 (reprint)
Format: Trade Paperback; Pgs 256
Genre: Mystery
Source: Paperback Swap
Series: Ohio Amish Mystery #1

Summary

When an Amish boy is kidnapped, a bishop, fearful for the safety of his followers, plunges three outsiders into the traditionally closed society of the `Plain Ones'. In the Old Order Amish communities of Ohio's Holmes County, it is rare for one of the self-styled `plain' people to seek aid from an outsider, one of `the English.' But Bishop Eli Miller needs help and finds it in a local academic, Michael Brandon. Murder, suspicion and seclusion abound in the first novel in a brand new crime series set in Amish country.

Sunday At The Movies

2011-11-13T06:00:00.000-08:00

Denzel Washington ... Melvin B. Tolson
Nate Parker ... Henry Lowe
Jurnee Smollett ... Samantha Booke
Denzel Whitaker ... James Farmer Jr.
Forest Whitaker ... Dr. James Farmer Sr.

I almost gave up on this movie. About one-third of the way through and I was bored senseless. There seemed to be no forward movement and the acting felt stagnant. I knew that Denzel Washington couldn’t let me down in this way and Jurnee Smollett is just too captivating of an actress to not keep my attention, so I decided to give it a little bit more time.

Once we hit the halfway point I was hooked, I do not know for sure what happened, but the storyline started to evolve and I was becoming more attached to the characters and the story they were telling.

Based on the true story of Melvin B. Tolson, a professor at Wiley College in Marshall, Texas, who inspired his students to form the school’s first debate team. Not just any debate team, but a team from a small rural all-African-American college during the height of the depression. A team that would one day take on the likes of Harvard in the national championship and would go on to record one of the greatest debate records of their time.

I do not know if this movie will appeal to all, but if you stick with it and watch the extra footage at the end of the DVD, you will get a completely new appreciation of the people and the times. This was an extraordinary group of young people and to see what they have achieved since is in itself remarkable.

Countdown to Christmas Week 4

2011-11-12T06:01:00.000-08:00

Another Man's Moccasins

2011-11-11T06:39:00.000-08:00

Title: Another Man's Moccasins
Author: Craig Johnson
Publisher: Viking
Publication Date: May 29, 2008
Format: Audio
Genre: Mystery
Series: Walt Longmire #4
Source: Library

I do not know what has taken me so long to write this review, I finished this book almost a month ago, but still I keep putting off the review. I love this series and I enjoyed this book, but when I sit down to write, I come up completely blank as to what to say. This is one of those series where it is so well written that you do not want to do it any disservice by writing a review and risking that your words will not translate and you will inadvertently turn a reader off.

Walt and Katie are now back home in Absaroka County, Wyoming after a harrowing adventure in Philadelphia that left the Greatest Legal Mind fighting for her life and Walt reanalyzing the choices that he made while there. However, no day goes by without its challenges in their small part of the world and when the “bad things come in three’s” saying rears its ugly head, Walt is faced with reliving his war years.

When the body of a young Vietnamese woman is found along the interstate, Walt and his friend Henry Standing Bear, whom he calls the Cheyenne Nation, rehash their time in Vietnam. When an old picture of Walt is found with the dead girls belonging he must recall a case from forty years prior when he was an investigator in the Marine Corps and he realizes that ghosts don’t stay buried for long.

Told in a flashback style, the reader sees more of Walt’s story. Who he was and how he became the man that he is today. Still told with humor, honesty and un-politically correct verbage, that is a trademark of Walt Longmire, he has me both laughing and cringing at the same time. Not to say that he is offensive, but in this day and age, it is hard to find either a person or a character that actually says what they are thinking without running it through social filters first.

Please take the time to track down this series, meet Walt and his gang of wryly-funny personalities and enjoy a series that will take you on quite an adventure.

Aunt Dimity and the Family Tree

2011-11-10T06:33:00.000-08:00

Title: Aunt Dimity and the Family Tree
Author: Nancy Atherton
Publisher: Viking Adult
Publication Date: February 17, 2011
Format: Hardcover
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Series: Aunt Dimity #16
Source: Library

I love this series; it is like comfort food for me.

