Ollie's World of Books

Blind Spot by Judy Mercer

2012-01-17T19:26:00.002-05:00

Started: 12/6/11
Finished: 1/17/12
Year: 2000
Pages: 449
Genre: Mystery/thriller
Grade: B
Reason for reading: grabbed off the TBR pile
Blurb (from back cover): "Good news doesn't come at 4 am. The call that comes in the predawn stillness of a warm Los Angeles night shocks Ariel Gold awake. A friend has been blinded. The assault on Laya is brutal, the result tragic, the method insidious. The LAPD thinks it's a case of product tampering, with the 'unlucky' Laya a random victim. Ariel's not so sure. As a correspondent fo the TV newsmagazine Open File, she is in a unique position to satisfy her doubts. As a friend, she won't quit until she has. But the claims of friendship, Ariel soon finds out, can prove complicated-and dangerous..."
Opinion: An enjoyable and exciting read.

Threadbare by Monica Ferris

2011-12-06T19:19:00.002-05:00

Started: 11/15/11
Finished: 12/6/11
Year: 2011
Pages: 260
Genre: Mystery
Grade: B+
Reason for reading: Review for MyShelf.com
Blurb (from book jacket): "When a homeless woman is found dead on the shore of Lake Minnetonka, she's wearing something that holds the key to her identity but also opens up a mystery. Embroidered on her blouse is her will, in which she bequeaths everything she owns to Emily Hame, her neice-a member of the Monday Bunch at Betsy Devonshire's Crewel World needlework shop!
"Emily's aunt is, in fact, the second homeless wooman to be found dead under mysterious circumstances. Is someone targeting the homeless in Excelsior, Minnesota? Or is her aunt's death related to what turns out to be a sizable inheritance, thought with some bizarre conditions?
"It's all too much for Emily, who seeks the help of her good friend and fellow needlecrafter Betsy to discover the common thread between the deaths-and to determine if a murderer may strike again..."
Opinion: A pretty good mystery with a predictable suspect. For a more complete review, please check out MyShelf.com

Suffer the Children by John Saul

2011-08-29T13:48:00.003-04:00

Started: 7/23/11
Finished: 8/29/11
Year: 1977
Pages: 378
Genre: Horror
Grade: B
Reason for reading: grabbed off the TBR shelf
Blurb(from back cover): "One hundred years ago in Port Arbello a pretty little girl began to scream. And struggle. And die. Non one heard. No one saw. Just one man whose guilty heart burst in pain as he dashed himself to death in the sea...
"Now something peculiar is happening in Port Arbello. The children are disappearing, one by one. An evil history is repeating itself. And one strange, terrified child has ended her silence with a scream that began a hundred years ago."
Opinion: Pretty good horror book.

Candyfreak by Steve Almond

2011-07-25T11:05:00.002-04:00

Started: 7/18/11
Finished: 7/23/11
Year: 2004
Pages: 266
Genre: Non fiction
Grade: B+
Reason for reading: grabbed off the TBR shelf
Blurb: Steve Almond has a fascination of candy and goes to several different local chocolate companies around the United States.
Opinion: Another person after my own heart. A fun and enjoyable read

Bad Blood: The Shocking True Story Behind the Menendez Killings

2011-07-20T10:25:00.002-04:00

Started: 7/8/11
Finished: 7/18/11
Year: 1994
Pages: 256
Genre: True Crime
Grade: B
Reason for reading: Grabbed off the TBR shelf
Blurb: The court case of the Menendez brothers who were acquitted of killing their parents.
Opinion: Spoiled brats got away with murder is my take on the situation. Not quite sure how the juries for both were dead locked but that's the story.

The Black Echo by Michael Connelly

2011-07-08T14:41:00.002-04:00

Started: 5/15/11
Finished: 7/8/11
Year: 1992
Pages: 412
Genre: Mystery
Reason for reading: TBR pile
Blurb (from back cover): "For LAPD homicide cop Harry Bosch-hero, maverick, nighthawk-the body in the drainpipe at Mulholland Dam is more than another anonymous statistic. This one is personal.
"The dead man, Billy Meadows, was a fellow Vietnam 'tunnel rat' who fought side by side with him in a nightmare underground war that brought them to the depths of hell. Now, Bosch is about to relive the horror of Nam. From a dangerous maze of blind alleys to a daring criminal heist beneath the city to the torturous link that must be uncovered, his survival instinct will once again be tested to their limit.
"Joining with an enigmatic an seductive female FBI agent, pitted against enemies inside his own department, Bosch must make the agonizing choice between justice and vengeance, as he tracks down a killer whose true face will shock him."
Opinion: Another great book by Connelly. Just wish I had the time to read more.

Lake News by Barbara Delinsky

2011-05-15T18:11:00.003-04:00

Started: 4/27/11
Finished: 5/14/11
Year: 1999
Pages: 514
Genre: Literature
Grade: A-
Reason for reading: grabbed from TBR shelf
Blurb (from back cover): "After an unscrupulous reported falsely accuses Boston lounge singer Lily Blake of having an affair with a newly appointed Cardinal, she's hounded by the press, fired from her job, and robbed of all public freedom. The humiliation and violation of privacy leaves her no choice but to retreat to her rural hometown of Lake Henry, New Hampshire.
"In search of refuge, Lily forms an uneasy alliance with John Kipling, a former Boston reporter with trust issues of his own. Now editing Lake Henry's local newspaper, John cannot ignore Lily's appeal or her plight-even at the risk of taking on his former colleagues.
"Surprising and deeply satisfying, Lake News offers an intimate look at the complex relationship between an enigmatic man and a vulnerable woman, both struggling to find a new sense of cummunity in a strange place they once called home."
Opinion: I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. Simple and delightful read.

Driven to Kill by Cliff Linedecker

2011-04-21T09:17:00.002-04:00

Started: 4/13/11
Finished: 4/16/11
Year: 2003
Pages: 253
Genre: True Crime
Grade: B
Reason for reading: grabbed from TBR shelf
Blurb (from back cover): "'David, look what you made me do!' screamed Clara Harris as she held her dying husband's crushed body in her arms only minutes after running him over three times with her Mercedes. The mother of twin toddlers had been a hugely successful dentist, businesswoman and former beauty queen-but none of that was enough for David Harris, who carried on a blatant and torrid affair with his sexy receptionist, Gail Bridges. Pushed to the breaking point, Clara finally snapped. Driven to Kill puts you behind the wheel with never-before-revealed details of this murder by motor vehicle that gripped all of America-and like a real-life Greek tragedy, left no one.
Opinion: An average sensational true crime book. Guess all should be forewarned before they go cheating on a spouse.

The Bone Thief by Jefferson Bass

2011-04-21T08:50:00.004-04:00

Started: 3/25/11
Finished: 4/13/11
Year: 2010
Pages: 359
Genre: Thriller
Grade: A
Reason for reading: grabbed from TBR shelf, bought on a recent trip to DC
Blurb (from book jacket): "Dr. Bill Brockton has been called in on a seemingly routine case, to exhume a body and obtain a bone sample for a DNA paternity test. But when the coffin is opened, Brockton and his colleagues, including his graduate assistant Miranda Lovelady, are stunned to see that the corpse has been horribly violated.
"Brockton's initial shock gives way to astonishment as he uncovers a flourishing and lucrative black market in body parts. At the center of this ghoulish empire is a daring and prosperous grave robber. Soon Brockton finds himself drawn into the dangerous enterprise when the FBI recruits him to bring down the postmortem chop shop-using corpses from the Body Farm as bait in an undercover sting operation.
"As Brockton struggles to play the unscrupulous role the FBI asks of him, his friend and colleague medical examiner Eddie Garcia faces a devastating injury that could end his career. Exposed to a near-lethal dose of radioactivity, Dr. Garcia has lost most of his right hand and his entire left hand. Out of options, he embarks on a desperate quest: both of his ravaged hands will be severed at the wrist and replaced with those from a cadaver. But unless suitable ones are found soon, the opportunity will be lost.
"As Brockton delves deep into the clandestine trade, he is faced with an agonizing choice: Is he willing to risk an FBI investigation-and his own principles-to help his friend? Will he be able to live with himself if he crosses that line"? Will he be able to live with himself if he crosses that line? Will he be able to live with himself if he doesn't? And as the criminal case and the medical crisis converge, a pair of simpler questions arise: Will Dr. Garcia survive-and will Brockton?"
Opinion: Great book. Fast paced. Easy summer read

Iron River by T. Jefferson Parker

2011-04-21T08:32:00.002-04:00

Started: 2/3/11
Finished: 4/13/11
Year: 2011
Pages: 388
Grade: B
Reason for reading: Review for MyShelf.com
Blurb (from back cover): "Along the United States-Mexico border, a man named Mike Finnegan wakes up in the hospital in Buenavista after a hit-and-run accident, eerily aware of events he should know nothing about. His daughter claims he's schizophrenic, but she's every bit as odd. Also strange is that he was found with ninety thousand dollars in cash-and Charlie Hood's name and address in his wallet.
"Hood's down there tracking the flow of illegal guns into Mexico when his team accidentally kills the son of Benjamin Armenta, head of the Gulf Cartel and one of the most violent men in the world. Now, to save his own life and those of his team, Hood works to grasp the enigmatic forces fighting for control of Buenavista-forces that circle back to the Finnegans and to Armenta's unstoppable plan for brute vengeance."
Opinion: Obviously it took me forever to read this and I was very confused throughout the book. For a more complete review, please check out MyShelf.com in the future months.

What the Night Knows by Dean Koontz

2011-02-04T11:16:00.002-05:00

Started: 1/3/11
Finished: 2/3/11
Year: 2010
Pages: 442
Genre: Thriller
Grade: b+
Reason for reading: grabbed off the TBR pile
Blurb (from book jacket): "In the late summer of a long-ago year, a killer arrived in a small city. His name was Alton Turner Blackwood, and in the space of a few months he brutally murdered four families. His savage spree ended only when he himself was killed by the last survivor of the last family, a fourteen-year-old boy.
"Half a continent away and two decades later, someone is murdering families again, re-creating in detail Blackwood's crimes. Homicide detective John Calvino is certain that his own family-his wife and three children-will be targets in the fourth crime, just as his parents and sisters were victims on that distant night when he was fourteen and their slayer.
"As a detective, John is a man of reason who deals in cold facts. But an extraordinary experience convinces him that sometimes death is not a one-way journey, that sometiems the dead return."
Opinion: Koontz is back. This reminded me of how he used to write. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Just wish that it didn't take me so long to read it.

Prime Cut by Diane Mott Davidson

2011-01-03T11:18:00.001-05:00

Started: 12/22/10
Finished: 1/02/11
Year: 2000 (this edition)
Pages: 368
Genre: Mystery
Grade: B
Reason for reading: grabbed off the TBR pile
Blurb (from back cover): "Caterer Goldy Schulz is convinced things couldn't get worse. An unscrupulous rival is driving her out of business. An incompetent contractor has left her precious kitchen in shambles. And she has just agreed to cater a fashion shoot at a nineteenth century mountain cabin with her mentor and old friend, French chef Andre Hibbard.
"Together Goldy and Andre struggle in a hopelessly outdated kitchen to cater to a vacuous crowd of beautiful people whose personal dramas climax when a camera is pitched through a window...into the buffet. Then Goldy's contractor is found hanging in the house of one of her best friends. A second murder follows and Goldy must somehow solve a mystery and prepare for a society soiree that could make-or break-her career.
"It's a mystery that involves the dead contractor's unwholesome past, a food saboteur, the theft of four historical cookbooks, and an overzealous D.A. who has suspended Goldy's detective husband, Tom, form the force. What Goldy discovers is the perfect recipe for murder. And she may be dessert!"
Opinion: Just as good as her other Goldy books. I will be continuing the series.

Double Sin and other stories by Agatha Christie

2010-12-22T07:53:00.002-05:00

Started: 12/10/10
Finished: 12/21/10
Year: 1984 (this edition)
Pages: 211
Genre: mystery, short stories
Grade: B
Blurb (from back cover): "In one of London's most elegant shops, a doll in green velvet is found every morning, seated in a different chair...In a small country church, an uninvited stranger is discovered sprawled at the alter. In this superb collection of treats for mystery lovers, both the indomitable English gentlewoman, Miss Marple and the inimitable Belgian detective, Hercule Poirot, put their powers to the test."
Opinion: A good collection of short stories by Agatha Christie

The Echo of Violence by Jordan Dane

2010-12-21T07:27:00.001-05:00

Started: 12/11/10
Finished: 12/21/10
Year: 2010
Pages: 353
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Grade: B
Reason for reading: Review for Myshelf.com
Blurb (from back cover): "When terrorists attack a missionary school, brutally killing their hostages and posting videos of the senseless murders online, time is running out. Sentinels' agent Alexa Marlowe is forced into an unlikely alliance with a relentless mercenary. But he is no stranger.
"Jackson Kinkaid witnessed the raid, and only he can track the killers to their mountain stronghold. Guarding a dark secret, rumored to sell his services to the highest bidder, Jackson is not the same man Alexa once knew. And although he can lead her to the terrorist leader she's been ordered to take alive, how can she be sure he won't sabotage her mission to save the one person who got him through the worst nightmare of his life?"
Opinion: Really good with the action. Some of the romance fell flat...especially the ending. For a more complete review, please check out MyShelf.com in the upcoming months.

Last to Die by Kate Brady

2010-12-13T07:55:00.000-05:00

Started: 11/22/10
Finished: 12/10/10
Year: 2010
Pages: 418
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Grade: B
Reason for reading: review for MyShelf.com
Blurb (from back cover): "A ruthless killer hides in plain sight, portraying the ideal citizen while hatching a horrific plan. Sins of the past have come to light and now the time is right for revenge. Six desperate women will be brutally murdered as punishment for the secrets they've kept hidden...
"Detective Dani Cole is devastated to discover that a young woman viciously killed in a local park was someone whose life she'd helped redeem. Her investigation becomes even more personal when it leads her to Mitch Sheridan, a renowned photojournalist. The two share a painful past...and an attraction that sparks as they race to find the killer. But danger is much closer than anyone imagines. For in the shadows, this calculating criminal has a new target: Dani Cole."
Opinion: Pretty good mix of romance and suspense. For a more complete review, please check out Myshelf.com in the upcoming months.

Over the Edge by Jonathan Kellerman

2010-11-23T09:27:00.002-05:00

Started: 10/23/10
Finished: 11/22/10
Year: 1987
Pages: 433
Genre: mystery
Grade: B
Reason for reading: grabbed off the TBR pile
Blurb (from back cover): "Brace yourself for shock when Alex Delaware gets a phone call from a former patient, a young, troubled genius who suffered a devastating mental collapse...
"When he drives through the night to save his life and winds up in a morass of murder...
"When he uncovers the secret life of one of California's leading families, and is witness to an explosion of murderous passions and shattering revelations..."
Opinion: Another good book by Kellerman. Just disappointed that with grad school and other things going on, that I wasn't able to read it as quickly as I wanted.

Dying for Mercy by Mary Jane Clark

2010-10-25T13:01:00.001-04:00

Started: 9/30/10
Finished: 10/23/10
Year: 2010 (this edition)
Pages: 384
Genre: mystery
Grade: B
Reason for reading: review for MyShelf.com
Blurb (from back cover): "Eliza Blake, co-anchor of the popular morning television show Key to America, is present when the party is cut short by the host's sudden, macabre death-and she's the first to discover that Pentimento is a giant 'puzzle house.' But each piece is leading Eliza and her KEY News colleagues-producer Annabelle Murphy, cameraman B. J. D'Elia, and psychiatrist Margo Gonzalez-deeper into darkness, toward a killer who believes that some puzzles must never be solved. And it soon becomes shockingly clear that no amount of wealth or privilege can keep the residents of Tuxedo Park safe...and alive."
Opinion: It took me so long to get through this since I started grad school this month. It was a fun and enjoyable read and I'm looking forward to reading more. For a more complete review, please check out MyShelf.com in the upcoming months.

Tough Cookie by Diane Mott Davidson

2010-09-30T15:43:00.002-04:00

Started: 9/16/10
Finished: 9/30/10
Year: 2000
Pages: 319
Genre: Mystery
Grade: B
Reason for reading: grabbed off the TBR shelf
Blurb (from back cover): "When caterer Goldy Schulz is offered a temporary stint hosting a cooking show for PBS, she jumps at the chance. After all, she could use the money-not to mention the great exposure. Plus taping the shows at Colorado's posh Killdeer Ski Resort will be fun. A little cooking, a little chitchat. What could go wrong?
"The answer: everything! When Goldy has to do one of her shows live for PBS telethon, the broadcast is riddled with culinary catastrophes-from the Chesapeake Crab Cakes right down to the Ice-Capped Gingersnaps. But the deadliest dish of all comes after the cameras go off-and a baffling accident claims a life. Then a series of suspicious mishaps places Goldy's own life in jeopardy and she knows she'd better whip up her own crime-solving recipe, and fast-before a deadly dash of danger ends her cooking career once and for all..."
Opinion: Another good mystery from Mott Davidson. Yummy recipes as well

The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson

2010-09-16T15:23:00.002-04:00

Started: 8/27/10
Finished: 9/16/10
Year: 2009
Pages: 724
Genre: Suspense
Grade: A
Reason for reading: borrowed from Julie K
Blurb (from back cover): "Crusading publisher Mikael Blomkvist has decided to run an explosive expose of a wide-ranging sex trafficking operation. Just before the piece is published, the two reporters responsible are murdered. The fingerprints on the murder weapon belong to his friend, the troubled hacker genius Lisbeth Salander. Blomkvist, convinced of Salander's innocence, plungers into an investigation. Meanwhile, Lisbeth herself is drawn into a murderous game of cat and mouse, and is forced her to face her dark past.
Opinion: I actually enjoyed this one better than the first one of the trilogy. Lots of action and suspense.

The Funny Thing is...by Ellen Degeneres

2010-08-27T14:46:00.002-04:00

Started: 8/26/10
Finished: 8/27/10
Year: 2003
Pages: 177
Genre: Humor
Grade: B
Reason for reading: grabbed off the TBR pile
Blurb: A humor book.
Opinion: I could picture Ellen saying these bites on her show or during a stand-up routine. Some laugh out loud moments. Entertaining.

The Reader by Bernhard Schlink

2010-08-26T11:48:00.002-04:00

Started: 8/25/10
Finished: 8/26/10
Year: 1995
Pages: 218
Genre: Literature
Grade: B
Reason for reading: grabbed off the TBR shelf
Blurb (from back cover): "Hailed for its coiled eroticism and the moral claims it makes upon the reader, this mesmerizing novel is a story of love and secrets, horror and compassion, unfolding against the haunted landscape of postwar Germany.
"When he falls ill on his way home from school, fifteen-year-old Michael Berg is rescued by Hanna, a woman twice his age. In time she becomes his lover. She enthralls him with her passion, but puzzles him with her odd silences. Then she inexplicably disappears.
"When Michael next sees her, he is a young law student and Hanna is on trial for a hideous crime. But as he watches her refuse to defend herself, Michael gradually realizes that his former lover may be guarding a secret she considers more shameful than murder."
Opinion: A thoughtful tale. I had seen the movie before reading the book so I had images of the movie in my head-they followed each other pretty well.

Shattered by Kathryn Casey

2010-08-25T10:45:00.002-04:00

Started: 8/19/10
Finished: 8/25/10
Year: 2010
Pages: 371
Genre: True Crime
Grade: B+
Reason for reading: review for MyShelf.com
Blurb (from back cover): "In Creekstone, Texas, a small, quiet suburb of Houston, football was king...and David Temple was a prince. A former high school and college gridiron star-turned-coach, he had a fairy-tale marriage to bright, vivacious Belinda Lucas, a teacher at the local high school who was so warm and popular her colleagues called her 'The Sunshine Girl.'
"The fairy tale ended savagely on January 11, 1999, when Belinda's lifeless body was discovered in a closet. Her skull had been shattered by a shotgun blast at close range. She was eight months pregnant.
"There was no damning evidence directly linking the brutal murder to husband David, who stood by emotionless and dry-eyed as police searched the crime scene. But a dogged eight-year investigation would expose a shocking history of cruelty and domination, infidelity and rage-ultimately resulting in an epic courtroom battle for the ages-as the scandalous truth was reveled about love betrayed and innocent lives."
Opinion: A horrible story told in a great manner. For a more complete review, please check out MyShelf.com in the upcoming months

The Dead Janitors Club: Pathetically True Tales of a Crime Scene Cleanup King by Jeff Klima

2010-08-19T09:12:00.002-04:00

Started: 8/12/10
Finished: 8/19/10
Year: 2010
Pages: 341
Genre: Memoir
Grade: B
Reason for reading: Review for MyShelf.com
Blurb (from back cover): "After toiling for minimum wage for years, Jeff Klima got an unexpected offer: to head up a brand new crime scene cleanup company in Orange Count. The upside: a chance to make incredible money in a field with no competition. The downside? Everything else about the job.
"From his first job-where a piece of brain fell off the ceiling and landed in his eye-to having to clean up one of his former neighbors, The Dead Janitors Club is more than just a retelling of crime scenes and what it takes to clean them up. It is a memoir of struggling to survive college, love, life and keeping ones' sanity when one never knows if, the next time the phone rings, you must delve into the darker side of life and death."
Opinion: An entertaining memoir with some graphic details. For a more complete review, please check out MyShelf.com in the upcoming months.