No matter how much Lori Shepherd says her instincts tell her something I have to giggle since her “instincts” have gotten her turned so far around, she never comes to the correct conclusion without the helpfulness of her friends and family, not to mention her dearest companion Aunt Dimity herself.

Since this is book number sixteen in the series, I recommend that you start at the beginning to find out who exactly Dimity is and how their lives are so intertwined, but I can assure you that each book is a delight and each builds on the next explaining their lives and the busybodies in the village of Finch.

Village living is never dull and Finch lives up to that saying when Willis, Sr. buys and refurbishes Fairworth House and Sally Pyne returns from her Mexican adventure with a reputation to live up to.

"There is nothing wrong with pretending to be someone else for a little while, is there?"

And off they go, the current inhabitants of Fairworthy, all trying to be someone or something that they are not. Each person has a secret and poor Willis, Sr, trying desperately to keep his wits about him and help the best doughnut maker in the area from having to leave the village out of sheer embarrassment and mortification.

Since patience is not one of Lori’s virtues, everything comes to a head one night when she decides to stake out Fairworthy in hopes of learning what is really going on with the new help that Willis, Sr has hired. In so doing, all the secrets will become known and a new pact of friendship and respect can be forged. That is until the next round of gossip and backbiting can begin. This is Finch after all, where they look out for each other, ok some might calling is snooping, but deep down they all have good hearts and an understanding of what a community is.

"You have to stand up to the busybodies or your life will never be your own.”

Though she does not appear until the end of the book, I sure hope Aunt Augusta returns in future storylines. She was my favorite and had me laughing out loud and I really think that she could add quite a bit of spunk to the life of Willis, Sr. I loved her self-depreciating humor.

Waiting On Wednesday

2011-11-09T06:15:00.000-08:00

Hosted by Breaking the Spine

Title: Gabby: A Story of Courage and Hope
Author: Gabrielle Giffords (Author), Mark Kelly (Author), Jeffrey Zaslow (Contributor)
Publisher: Scribner
Publication Date: November 15, 2011
Format: Hardcover, 320 pages
Genre: Biography

Synopsis:

From one of the most admired and beloved couples in recent American history, an extraordinarily moving story of public service, risk-taking, romance—and the journey toward recovery. This book delivers hope and redemption in the face of the tragic shooting, and introduces two unforgettable heroes.

About the Authors

A third generation Arizonan, Gabrielle Giffords has represented Arizona's 8th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives since 2007. She serves on the Armed Services Committee and is the Ranking Member of the Science Committee's Space and Aeronautics Subcommittee. A graduate of Scripps College, she has a Masters degree from Cornell University. She was a Fulbright Scholar in Mexico and a fellow at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government.

Mark Kelly was a Captain in the United States Navy when he commanded the final mission of Space Shuttle Endeavour in May of 2011. A veteran of four space flights to the International Space Station he is a graduate of the United States Merchant Marine Academy and holds a masters degree from the U.S. Naval Post Graduate School. As a naval aviator he flew 39 combat missions in Operation Desert Storm in 1991.

Wall Street Journal columnist Jeffrey Zaslow was the coauthor, with Randy Pausch, of The Last Lecture, the #1 New York Times bestseller now translated into forty-eight languages. His other bestsellers include The Girls from Ames, and as coauthor, Highest Duty, with Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger.

First Paragraph First Chapter

2011-11-08T06:04:00.000-08:00

Title: The Boy in the Suitcase
Author: Lene Kaaberbol and Agnete Friis
Publisher: Random House
Publication Date: November 8, 2011
Format: ARC
Genre: Mystery
Source: Library
Series: Nina Borg Mysteries #1

Hosted by Diane at Bibliophile by the Sea

First Paragraph:

The house sat on the brink of a cliff, with an unhindered view of the bay. Jan knew perfectly well what the locals called it: the Fortress. But that was not why he looked at the whitewalls with a vague sense of dissatisfaction. The locals could think what they liked; they weren’t the ones who mattered.

Summary:

Nina Borg, a Red Cross nurse, wife, and mother of two, is a compulsive do-gooder who can't say no when someone asks for help—even when she knows better. When her estranged friend Karin leaves her a key to a public locker in the Copenhagen train station, Nina gets suckered into her most dangerous project yet. Inside the locker is a suitcase, and inside the suitcase is a three-year-old boy: naked and drugged, but alive.