Supreme Justice by Phillip Margolin

2010-08-12T14:39:00.002-04:00

Started: 8/1/10
Finished: 8/12/10
Year: 2010
Pages: 312
Genre: mystery
Grade: B
Reason for reading: review for MyShelf.com
Blurb (from book jacket): "Sarah Woodruff, on death row in Oregon for murdering her lover, John Finely, has appealed her case to the Supreme Court just when a prominent justice resigns, leaving a vacancy.
"Then, for no apparent reason, another justice is mysteriously attacked. Dana Cutler-one of the heroes from Margolin's bestselling Executive Privilege-is quietly called in to investigate. She looks for links between the Woodruff appeal and the ominous incidents in the justices' chambers, which eventually lead her to a shoot-out that took place years ago on a small freighter docked upriver in Shelby, Oregon, containing a dead crew and illegal drugs. The only survivor on board? John Finley.
"With the help of Brad Miller and Keith Evans, Dana uncovers a plot by a rogue element in the American intelligence community involving the president's nominee to the Surpreme Court, and soon the trio is thrown back into the grips of a deadly, executive danger."
Opinion: Great and fast paced. Check for a more complete review in the upcoming months on MyShelf.com

Murder & Other Acts of Literature Edited by Michelle Slung

2010-08-02T11:37:00.002-04:00

Started: 7/17/10
Finished: 8/1/10
Year: 1997
Pages: 340
Genre: Literature Short Stories
Grade: B
Reason for reading: grabbed off the TBR pile
Blurb (from book jacket): "The crime stores selected for this consistently imaginative collection shun the simple whodunit formula. Instead, Eudora Welty, Patrick O'Brian, Edith Wharton, and John Cheever, along with the twenty other masterful writes found here, take the compelling fact of murder and sudden death and proceed well beyond the business of clues and alibis. Writes from Shakespeare to Louisa May Alcott to Gabriel Garcia Marquez have long understood teh a corpse, rendered that way by foul plan or fair, can set into motion events both appalling-and enthralling."
Opinion: As with all collections, some stories are better than others. Most of these were very enjoyable.

The Lion by Nelson DeMille

2010-07-16T15:11:00.002-04:00

Started: 7/7/10
Finished: 7/16/10
Year: 2010
Pages: 437
Genre: Mystery
Grade: B+
Reason for reading: Review for MyShelf.com
Blurb (from back cover): "The Lion is back.
"The last time federal Agent John Corey of the Anti-Terrorist Task Force heard from Asad Khalil-known in the world of international terrorism as The Lion-Khalil claimed he was defection to the the US...then he unleashed a deadly reign of destruction on American soil. While Corey and his partner, FBI agent Kate Mayfield, pursued him across the country, Khalil methodically eliminated his victims one by one and then disapppeared without a trace.
"Now, after the horrific events of September 11th, Khalil has resurfaced, returning to America to take care of unfinished business-murdering his select group of enemies, with Kate and John topping the list. The Lion is a killing machine loose in America with a mission of revenge, and John Corey will stop at nothing to achieve his own goal: find and kill Khalil before Khalil kills him."
Opinion: Great read. Love the sarcasm throughout the novel. Lots of action. For a more complete review, please check out MyShelf.com

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

2010-07-07T08:16:00.002-04:00

Started: 6/25/10
Finished: 7/7/10
Year: 2005
Pages: 644
Genre: mystery
Grade: B
Reason for reading: borrowed from Julie K.
Blurb (from back cover): "Harriet Vanger, scion of one of Sweden's wealthiest families, disappeared over forty years ago. All these years later, he aged uncle continues to seek the truth. He hires Mikael Blomkvist, a crusading journalist recently trapped by a libel conviction, to investigate. He is aided by the pierced and tattooed punk prodigy Lisbeth Salander. Together they tap into a vein of unfathomable iniquity and astonishing corruption."
Opinion: After a slow start, it picked up and was well worth it. I can see why so many people are reading it now.

Private by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro

2010-06-25T14:41:00.002-04:00

Started: 6/21/10
Finished: 6/25/10
Year: 2010
Pages: 385
Genre: Mystery
Grade: C
Reason for reading: review for MyShelf.com
Blurb (from back cover): "Former Marine helicopter pilot Jack Morgan runs Private, a renowned investigation company with branches around the globe. It is where you go when you need maximum force and maximum discretion The secrets of the most influential men and women on the planet comes to Jack daily-and his staff of investigators use the world's most advanced forensic tools to make and break the case.
"Jack is already deep into the investigation of a multimillion-dollar NFL gambling scandal and the unsolved slayings of thirteen schoolgirls when he learns of a horrific murder close to him: his best friend's wife, Jack's former lover, has been killed. It nearly pushes him over the edge. Instead, Jack pushes back and devotes all of Private's resources to tracking down her killer.
"But Jack doesn't have to play by the rules. As he closes in on the killer and chooses between revenge and justice, he has to navigate a workplace love affair that threatens to blow the roof off his plans."
Opinion: I really wish that Patterson would take the time to actually write. This book just had too many plotlines that made it ugh. For a more complete review, please check out MyShelf.com in the upcoming months.

Kiss and Kill by Dale Hudson

2010-06-21T16:22:00.002-04:00

Started: 6/14/10
Finished: 6/21/10
Year: 2008
Pages: 352
Genre: True Crime
Grade: B+
Reason for reading: grabbed off the TBS shelf
Blurb (from back cover): "Rick Pulley was a highly respected member of his Virginia community, a youth pastor and music director at his River of Life Church. When his devoted wife mysteriously vanished, few would suspect that Rick was somehow involved. Three-and-a-half years later, police found Patty Jo's decomposed body under a bridge, and a cold case suddenly turned red hot.
"Soon, the dark secrets beneath a life of lies were brought to light, with sordid details of adultery, phone sex, rage, madness-and finally murder. As a dramatic trial unfolded, a shocked community realized that Rick Pulley had nearly gotten away with the cold-blooded killing of Patty Jo.
"This extraordinary true story looks inside the hear of a close-knit community, behind bedroom doors, church doors, and jail cell doors-where a diabolical drama led to murder, a relentless investigation shattered innocence and illusions, and a monster was finally convicted of murder in the first degree."
Opinion: Another strong true crime novel by Dale Hudson. What is sad that we will never have another one by him since he passed away this past week. RIP Dale.

Fever Dream by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child

2010-06-14T15:37:00.002-04:00

Started: 6/4/10
Finished: 6/14/10
Year: 2010
Pages: 405
Genre: Mystery
Grade: B
Reason for reading: review for MyShelf.com
Blurb (from back cover): "At the old family manse in Louisiana, Special Agent Pendergast is putting to rest long-ignored reminders of this wife Helen's tragic death, only to make a dreadful discovery. Helen had been mauled by a large and vicious lion while they were big game hunting in Africa. But now Pendergast finds that her rifle-her only protection from the beast-had been deliberately loaded with blanks. Who could have wanted Helen dead...and why?
"With Lt. Vincent D'Agosta's assistance, Pendergast embarks on a quest for justice. It is a journey that sends him deep into his murdered wife's past, where he is stunned by how much she kept hidden from him. Helen Pendergast had nursed a private obsession with the fame naturalist-painter John James Audubon and spent years hunting for an infamous, long-lost painting of his known as the Black Flame.
"In a night of shocking violence deep in the Louisiana bayou, Pendergast gains some answers to the riddle of his wife's death, but he is left with an even greater mystery: Who was the woman he married?"
Opinion: I felt like I was on a little adventure while reading this book. For a more complete review, please check out MyShelf.com in the future months.

These Dreams by Barbara Chepaitis

2010-06-04T14:38:00.002-04:00

Started: 6/2/10
Finished: 6/4/10
Year: 2002
Pages: 308
Genre: Literature
Grade: A
Reason for reading: grabbed off the TBR
Blurb (from back cover): "When a stranger poses this question in a supermarket checkout line, Cricket Thompson is jolted out of her everyday life to face a startling revelation: She has a loving husband and two wonderful teenage daughters and feels profoundly and utterly alone. The tides of change are slowly pulling her toward something new and barely recognizable: another man. But before she can even contemplate this internal shift, an act of deadly violence erupts at the local shopping mall, causing Cricket's whole world to come crashing down. Through the prism of this surreal crisis, Cricket's life is irrevocably altered...and without her knowledge or consent, she is lunged into the kind of cataclysmic event that by its very nature breeds transformation. An exploration of the solace of dreams and the fragility of being wide awake, These Dreams is an astoundingly powerful and heart-wrenchiing novel that no reader will soon forget."
Opinion: A truly powerful story that will get you thinking.

The Cloud of Unknowing by Thomas H. Cook

2010-06-02T09:57:00.002-04:00

Started: 5/30/10
Finished: 6/2/10
Year: 2007
Pages: 310
Genre: mystery
Grade: B+
Reason for reading: borrowed from library
Blurb (from book jacket): "David Sears grew up in the shadow of his brilliant younger sister, Diana, convinced by their father that she would accomplish great things. Instead, she married and had a son, Jason, who-like David and Diana's father-is schizphrenic. Her husband, Mark, a geneticist, never made peace with Jason's condition.
"Perhaps this is why, when Jason drowns, Diana will not accept the authorities' conclusion that his death was accidental. Or perhaps Diana is going mad. She begins to send David faxes and e-mails about ancient murders, driven by her growing belief that the earth is Gaia, a living witness to her son's murder who could give evidence in the case she is building against her husband. David soon fears for his own family's safety as the seductive qualities of Diana's manic energy become impossible to ignore."
Opinion: Back to the traditional writing style that I've come to enjoy from this author. A definite decent read.

Twisted by Jeffrey Deaver

2010-05-30T19:06:00.000-04:00

Started: 5/26/10
Finished: 5/30/10
Year: 2003
Pages: 383
Genre: mystery
Grade: B
Reason for reading: grabbed it off the TBR shelf
Blurb (from book jacket): "New York Times bestselling author Jeffrey Deaver has long thrilled fans with tales of masterful villains and their nefarious ways, and the brilliant minds who bring them to justice. Now the author of the Lincoln Rhyme series has collected for the first time his award-winning, spine-tingling stories of suspense-stories that will widen your eyes and stretch your imagination.
"A beautiful woman goes to extremes to rid herself of her stalker; a daughter begs her father not to go fishing in an area where there have been a series of brutal killings; a contemporary of the playwright William Shakespeare vows to avenge his family's ruin; and Jeffrey Deaver's most beloved character, a criminalist Lincoln Rhyme, is back to solve a chilling Christmastime disappearance."
Opinion: Almost all the stories had a twist that I wasn't expecting. All of the stories were enjoyable.

Pig Island by Mo Hayder

2010-05-26T14:32:00.002-04:00

Started: 5/23/10
Finished: 5/26/10
Year: 2006
Pages: 494
Genre: mystery/suspense
Grade: B
Reason for reading: bookray through Bookcrossing.com
Blurb (from back cover): "Journalist Joe Oakes makes a living exposing supernatural hoaxes. But what he sees when he visits a secretive religious community on a remote Scottish island forces him to question everything he thought he knew.
"Why have the islanders been accused of Satanism? What has happened to their leader? And why will no one discuss the strange creature seen wanderint the lonely beaches of Pig Island?"
Opinion: Not as good as her previous novels but still worth the read.

Peril by Thomas H. Cook

2010-05-23T17:10:00.000-04:00

Started: 5/21/10
Finished: 5/23/10
Year: 2004
Pages: 308
Genre: Suspense
Grade: B-
Reason for reading: borrowed from library
Blurb (from book jacket): "Sara Labriola is a married woman haunted by the shattering secrets of her past-and terrified of the future. Tired of living in fear, Sara decides to do the only thing she can: she makes herself disappear.
"On the sultry, seductive streets of New York City, Sara will reinvent herself. She will change her identity, and maybe even get the happy ending she's always dreamed of.
"But six desperate and dangerous men-each with the power to destroy her-are on Sara's trail. And none of them suspect that the woman they are seeking has a dangerous secret of her own. For Sara is leading all of them down a path of private demons, past sins...and the deadliest peril."
Opinion: Not as good as his other novels. The style was very different. Ending seemed a little rushed.

Real Hauntings: True American Ghost Stories by Hans Holzer

2010-05-21T13:20:00.002-04:00

Started: 5/16/10
Finished: 5/21/10
Year: 1995
Pages: 337
Genre: Paranormal/Ghosts
Grade: B-
Reason for reading: grabbed of the TBR shelf
Blurb (from book jacket): "Hans Holzer's Real Hauntings continues his account of true, authenticated case histories of hauntings throughout the United States.
"From the restless shade of a sea captain on Cape Cod, to the remorseful parishioner at St. Mark's in New York who is unable to forget her extramarital affair, to the little girl ghost of Landsdowne, Pennsylvania, who can't quite understand what happened to her world, Real Hauntings chronicles the fascinating and dramatic accounts of the tree experiences that ordinary people have had with the world beyond our own.
"New Hampshire, Virginia, California, Louisiana, Minnesota: Ghostly encounters can occur anywhere and to anyone. Among the many remarkable encounters in Real Hauntings is the story about the ghost of a young girl killed during a wild party in Hollywood; the testimony of tenants at an 18th-century carriage house in New York's 'Hell's Kitchen' regarding the several ghost they have encountered; and the account of the piano-playing phantom in an old house in Arkansas. In all, twenty-five true, witnessed accounts are reported here by Dr. Hans Holzer."
Opinion: Some interesting hauntings. This book documents a lot of Holzer's investigations from the 1960s.

Red Leaves by Thomas H. Cook

2010-05-17T12:48:00.002-04:00

Started: 5/16/10
Finished: 5/16/10
Year: 2005
Pages: 289
Genre: Mystery
Grade: B
Reason for reading: borrowed from library
Blurb (from book jacket): "Eric Moore has reason to be happy. He has a prosperous business, a comfortable home, a stable family life in a quiet town. Then, on an ordinary night, his teenage son Keith is asked to babysit Amy Giordano, the eight-year-old daughter of a neighboring family. The next morning Amy is missing.
"Suddenly Eric is one of the stricken parents he has seen on television, professing faith in his child's innocence. As the police investigation increasingly focuses on Keigh, Eric must consel his son, find him a lawyer, protect him from the community's steadily growing suspicion. Except that Eric is not so sure his son is innocent. And if Keith is not...and might do the same thing again...what then should a father do?"
Opinion: It's a simple story and moves quickly. Not as strong as some of his other books but still a decent read.

Open: An Autobiography by Andre Agassi

2010-05-17T11:42:00.002-04:00

Started: 5/11/10
Finished: 5/16/10
Year: 2009
Pages: 388
Genre: Non fiction/autobiography
Grade: A
Reason for reading: birthday present from Evan
Blurb (from book jacket): "He is one of the most beloved athletes in history and one of the most gifted men ever to step onto a tennis court-but from early childhood Andre Agassi hated the game. Coaxed to swing a racket while still in the crib, forced to hit hundreds of balls a day while still in grade school, Agassi resented the constant pressure even as he drove himself to become a prodigy, an inner conflict that would define him. Now, in his beautiful, haunting autobiography, Agassi tells the story of a life framed by such conflicts, a life balanced precariously between self-destruction and perfectionism.
"Agassi makes us feel his panic as an undersized seven-year-old in Las Vegas, practicing all day under the obsessive gaze of his violent father. We see him at thirteen, banished to a Florida tennis camp that feels like a prison camp. Lonely, scared, a ninth-grade drop-out, he rebels in ways that will soon make him a 1980s icon. He dyes his hair, pierces his ears, dresses like a punk rocker. By the time he turns pro at sixteen, his new look promises to change tennis forever, as does his lightning-fast return.
"And yet, despite his raw talent, he struggles early on. We feel his confusion as he loses to the world's best, his greater confusion as he starts to win. After stumbling in three Grand Slam finals, Agassi shocks the world, and himself, by capturing the 1992 Wimbledon. Overnight he becomes a fan favorite and a media target.
"Agassi brings a near-photographic memory to every pivotal match and every public relationship. Never before has the inner game of tennis and the outer game of fame been so precisely limned. Alongside vivid protraits of rivals from several generations-Jimmy Connors, Pete Sampras, Roger Federer-Agassi gives unstinging accounts of his brief time with Barbra Streisand and his doomed marriage to Brooke Shields. He reveals the depression that shatters his confidence, and the mistake that nearly costs him everything. Finally, he recounts his spectacular resurrection, a comeback climaxing with his epic run at the 1999 French Open and his march to become the oldest man ever ranked number one.
"In clear, taut prose, Agassi evokes his loyal brother, his wise coach, his gentle trainer, all the people who help him regain his balance and find love at last with Stefanie Graf. Inspired by her quiet strength, he fights through crippling pain from a deteriorating spine to remain a dangerous opponent in the twenty-first and final year of his career. Entering his last tournament in 2006, he's hailed for completing a stunning metamorphosis, from nonconformist to elder statesman, from dropout to education advocate. And still he's not done. At a US Open for the ages, he makes a courageous last stand, then delivers one of the mother stirring farewells ever heard in a sporting arena."
Opinion: I have watched this man since he became pro. My mother would say I've obsessed over him. This book confirmed a lot of thoughts I've had about him over the years. Nothing in it shocked me. I cried while reading about some of his Grand Slam wins-just like I did when I watched him win them. I cried at the end just like I did when he gave his farewell speech.

Living at the Edge of the World by Jamie Pastor Bolnick and Tina S.

2010-05-13T13:50:00.000-04:00

Started: 5/8/10
Finished: 5/11/10
Year: 2000
Pages: 283
Genre: Memoir
Grade: B
Reason for reading: grabbed off the TBR pile
Blurb (from back cover): "In this powerful and inspiring true story, Tina S. tells of four years living in the train tunnels beneath Grand Central Station amidst the homeless and the drug addicted. What begins as an adventure quickly turns into a nightmare as she describes daily life in a netherworld most people don't even know exists. With heartbreaking honesty Tina chronicles her descent into crack addiction, her several arrests and jail terms, and her overwhelming grief and guilt over the death of April, her best friend and fellow runaway.
"Finally faced with the reality that she might not make it through one more day, Tina begins the long struggle back to the world of the living. This is an unforgettable story of one young woman's indomitable will to survive."
Opinion: A great story but I didn't like the format of the book. It's amazing what this woman went through.

9 Dragons by Michael Connelly

2010-05-08T16:13:00.000-04:00

Started: 5/3/10
Finished: 5/8/10
Year:2009
Pages: 374
Genre: Mystery
Grade: B+
Reason for reading: borrowed from library
Blurb (from book jacket): "Fortune Liquors is a small shop in a tough South LA neighborhood, a store Detective Harry Bosch has known for years. Bosch still carries in his pocket a matchbook he picked up there on a case years ago. Its motto-'Happy is the man who finds refuge in himself'-has been a guiding light through some of his darkest days. The murder of John Li, the store's owner, hits Harry hard, and he promises Li's family that he'll find the killer.
"The world Bosch steps into next is unknown territory. He brings in a detective from the Asian Gang Unit for help with translation-not just of languages but also of the cultural norms and expectations that guided Mr. Li's life. He uncovers a link to a Hong Kong Triad, a lethal and far-fetching crime ring that follows many immigrants to their new lives in the United States.
"And instantly his world explodes. The one good thing in Bosch's life, the person he holds most dear, is taken from him, and Harry travels to Hong Kong in an all-or-nothing bid to regain what he's lost. In a place known as Nine Dragons, as the city's Hungry Ghosts festival burns around him. Bosch puts aside everything he knows and risks everything he has in a desperate attempt to outmatch the triad's ferocity."
Opinion: Another great fast paced thriller from Connelly.

Finny by Justin Kramon

2010-05-04T11:56:00.002-04:00

Started: 4/30/10
Finished: 5/3/10
Year: 2010
Pages: 366
Genre: Literature
Grade: B
Reason for reading: review for MyShelf.com
Blurb (from first page): We meet Finny Short as in impish fourteen-year-old, whose sly sense of humor can't hide the fact that she simply doesn't belong. Finny's socialite mother can't understand her, her father quotes Nietzsche over pancakes, and her brother's too busy to sympathize. The only person who makes her feel normal is her neighbor Earl Henckel, but his life is anything but normal...When turmoil at home results in Finny's deporation to Thorndon Boarding School, she finds herself catapulted into an even stranger landscape populated by a Dickensian array of eccentric characters, including a seductive New York heiress, a mercuial dorm mother namped Poplan, and a narcoleptic piano teacher whose own mysterious past will prove to bear on Finny's future.
"The entertaining, wickedly funny odyssey that follows propels Finny in an unpredictable world of intrigue and adventure, spanning twenty years and two continents, where she learns to navigate the treacherous waters of adulthood and is forced to rethink her loyalties to both family and friends. A charming and hilarious debut with a deeply felt love story at its core. Finny introduces us to both an unforgettable young woman and a talented and exitingly original new literary voice."
Opinion: Finny is one of the better literary characters that I've read in a long time. It is clear that Mr. Kramon has done his literary reading and is influenced greatly by the readings. For a more complete review, please check out MyShelf.com in the upcoming months.