Is the boy a victim of child trafficking? Can he be turned over to authorities, or will they only return him to whoever sold him? When Karin is discovered brutally murdered, Nina realizes that her life and the boy's are in jeopardy, too. In an increasingly desperate trek across Denmark, Nina tries to figure out who the boy is, where he belongs, and who exactly is trying to hunt him down.

Now I have to admit that this first paragraph isn't too exciting, but this book has drawn me in from the first chapter. Reminiscent of Elly Griffith's Ruth Galloway Series.

Mailbox Monday

2011-11-07T06:36:00.000-08:00

Currently on a Blog Tour with a New Host Each Month

Title: The Time In Between
Author: María Dueñas
Publisher: Atria Books
Publication Date: November 8, 2011
Format: Hardcover; Pgs 624
Genre: Historical Fiction
Source: Simon and Schuster Advisory Board

Description

Between Youth and Adulthood . . . At age twelve, Sira Quiroga sweeps the atelier floors where her single mother works as a seamstress. At fourteen, she quietly begins her own apprenticeship. By her early twenties she has learned the ropes of the business and is engaged to a modest government clerk. But everything changes when two charismatic men burst unexpectedly into her neatly mapped-out life: an attractive salesman and the father she never knew.

Between War and Peace . . . With the Spanish Civil War brewing in Madrid, Sira leaves her mother and her fiancé, impetuously following her handsome lover to Morocco. However, she soon finds herself abandoned, penniless, and heartbroken in an exotic land. Among the odd collection of European expatriates trapped there by the worsening political situation back on the Continent, Sira reinvents herself by turning to the one skill that can save her: her gift for creating beautiful clothes.

Between Love and Duty . . .As England, Germany, and the other great powers launch into the dire conflict of World War II, Sira is persuaded to return to Madrid, where she takes on a new identity to embark upon the most dangerous undertaking of her career. As the preeminent couturier for an eager clientele of Nazi officers’ wives, Sira becomes embroiled in the half-lit world of espionage and political conspiracy rife with love, intrigue, and betrayal.

Opinion:

This book fascinates me. I do not usually read this historical time frame. But just possibly, I will be picking this one up soon.

Sunday at the Movies

2011-11-06T06:32:00.000-08:00

James Van Der Beek ..... Seth Webster
Mrs. Merkle ............ Doris Roberts
Reba Maxwell ........... Erin Karpluk

This is one of those endearing holiday movies that I love watching each year. Seth Webster is a widowed father trying to raise his twin sons. Mrs. Merkle comes to the rescue when the most recent nanny leave, but Mrs. Merkle is no ordinary nanny. She is a heavenly emissary and her job will not be done until Seth opens his heart and allow himself to greive his wife’s death and to allow a new love into his heart and home.

Mrs. Miracle ............ Doris Roberts
Jewel Staite ............ Holly
Eric Johnson ............ Jake

Holly is a single aunt responsible for her nephew while her brother is deployed overseas. As if this is not overwhelming enough, she must also contend with a demanding boss and a career that is not going exactly as planned.

Jake the heir apparent of Finley’s department store has also hit a career crisis, trying to convince his father that stocking their store with traditional toys would be a better move.

Enter Mrs. Merkle also known as Mrs. Miracle who uses her own brand of heavenly influence to bring these individuals together for a classic heartwarming Christmas.

Told in the typical Debbie Macomber style of happily ever after, bringing family and home together, these two movies make for a wonderful snowy afternoon movie marathon day.

Countdown to Christmas Catch Up Week

2011-11-05T06:20:00.000-07:00

Please visit The Organized Home. This site is designed to help the procrastinator in me get ready for the holidays.

I highly suggest that you check out their homepage and sign up for a weekly reminder. I will only be posting here the items that will fit with my life and home, but there are many more ideas at suggestions at their site.

No matter how hard we try, there are just sometimes that we fall behind, so this week, we are going to working on those pesky little parts that we let slide by.

Week 1: Planning and Calendars and Lists

•Calendar. Add important get together dates.