The Most Evil Men and Women in History by Miranda Twiss

2010-05-04T11:36:00.003-04:00

Started: 4/19/10
Finished: 4/30/10
Year: 2002
Pages: 189
Genre: History
Grade: B
Reason for reading: grabbed off the TBS shelf
Blurb (from book jacket): "Evil is a fact of life. We can see it, not only in the reigns of Stalin and Hitler, but also in everyday crimes like murder, rape and assault-quite apart from the millions of lives brutalized by political or religious oppression, poverty, disease and starvation.
"One factor unites the sixteen men and women featured in this book and the evil acts they committed-they all had unlimited power over the people whose lives they controlled. Their reigns of terror cover a time-span of nearly two thousand years, from the rule of Caligula over the Roman Empire starting in 37AD, to the genocide of education Cambodians under Pol Pot during the 1980s. Motivated by power, religion, political belief, or by sadism and lust, and sometimes by insantity, they have become bywords for terror throughout the world.
"As ths book shows, however, there are degrees of evil. Hitler and Stalin between them murdered tens of millions of people: Elizabeth Bathrory, the so-called 'Countess Dracula,' probably fewer than the hundreds named by her accusers. Even so, the red threads of cruelty, torture and terror that run through these sixteen lives makes this fascinating, if uncomfortable, book a terrifying record of cold-hearted brutality, an infamous roll of inhumanity on a scale almost incomprehensible in its lack of tolerance and mercy."
Opinion: An interesting historical look at some of the cruelist people to have ever lived. Most of the 16, people would recognize.

The True Love Quilting Club by Lori Wilde

2010-04-20T09:02:00.002-04:00

Started: 4/16/10
Finished: 4/19/10
Year: 2010
Pages: 372
Genre: Romance
Grade: B
Reason for reading: review for Myshelf.com
Blurb (from back cover): "Trixie Lynn Parks changed her name to Emma, shook the dust of Twilight, Texas, off her shoes, and vowed to make it big in the city. But after twelve years of shatterd dreams, she heads back to the ladies of the True Love Quilting Club...and to her first love, Sam Cheek.
"Some things-and some people-sure have changed. Sam has grown from a carefree boy to a single dad. And even though the chemistry between them sizzles hotter than ever, Trixie Lynn quickly discovers she must choose between the fame and fortune that have finally come her way-or the one true love who has the power to mend her patchwork heart."
Opinion: Not a bad romance. For a more complete review, please check out MyShelf.com in the upcoming months.

Hell House & Other True Hauntings from Around the World by Alison Rattle and Allison Vale

2010-04-16T17:34:00.003-04:00

Started: 4/12/10
Finished: 4/16/10
Year: 2005
Pages: 207
Genre: Paranormal
Grade: B
Reason for reading: Grabbed off the TBR pile
Blurb (from back cover): "Whether you're a skeptic looking for proof or a believer steadily collating evidence, ghost stories are a constant source of fascination. In this book we'll convert the cynics and arm the enthusiasts with facts and figures, first-hand accounts of ghostly sightings, and the frightening truth behind the stories."
Opinion: Not a lot of indepth information but does have some more recent sightings. Locations are from all over the world.

Friends of the Family: The Inside Story of the Mafia Cops Case by Tommy Dades, Michael Vecchione with David Fisher

2010-04-13T10:19:00.002-04:00

Started: 4/5/10
Finished: 4/12/10
Year: 2009
Pages: 381
Genre: True Crime
Grade: B-
Reason for reading: review for MyShelf.com
Blurb (from back cover): "Two decorated NYPD detectives with access to the department's most sensitive information, Louie Eppolito and Steve Caracappa sold their badges to the Mafia-and became murderers for the mob. The most dangerous corrupt cops in American history, they left behind a pile of bodies when the retired in the early 1990s. For more than a decade it looked as if they were going to get away with it-until Detective Tommy Dades and Brooklyn Assistant DA Mike Vecchione turned a seemingly dead-end investigation into one of the New York City's greatest law-and-order stories."
Opinion: An interesting story and one that I remember from living there. Writing was very New York Cityish. For a more complete review, check out MyShelf in the upcoming months

Blood and Gold by Anne Rice

2010-04-06T10:20:00.002-04:00

Started: 3/21/10
Finished: 4/5/10
Year: 2001
Pages: 564
Genre: Fiction
Grade: B
Reason for reading: grabbed off the TBR shelf
Blurb (from back cover): "Once a proud Senator in Imperial Rome, Marius is kidnapped and forced into that dark realm of blood, where he is made a protector of the Queen and King of the vampires-in whom the core of the supernatural race resides. Through his eyes we see the fall of pagan Rome to the Emperor Constantine, the horrific sack of the Eternal City at the hands of the Visigoths, and the vile aftermath of the Black Death. Ultimately restored by the beauty of the Renaissance, Marius becomes a painter, living dangerously yet happily among mortals, and giving his heart to the great master Botticelli, to the bewitching courtesan Bianca, and to the mysterious young apprectice Armand. But it isn the preset day, deep in the jungle, when Marius will meet his fate seeking justice from the oldest vampires in the world..."
Opinion: An enjoyable addition to the Vampire Chronicles.

Hush by Kate White

2010-03-23T08:43:00.002-04:00

Started: 3/14/10
Finished: 3/21/10
Year: 2010
Pages: 341
Genre: Mystery/Suspense
Grade: B
Reason for reading: Review for Myshelf.com
Blurb (from book jacket): "When Lake Warren learns that her husband, Jack, is suing for full custody of their two kids four months after their separation, she's pretty certain that things can't get any worse. The upside is that she's working with the Advanced Fertility Center as a marketing consultant, alongside the attractive, flirtatious Dr. Keaton. But the morning after their one-mnight stand, Lake finds Keaton with his throat slashed and discovers that things can indeed become worse-they can become deadly.
"So as not to jeopardize her case for custody, Lake is forced to lie to the police. Having just been intimate with a man who has been murdered, and wanting to protect herself from being charged with the crime, she begins her own search for the truth. Meanwhile, the police start looking at her closely, people at the clinic start treating her with hostility, and strange clues begin dropping-quite literally-on her doorstep, and Lake realizes that she is dangerously close to dark secrets, both about Keaton and the clinic. But can Lake stop what's she's started before it's too late?"
Opinion: An enjoyable quick suspenseful read. For a more complete review, please check out MyShelf.com in the upcoming months.

Murder of a Wedding Belle by Denise Swanson

2010-03-15T10:10:00.002-04:00

Started: 3/8/10
Finished: 3/14/10
Year: 2009
Pages: 246
Genre: mystery
Grade: B
Reason for reading: review for MyShelf.com
Blurb (from back cover): "School psychologist Skye Denison is already in a tizzy of indecision contemplating her boyfriend Wally's marriage proposal when she very reluctantly agrees to act as maid of honor in her California cousin's over-the-top platinum-style wedding. What's more, she's expected to assist the control-freak wedding planner, which means being available to help 24-7. There goes Skye's much-needed summer break...
"Then Skye discovers the flawlessly chic wedding plannner lying not so flawlessly dead less than a week before the big event. Suddenly Skye is working double duty on two fronts: making sure every elaborate nuptial detail is executed perfectly, from the butterful release to the martini luge, and helping the police find out who hated the bossy bridal consultant enought to bash her on the head. Can Skye get her cousin to the church on time-and save herself from a killer who may actually be on the guest list?"
Opinion: It was a little different seeing Skye outside her school role but it makes sense that something would happen during summer break. The ending seemed a little rushed. Overall a great continuation of the series. For a more complete review, please check out MyShelf in the upcoming months

Dispatch by Bentley Little

2010-03-09T14:43:00.002-05:00

Started: 3/6/10
Finished: 3/8/10
Pages: 386
Year: 2005
Genre: Suspense
Grade: B+
Reason for reading: grabbed off the TBR shelf
Blurb (from back cover): "Blessed with a gift for the written word, Jason Hanford has everything he needs: a pen, stationery, and a prestamped envelope. His complaints yield complimentary meals and free hotel rooms. His correspondence with secret crushes makes fantasies come true. Letters to the editor spark citywide debates and inspire change. His letters are powerful, angry, heartfelt, sometimes obscene-and always persuasive.
"Then one day someone sens Jason a letter: This is for you. It leads to an offer to write letters for a living. A whole new world is opening up for Jason.
"He should have asked a few more questions about the job."
Opinion: What a great concept for a book. I thoroughly enjoyed it and had a hard time putting it down. I definitely recommend it.

Freeze Frame by Peter May

2010-03-09T14:29:00.002-05:00

Started: 2/22/10
Finished: 3/8/10
Year: 2010
Pages: 283
Genre: mystery
Grade: B-
Reason for reading: review for MyShelf.com
Blurb (from back cover): "A long-ago promise made to a dying man leads forensics ace Enzo Macleaod, a Scot who's been teaching in France for many years, to the study which the man's heir has preserved for nearly twenty years-untouched since the man's unsolved murder. The dead man left several clues in the study designed to reveal his killer's identity to his son, bur ironically the son died soon after the father and never set eyes on the father's legacy.
"So begins the fourth of seven cold cases written up in a bestselling book by Parisian journalist Roger Raffin that Enzo rashly boasted he could solve (he's been successful with the first three).
"This case takes Enzo to a tiny island off the coast of Brittany in France, where he must confront the hostility of locals who have no desire to see the infamous murder back in the headlines. An attractive widow, a man charged but acquitted of the murder (but still a viable suspect), a crime scene frozen in time, a dangerous hell hole by the cliffs, and a collection of impenetrable messages, make this one of Enzo's most difficult cases."
Opinion: Better than the previous Enzo files. There was enough action and plot twists to keep me entertained. For a more complete review, please check out MyShelf in the upcoming months.

Wicked:The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Macguire

2010-02-23T09:31:00.002-05:00

Started: 2/15/10
Finished: 2/22/10
Year: 1995
Pages: 406
Genre: Literature
Grade: B-
Reason for reading: borrowed from Jen M.
Blurb (from back cover): "When Dorothy triumphed over the Wicked Witch of the West in L. Frank Baum's classic tale, we heard only her side of the story. But what about her arch-nemesis, the mysterious Witch? Where did she come from? How did she become so wicked? And what is the true nature of evil?
"Gregory Maquire creates a fantasy world so rich and vivid that we will never look at Oz the same way again. Wicked is about a land where animals talk and strive to be treated like first-class citizens, Munchkinlanders seek the comfort of middle-class stability, and the Tin Man becomes a victim of domestic violence. And then there is the little green-skinned girl named Elphaba, who will grow up to become the infamous Wicked Witch of the West, a smart, prickly, and misunderstood creature who challenges all our preconceived notions about the nature of good and evil."
Opinion: I was hoping to be more entertained by this book. I liked seeing the Witch's side of the story but something was missing.

The Runner by Peter May

2010-02-17T07:31:00.002-05:00

Started: 1/31/10
Finished: 2/15/10
Year: 2010 (US release)
Pages: 336
Genre: Mystery
Grade: B
Reason for reading: review for MyShelf.com
Blurb (from back cover): "A top Chinese swimmer kills himself of the eve of an international event, shattering his country's hopes of victory against the Americans. An Olympic weightlifter dies in the arms of his Beijing mistress, a scandal to be hushed up at the highest level. Tragic coincidence-or something more sinister?
"Beijing detective Li Yan is troubled to discover that they are not the first of China's athletes to die. He is so troubled that he brings American pathologist Margaret Campbell out of retirement to perform the autopsies. Could natural causes conceal the most unnatural deaths and threaten the future of international athletics?
"Battling to save his career and preparing for marriage, Li Yan knows the key to the case lies with a champion runner-the only member of the athletics team prepared to talk. But when the runner disappears, time starts running out in the race to catch the killer."
Opinion: Picked up basically where the last book of the series ended. There could have been more of a conclusion about a major plot idea but readers are left hanging to read the next one. Overall a good police novel. For a more complete review, please check out MyShelf.com in the upcoming months.

The Silent Bride by Leslie Glass

2010-02-03T10:14:00.002-05:00

Started: 1/20/10
Finished: 1/31/10
Year: 2002
Pages: 379
Genre: mystery
Grade: B
Reason for reading: grabbed it from the TBR pile
Blurb (from the back cover): "A beautiful bride's glorious trip down the aisle is cut short by a sniper's bullet. The crime has stunned the city and baffled NYPD detective April Woo. The sweet, modest, eighteen-year-old virgin couldn't have had an enemy in the world...
"Under the magnificent steeples of St. Patrick's Cathedral, a posh society wedding ends in the same horror. Rich and spoiled, the second bride shares only one thing with the victim before her: getting caught in the crosshairs of a madman' gun...
"What links the startling crimes? Who's next to die? With the wedding of April's friend fast approaching, April and homicide specialist Mike Sanchez sift through the evidence for clues to the killer's identity. But they have to work fast. Because the mysterious maotive-and the next target-are becoming dangerously clear..."
Opinion: Decent mystery. Person behind the murders was kinda predictable but the way it was written, left me always wondering until the end.

Night of Demons by Tony Richards

2010-01-22T07:41:00.002-05:00

Started: 1/3/10
Finished: 1/20/10
Year: 2009
Pages: 390
Genre: Dark Fantasy
Grade: B
Reason for reading: Review for MyShelf.com
Blurb (from back cover): "A serial killer with a corrupt and twisted soul, Cornelius Hanlon has freely entered Raine's Landing, undeterred by the ancient magical safeguards. And when he chooses the town's oldest adept as his first victim, the maniac inadvertently gains possession of a powerful 'gift' more terrible than anything he could have sadistically dreamed.
"Ex-town cop Ross Devries and his Harley-riding sometime-partner, Cassandra Mallory, have no supernatural abilities. But they are the last line of defense in this village of secrets and shadows-facing a psychopath who now wields the power to bend the living and the dead to his will."
Opinion: Despite how long it took me to read this novel, it is really good. I'm not a big fantasy fan but I will be checking out Richards' other novels. For a more complete review, check out MyShelf.com in the upcoming months.

Haunting Rachel by Kay Hooper

2010-01-04T11:05:00.002-05:00

Started: 12/28/09
Finished: 1/3/10
Year: 1998
Pages: 338
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Grade: B-
Reason for reading: grabbed off the TBR
Blurb (from back cover): "Ten years ago Rachel Grant's fiance, Thomas, disappeared. His body was never found. Now there's a stranger in town, a man who could be Thomas's twin-or his ghost. His name is Adam Delafield. He's been watching Rachel for days. He has the locket she gave Thomas before he vanished. And he says he owed her father three million dollars.
"But there's no record of the loan-or a shred of proof that Adam is who he claims to be. And he's always nearby as accidents begin to threaten Rachel's life. Is he an innocnet man who only wants to repay a debt? Or a figure from the past with a score to settle? Rachel must expose lies and unravel stores, find out who wants her dead and why, before the next attempt to kill her succeeds."
Opinion: A good mystery with a decent romance interwoven.

The Sacred Blood by Michael Byrnes

2009-12-29T12:34:00.004-05:00

Started: 12/13/09
Finished: 12/28/09
Year: 2009
Pages: 337
Genre: Religious Fiction
Grade: B-
Reason for reading: review for MyShelf.com
Blurb (from back cover): "When American geneticist Charlotte Hennesey examined what she believed were the remains of Jesus, the Vatican buried her discovery. But the DNA Charlotte extracted from the sacred bones and injected into her own body has eliminated every trace of the cancer that was devouring her from within. And it has given her the power to perform medical miracles.
"Now wheels have been set in motion that will have cataclysmic consequences for the volatile Middle East and all humankind. A two-thousand-year-old destiny is about to be fulfilled-resulting in the brazen kidnapping of Charlotte Hennesey, and ensaring Israeli archaeologist Amit Mizrachi and noted Eqyptologist Julie LeRouz in an ancient mystery centered around the world's most powerful relic. As zealots plot to rip the Holy Land asunder, the race begins to avert the unthinkable-for the armies gathering to meet on the hills of Meggido can mean only one thing: Armageddon!"
Opinion: I'm not for religious concepts in fictional pieces of work. It is an interesting concept but I wasn't blown away by the book. For a more complete review please check out MyShelf.com in the upcoming months

The Cellar by Richard Laymon

2009-12-14T13:38:00.002-05:00

Started: 12/11/09
Finished: 12/13/09
Pages: 254
Year: 1987
Genre: Horror
Grade: C
Reason for reading: grabbed it off the TBR pile.
Blurb (from back cover): "Visitors flock to see the Beast House with its blood-soaked corridors and creaky doors. Armed with Instamatics and video camcorders, these poor souls enter the forbidden house, never to return. The deeper the tourists go into the house, the darker their nightmares become. The men are dealt with quickly. The women have to wait longer....first they are tortured and sexually ravished.
"But the worst part of the house is actually beneath the haunted structure. There lies even a more terrifying presence waiting for its next victim. Don't even think about going into The Cellar."
Opinion: Not as good as the blurb indicates. The last chapter is completely pointless and ridiculous. As part of a series, I'm probably NOT going to continue with it.

The Sweethearts' Knitting Club by Lori Wilde

2009-12-11T12:17:00.003-05:00

Started: 12/3/09
Finished: 12/11/09
Year: 2009
Pages: 384
Genre: Romance
Grade: B
Reason for reading: Review for MyShelf.com
Blurb (from back cover): "For ten years, pretty Flynn MacGregor has been turning down the same solid, upright man's marriage proposal. Her friends at the Sweethearts' Knitting Club tell her they're a match made in heaven, but Flynn knows there's only one dangerous reason why she keeps saying no: high school sweetheart Jesse Calloway. She was just sixteen when Jesse was forced out of town under a cloud of suspicion...but he's never left her heart.
"Now Jesse is back, and every time she turns the corner he's there-gazing at her with his smoldering eyes amd tempting her with his kisses. Jesse has never played by the rules, and he's made it clear that he's not going to now. And Flynn, who's always donr just what her family, friends and fellow knitters have told her to do, must finally break free and claim the love that binds Jesse to her heart."
Opinion: Despite it being predictable it is well written and readers will connect with the characters. For a more complete review, please check out MyShelf.com in the upcoming months.

The Fourth Hand by John Irving

2009-12-04T09:08:00.002-05:00

Started: 11/21/09
Finished: 12/3/09
Year: 2001
Pages: 381
Genre: Literature
Grade: B
Reason for reading: grabbed it off the TBR pile
Blurb (from back cover): "While reporting a story from India, New York journalist Patrick Wallingford inadvertently becomes his own headline when his left hand is eaten by a lion. In Boston, a renowned surgeon eagerly awaits the opportunity to perform the nation's first hand transplant. But what if the donor's widow demands visitation rights with the hand? In answering this unexpected question, John Irving has written a novel that is by turns brilliantly comic and emotional moving, offering a penetrating look at the power of second chances and the will to change."
Opinion: A slightly different book from John Irving. Still very touching and well written.

The Cat Who Smelled a Rat by Lilian Jackson Braun

2009-11-23T11:12:00.003-05:00

Started: 11/15/09
Finished: 11/21/09
Year: 2001
Pages: 229
Genre: mystery
Grade: C
Reason for reading: TBR pile
Blurb (from book jacket): "The Big One is on its way, and none too soon for the residents of an unusually arid Moose County, who are becoming increasingly anxious about wildfires as they await the first snowstorm of the season. A Citizens' Fire Watch is formed, and volunteers go out on shifts to patrol areas of concern, particularly the old minesites, which have been rumored to contain subterranean fires deep within. When a volunteer is murdered near the Big B minesite, which had been set ablaze, the people of Pickax realize they are dealing with both an arsonist and a killer. And Koko, Siamese cat extraordinaire and owner of journalist James Quilleran, knows even more than that, as evidenced by his suspicious scrutiny of an antique pitcher, a batik of robins, and an old-fashioned glove box.
"The string of catastrophes continues as a local builder dies in an apparent accident, and it's up to Qwillerian & Co. to trap the rat who's behind it all."
Opinion: An average quick read. Very similar to the other Cat Who series of books.

The Black Hand by Chris Blatchford

2009-11-16T07:54:00.003-05:00

Started: 11/4/09
Finished: 11/15/09
Year: 2008
Pages:366
Genre: True Crime
Grade: B+
Reason for reading: review for MyShelf
Blurb (from back cover): "Rene 'Boxer' Enriquez grew up in East L.A., where gang fights and drive-by shootings were everyday occurrences fueled by rage, drugs, and alcohol. Sent to prison at nineteen, he was recruited by La Eme, the near-mythic Mexican Mafia, arguably the most well-armed and dangerous gang in Amrican history. A young man without fear who would kill without hesitation, Enriquez's loyalty and iron will drove him quickly up the ranks, from mob enfocer to the upper echelons, where he would rule for nearly two decades. Seeking respect, he devoted his life to a bloody cause, only to find betrayal and disillusionment."
Opinion: More biographical than true crime. A very good read if you want an insider's look at a well developed gang. For a more complete review, please check out MyShelf.com in the upcoming months.