•Start a master gift list. Not only the people you are buying for, but to help keep track of what you bought and what you spent.

•Begin a Christmas card list. Locate addresses, and consider making a computerized Christmas card address list for maximum time savings.

•If you are a list maker, search out a house cleaning list. This will help you to keep everything clean and ready for the holiday.

•Will your family travel this holiday season? Make travel plans and reservations this week.

•Will you host houseguests this year? Make arrangements for any overnight guests.

•Declutter tabletops and public rooms before you decorate.

•If you haven't done so already, decorate for Halloween or Harvest celebrations

Week 2: Reality Check. Organizing and Prepping Week

• If you are decorating for Thanksgiving. Look over these items and make decisions as to what you want to put out and what can be donated to other organizations for their holiday decorating.

• Divide the Christmas card list into five groups. Write and address one group this week.

• Make a holiday budget. Set a comfortable level of holiday spending.

• Divide entries into five groups. Begin shopping for Christmas gifts, and try to buy one-fifth of the gifts this week.

• Set up a housework plan. A little bit every weeks makes it whole process possible.

• Grocery shopping list. Time to start thinking about the meal plan and what ingredients you will need to purchase. Start looking around for sales and coupons.

• Do you need a special outfit for a special occasion? Check what you have and what you will need.

• Do you need anything special for your holiday table? Will you be traveling to a potluck and need a special serving dish?

• It’s never too early to think wrapping paper and mailing boxes. Check what you have leftover from last year and see what you need to pick up. Don’t forget the tape. Every year I run out sooner than I think.

Week 3: Gifts and Giving Week! It's the time to focus on gift lists, gift buying and gift wrapping.

• Observe Time Change Sunday. Check smoke detectors and assess your household's emergency plan.

• Divide the Christmas card list into five groups. Write and address the second group this week.

• Review and renegotiate adult gift giving. Can you simplify your family's "unwritten rules? Draw names and set a price limit for a gift exchange. Could your family dispense with adult gifts in favor of gifts to charity or family service project?

• Divide entries on your gift list into five groups. Continue shopping for Christmas gifts, and try to buy one-fifth of the gifts this week.

• To ensure delivery, finish all catalog and online shopping.

• Designate a special envelope for all receipts.

• Will you be making gifts this year? What can you "practically" get done in time? Now cut that list in half. You don't have as much time as you think.

• Plan Thanksgiving Dinner. Order the turkey.

• Review your holiday budget.

• Gift wrapping and supplies ready?

• If you need a babysitter during the holiday, make arrangements now.

• Start a stocking stuffers list.

Northanger Abbey

2011-11-03T05:54:00.000-07:00

Title: Northanger Abbey
Author: Jane Austin
Format: Audio
Genre: Fiction
Source: Library

To be honest I have never read a Jane Austin book prior to this and from the beginning, I found myself trying to play catch up. I vaguely connected with the characters and the overall plotline but as the story slowly progressed, all the little parts seemed to somewhat come together. Unfortunately, I did find my head wandering off until I came to a funny expression or banter and my head would be whipped back into place hoping to find another something that would keep me engaged in this storyline. Maybe I am just dense and needed to watch the Masterpiece Theatre version to get the visual that was not fully drawn for me with the audio.

Ok, from what I got, Catherine Morland was rather nondescript. She was not pretty nor plan, was not rich nor poor, she was just there, very middle class by our current stands which I think was my first problem since I was trying to relate to her in modern day circumstances when in fact this book was written about 200 years ago.

At the age of 17, Catherine is invited to Bath for the waters by her neighbors the Allen’s. Once there, she meets the Thorpe’s and the Tilney’s and this seems to be where all the problems start. Triangles and romances seem to abound and once again, this is where I began to wander. How to keep the who’s and the what’s straight was a bit vexing.

From digging a little deeper, I come to find out that this was Ms. Austen’s jab at the norms of the day. Well, ok, but I was still lost. Maybe after reading some of her other works I could come back to this one and appreciate it more, but to tell you the truth, that just seems like too much work.

The character interaction was just too lackluster and the wittiness was too sparse for me to keep fully engaged. I know that this author’s work appeals to a wide audience, I just do not happen to be her target audience.