Miss Julia Takes Over by Ann B. Ross

2009-11-05T12:35:00.002-05:00

Started: 10/30/09
Finished: 11/4/09
Year: 2001
Pages: 236
Genre: mystery
Grade: C
Reason for reading: grabbed it off the TBR pile
Blurb (from book jacket): "The Southern belle befriends the high-heeled mamma and becomes frantic when Hazel Marie disappears after a dinner date with a church fund-raiser who, in Miss Julia's opinion, wears his short too tight: 'nobody can be that upright and pious without trouble going on underneath.' Since the sheriff won't help her, Miss Julia takes matters into her own hands. With Little Lloyd in tow, she finds herself tracking Hazel Marie across North Carolina. From a most ungenteel display of fisticuffas to a hair-raising car chase, Miss Julia stands strong and forges ahead. Because...if Miss Julia doesn't take care of things, who will?"
Opinion: Slightly better, more entertaining quick read

Miss Julia Speaks Her Mind by Ann B. Ross

2009-11-05T12:30:00.003-05:00

Started: 10/25/09
Finished: 10/30/09
Year: 1999
Pages: 198
Genre: Mystery
Grade: C
Reason for reading: Grabbed it off the TBR shelf
Blurb (from book jacket): A proper lady of a certain age, Miss Julia Springer's quiet existence is interrupted when a close 'friend' of her deceased husband shows up at her doorstep with none other than Wesley Lloyd Springer's illegitimate son. Hazel Marie Puckett, with 'heels too high, a dress too short, and hair too yellow,' announces that since the two-timing man left her penniless, she's leaving Little Lloyd in Miss Julia's good Christian care. Now Miss Julia cuts loose and speaks her mind as the boy and his randy mother bring scandal and rollicking adventure into her life-especially since Hazel Marie is the target of a hilarious misguided kidnap plot!"
Opinion: Well, it was a quick read but Miss Julia's character pisses me off sometimes with her naivity. Pretty good mystery however.

Death Message by Mark Billingham

2009-10-26T08:05:00.003-04:00

Started: 10/13/09
Finished: 10/25/09
Year: 2009
Pages: 458
Genre: Mystery
Grade: B
Reason for reading: Review for MyShelf.com
Blurb (from book jacket): "Delivering the 'death message.' That's what cops call those harrowing moments when they must tell someone that a loved one has been killed. Now Detective Investigator Tom Thorne is receiving messages of his own: photographs of murder victims sent to his cell phone.
"Who are the victims? Who is sending the photographs? And why is he sending them to Tom Thorne? The answer likes in the detective investigator's past, with a man he had once sent to prison for life. But even behind bars, the most dangerous psychopath Thorne has ever faced is still a master of manipulating others to do his dirty work for him. And Thorne must act fast because the photos keep on coming, and the killer's next target is someone the detective investigator knows very well...."
Opinion: Not as good as Sleepyhead but still a good read.

Stupid White Men by Michael Moore

2009-10-14T08:06:00.002-04:00

Started: 10/7/09
Finished: 10/13/09
Year: 2001
Pages: 277
Genre: Humor/Political
Grade: B
Reason for reading: grabbed off the TBR pile
Blurb: Basically Michael Moore's look at the men that run this country
Opinion: I've enjoyed Moore's movies and thought that the book would be interesting. And it was. I was happy to see that Moore not only made fun at the Republicans but the Democrats as well.

The Hunted by Brian Haig

2009-10-07T14:23:00.002-04:00

Started: 9/24/09
Finished: 10/7/09
Year: 2009
Pages: 453
Genre: Thriller
Grade: B
Reason for reading: review for MyShelf.com
Blurb (from book jacket): "It's 1991, The Soviet Union has just collapsed, and a new democratic government is beginning to emerge. Alex Konevitch, who was thrown out of Moscow University in 1987 for indulging his entrepreneurial spirit, is now worth $300 million and is a major financial supporter of the new govenrment. In a country where greed and corruption run rampant and wealth is stolen, not earned, he is on track to become both Russia's wealthiest man-and a huge target.
"Then top executives in his company start getting brutally murdered one by one, and Alex makes a critical mistake: he hires the former deputy director of the KGB to handle his corporate security. Kidnapped, beaten, and forced to relinquish his business and his fortune by those hired to protect him, Alex manages to escape to the United States with his wife, only to be accused by his own government of stealing millions from his business.
"With a contract out on his life and the FBI hot on his trail, Alex is the number one most-wanted fugitive in Russia. He is a man on the run with no country to call home. And he must elude the bounty on his head and prove his innocence...if he is ever to build a new life for himself and his family."
Opinion: This was an interesting read and I'm not a fan of books that deal with the KGB and Russian politics. The title very properly fits the story. For a more complete review, please check out MyShelf.com in the upcoming months.

Just After Sunset by Stephen King

2009-09-24T13:00:00.002-04:00

Started: 9/19/09
Finished: 9/23/09
Year: 2008
Pages: 367
Genre: Short Stories: horror
Grade: B
Reason for reading: borrowed book from mother
Blurb (from book jacket): "Stephen King-who has written more than fifty books, dozens of number one New York Times best-sellers, and many unforgettable movies-delivers an astonishing collection of short stories, his first since Everything's Eventual six years ago. As guest editor of the bestselling Best American Short Stories 2007. King spent over a year reading hundreds of stories. His renewed passion for the form is evident on every page of Just After Sunset. The stories in this collection have appeared in The New Yorker, Playboy, McSweeney's, The Paris Review, Esquire, and other publications.
"Who but Stephen King would turn a Port-O-San into a slimy birth canal, or a roadside honky-tonk into a place for endless love? A book salesman with a grievance might pick up a mute hitchhiker, not knowing the silent man in the passenger seat listens altogheter too well. Or an execise routine on a stationary bicycle, begun to reduce bad cholesterol, might take its rider on a captivating-and then terrifying-journey . Set on a remote key in Florida, 'The Gingerbread Girl' is a riverting tale featuring a young woman as vulnerable-and resourceful-as Audrey Hepburn's character in Wait Until Dark. In 'Ayana,' a blind girl works a miracle with a kiss and the touch of her hand. For King, the line between the living and the dead is often blurry, and the seams that hold our reality intact might tear apart at any momemnt. In one of the longer stories here, 'N.," which recently broke new ground when it was adapted as a graphic digital entertainment, a psychiatric patient's irrational thinking might create an apocalyptic threat in the Maine countryside...or keep the world from falling victim to it."
Opinion: I've always enjoyed King's short stories and this collection is just as good as his others. Some stories will stick with me for a while.

Man in the Middle by Brian Haig

2009-09-21T12:56:00.002-04:00

Started: 8/31/09
Finished: 9/19/09
Year: 2007
Pages: 647
Genre: Suspense
Grade: B+
Reason for reading: review for MyShelf.com
Blurb (from back cover): "For newly promoted Army Lieutenant Colonel Sean Drummond, his latest assignment seems simple enough: find out if the demise of an influential defense official was murder or suicide. But the case soon leads Drummond and Bian Tran, the attractive Army Military Police officer investigating the death, into the labryinthine channels of American intelligence an the war in Irag-not to mention the shadowy motives of his so-called colleagues. What Drummond uncovers will make him question everything he believes in. And force him to ask: Are my loyalities to my superiors or to the American soldiers battling for their lives?"
Opinion: This was better than I thought it was going to be. Solid book. For a more complete review, please check out MyShelf.com

Bridget Jones's Diary by Helen Fielding

2009-09-01T17:33:00.002-04:00

Started: 8/24/09
Finished: 8/30/09
Year: 1996
Pages: 272
Genre: Chick Lit
Grade: B-
Reason for reading: grabbed off the TBR pile
Blurb (from book jacket): "Bridget Jones's Diary charts a devastatingly self-aware, hilarious year in the life of a thirty-something Singleton. Here is the compulsively readable, laugh-out-loud daily chronical of her permanent, doomed quest for self-improvement-a year in which she resolves to: reduce the circumference of each thigh by 1.5 inches, visit the gym three times a week not merely to buy a sandwich , form a functional relationshp with a responsible adult, and not fall for any of the following: misogynists, megalomaniacs, people with girlfriends or wives, emotional fuckwits, alcoholics, workaholics, chauvinists, or perverts. And to learn to program the VCR.
"Over the course of the year Bridget loses a total of 72 pounds but gains a total of 74. She remains, however, optimistic. Caught between her Singleton friend (who are all convinced they will end up dying alone and found three weeks later half-eaten by an Alsatian), the Smug Marrieds (whose dinner parties offer ever-new opportunities for humiliation), and crazed parental attempts to marry her off to a rich divorce in a diamond-patterned sweater, Bridget struggles to keep her life on an even keel-or at least afloat. Whenever her plans meet with disaster, as they invariable do, she manages to pick herself up, go out on the town, and tell herself it will be all right in the morning, when life will definitely be different this time and totally alcohol, calorie, and preverted-fuckwitted-misogynist free."
Opinion: A quick and fun read. Now I can go watch the movies.

Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert

2009-08-25T07:49:00.002-04:00

Started: 8/11/09
Finished: 8/24/09
Year: 2006
Pages: 334
Genre: Memoir
Grade: B+
Reason for reading: friend gave it to me
Blurb (from back cover): "In her early thirties, Elizabeth Gilbert had everything a modern American woman was supposed to want-husband, country home, successful career-but instead of feeling happy and fulfilled, she felt consumed by panic and confusion. This wise and raptuous book is the story of how she left behind all these outwards marks of success, and of what she found in their place. Following a divorce and a crushing depression. Gilbert set out to examine three different aspects of her nature, set against the backdrop of three different cultures: pleasere in Italy, devotion in India, and on the Indonesian island of Bali, a balance between worldy enjoyment and divine transcendence."
Opinion: I enjoyed the writing style of Elizabeth Gilbert-just the right amount of sarcasm and humor mixed with the seriousness of one's life. I'll definitely be picking up more of her books.

Hot Six by Janet Evanovich

2009-08-12T07:54:00.002-04:00

Started: 8/7/09
Finished: 8/11/09
Year: 2000
Pages: 270
Genre: Mystery
Grade: B
Reason for reading: grabbed it off the TBR pile
Blurb (from book jacket): "Bounty hunter Stephanie Plum and Trenton vice cop Joe Morelli join forces to find the madman killer who shot and barbecued the youngest son of international black-market arms dealer Alexander Ramos.
"Carlos Manoso, street name Ranger, is caught on video just minutes before the crime occurs. He's at the scene, he's with the victim, and he's the number-one suspect. Manoso is former special forces turned soldier of fortune. He has a blue-chip stock portfolio and no known address. He moves in mysterious circles. He's Stephanie's mentor-the man who taught her everything she knows about fugitive apprehension. And he's more than her friend.
"Now he's the hunted and Stephanie's the hunter, and it's time for her to test her skills against the master. But if she does catch him...what then? Can she bring herself to turn him in?
"Plus there are other things keeping Stephanie awake at night. Her maternal grandmother has set up houskeeping in Stephanie's apartment, a homicidal maniac has selected Stephanie as his next victim, her love life is in the toilet, she's adopted a dog with an eating disorder, and she can't button the top snap of her Levi's.
Opinion: Been a while since I read one of Evanovich's books. A fun and easy read.

Alive by Piers Paul Read

2009-08-08T06:06:00.002-04:00

Started: 7/31/09
Finished: 8/7/09
Year: 1974
Pages: 352
Genre: Non-fiction
Grade: B+
Reason for reading: grabbed it off the TBR pile
Blurb (from book jacket): "Lost in the vast snowy wastes of the high Andes...all offical rescue efforts abandoned...no food...inadequate clothing for sub-zero temperatures...no mefical supplies to ease the suffering of the dying. So began a terrible ordeal for the young men and women who, on October 12, 1972, had set out from Uruguay in high spirits for a series of rugby matches in Chile. Their chartered airplane had enterd a cloudbank, lost altitude in a series of downdrafts, and crashed into a mountain peak.
"The Fairchild had carried five crewmen anf forty passengers. Some were killed instantly. But those who survived clung to life with extrsordinary tenacity and ingenuity. They formed themselves into an ordered society, distributing tasks according to individual skills and degrees of physical fitness. Leaders emerged who had never been leaders before.
"Realizing that what little chance they had to live lay in their own hands, they planned their escape. Rather than die of starvation, they made a difficult decision: they would use the bodies of their dead companions for food. They were still to endure unexpected and terrible hardships, and one unforseen tragedy almost overwhelmed them with despair. Yet they refused to be demoralize, and their determination to save themselves increased by sheer strength of will."
Opinion: I had heard about parts of this story growing up-mostly about the consumption of human flesh. An amazing story of survival in one of the most harshest territories out there in the world.

Pawing Through the Past by Rita Mae Brown and Sneaky Pie Brown

2009-07-30T12:48:00.003-04:00

Started: 7/19/09
Finished: 7/30/09
Year: 2000
Pages: 275
Genre: Mystery
Grade: B
Reason for reading: grabbed it off the TBR pile
Blurb (from book jacket): "Emotions are running high around tiny Crozet, VA, among the Class of 1980, as plans get under way for the upcoming twentieth high school reunion. There's nothing like a reunion to stir up memories, rivalries, and insecurities. It's even put Crozet's normally placid postmistress, Mary Minor 'Harry' Haristeen, who's on the organizing committee, on edge, as she wonders if everythng will come together on time.
"Still, when each member of the class receives an anonymous letter edged in the Crozet High School colors that reads 'You'll never get old,' Harry takes it as a compliment. Others think it's a joke. But even blitzed out on fresh catnip, Mrs. Murphy senses a much more sinister meaning.
"And the sly tiger cat is soon proven right...when divinely handsome Charlies Ashcraft, the class womanizer, turns up dead with a bullet between his eyes. At first folks around Crozet figure that when a man is sleeping with other men's wives, trouble is sure to follow. But when another threatening note to the members of the Class of 1980 is followed by the murder of a second classmate, it becomes all too clear that someone is determined to spoil this reunion...someone who has waited twenty years to take bitter revenge.
"What could have happened so long ago to trigger such rage? While Harry, whose high school memories consist of football games and first love, tries to make sense of the crimes, it's up to Mrs. Murphy, her feline pal Pewter, and the corgi Tee Tucker to try to sniff out the truth. Yet when ugly rumors surface and Harry herself has a brush with violence, Mrs. Murphy is the first to realize that in the killer's mind, Harry's been chosen Most Likely to Die. And now, unless the daring tiger cat and her animal pals can stop a relentless killer, Crozet's High's twentieth reunion may very well be Harry Haristeen's last..."
Opinion: It's been a while since I had read one of these mysteries. They are entertaining and a good read.

The Cat Who Went into the Closet by Lilian Jackson Braun

2009-07-20T07:57:00.002-04:00

Started: 7/18/09
Finished: 7/19/09
Year: 1993
Pages: 235
Genre: mystery
Grade: C
Reason for reading: grabbed off the TBR pile
Blurb (from book jacket): "The mansion on Goodwinter Boulevard is more than a retreat for crime writer Jim Qwilleran-it is the scene of another delightful Cat Who...mystery.
"Qwill rents the Gage mansion in Pickax, and soon after moving in, he and Koko discover fifteen closets jammed with several generations' worth of junk. Koko, of course, is on the case, and what he discovers will shock Pickax and Moose County. What connection could obsolete currency, canceled checks, and an old bankbook have with mail clippers, foot powder, and a man's argyle sock? Something is definitely brewing in Pickax. But what starts out as junk turns into something else.
"The action begins when Qwill decides to simulate a newscast covering the great fire of 1869. An infamous even in Moose County, this fire burned half of the county to the ground. Now Qwill is about to put Pickax back on the map with a discovery that will uncover long-buried secrets of the Gage family.
"While enjoying a new life in Florida, the mansion's former occupant, Euphonia Gage, apparently committed suicide. But why would someone as happy and full of life as Euphonia kill herself? And what is the connection between the Gage famiy and dead potato farmer Gil Inchpot-who is found in the snow with a bullet hole in his head?
"Can Qwill and the cats get to the bottom of this mystery before the winter yields another dead body?"
Opinion: A quick read but not a lot of twists and turns that I like in a mystery.

Ghost Hunting by Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson

2009-07-18T10:37:00.002-04:00

Started: 7/15/09
Finished: 7/18/09
Year: 2007
Pages: 273
Genre: Non-fiction: Ghost hunting
Grade: A
Reason for reading: fan of the show
Blurb (from back cover): "The Atlantic Parnanormal Society, also known as T.A.P.S., is the brainchild of two plumbers by day, paranormal investigators by night: Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson. Their hair-raising investigations, fueled by their unique abilites and a healthy does of scientific method, have made them the subject of a hit TV Show: The SCI-FI Channel's Ghost Hunters.
"Now their experiences are in print for the first time, as Jason and Grant recount for us, with the help of veteran author Michael Jan Friedman, the stories from some of their most memorable investigations. The men and women of T.A.P.S. pursue ghosts and other supernatural phenomena with the most sophisticated scientific equipment available-from thermal-imaging cameras to electromagnetic-field recorders to digital thermometers-and the results may suprise you."
Opinion: A great companion guide to the show. Some cases were done before the SCI-FI show. A great and quick read.

The Cat Who Saw Stars by Lilian Jackson Braun

2009-07-15T12:22:00.003-04:00

Started: 7/11/09
Finished: 7/15/09
Year: 1998
Pages: 227
Genre: Mystery
Grade: B-
Reason for reading: grabbed off the TBR pile
Blurb (from book jacket): "Qwilleran, Koko, and Yum Yum are hoping for a peaceful month of July spent sitting on the porch of their cabin by a lake in Mooseville. It's not so far from home-but far enough away from the hustle and bustle of Pickax that Quill figures he might actually find some peace and quiet.
"When rumors begin to circulate that UFOs are responsible for the disappearance of a stray backpacker, whose body is later discovered on the lakeshore, Quill finds it difficult to maintain 'vacation' mode.
"Then, of course, there's the knitting craze, which is attracting some very unlikely members of the community, and some highly innovative plans for this year's Fourth of July parade, and a dog-cart race. Yet all of this is just par for the course in slightly out-of-whack Moose County...
"Things become downright eerie when Koko begins to pass hours on the porch in the dark, watching the sky for stars-or something. And as the inexplicable goings-on get stranger and stranger, Qwill starts to wonder who or what is in fact responsible, if not extraterrestrial visitors."
Opinion: An average read. Onto the next one.

Deadly Angel by Fred Rosen

2009-07-12T08:27:00.002-04:00

Started: 7/6/09
Finished: 7/11/09
Year: 2009
Pages: 223
Genre: True Crime
Grade: B-
Reason for reading: Review for MyShelf.com
Blurb (from back cover): "Mechele Hughes came to Wasilla, Alaska (pop. 4200), looking for a new life and easy money. As an exotic dancer at the Great Alaskan Bush Company in nearby Anchorage, she was soon earning thousands a night-and getting expensive gifts from admiring male clients. Three in particular fell under her spell. Each claimed to be engaged to her...and they all lived with her together in the same house. But in May 1996, the bullet-ridden body of Kent 'T.T.' Leppink, a local fisherman and one of her fiances, was discovered in a wooded area ninety miles away-possibly slain by suitor number two, John Carlin III, at the stripper's urging.
"Ten years would elapse before the arrests and trials of Mechele Hughes Linehan and John Carlin III. Was the real Mechele a murderess, a ruthless sexual manipulator as the prosecution claimed, killing for insurance money-or the loving wife and mother she had since become, dedicated to children, animals, and charitable causes?"
Opinion: An interesting story but is was evident that not a lot of first hand interviews were received-author also makes a note of that. For a more complete review, please check out MyShelf.com in the upcoming months.

Hanging Time by Leslie Glass

2009-07-07T08:04:00.002-04:00

Started: 6/29/09
Finished: 7/6/09
Year: 1995
Pages: 413
Genre: Mystery
Grade: B
Reason for reading: grabbed it off the TBR pile
Blurb (from back cover): "In an expensive boutique on New York's Upper West Side, a young salesgirl is persuaded to open the door to her death.
"In the chaos of a police station, ambition and sexual politics raise the stakes of solving a vicious crime.
"In his office, a famed psychoanalyst hears a sister's tale of emotional terrorism and madness.
"For April Woo and Jason Frank, suspense fiction's most engrossing detective team, the clock is ticking on another brutal killing."
Opinion: A strong mystery that hints at the conclusion.

Danny & Da Mob by John S. Niblock

2009-06-30T08:35:00.003-04:00

Started: 6/28/09
Finished: 6/29/09
Year: 2008
Pages: 175
Genre: Thriller
Grade: C
Reason for reading: review for friend
Blurb (from back cover): "Danny Molito is a comptroller for a printing company in Chicago's Loop. In fall 1961, he inadvertently stumbles upon a secret FBI listening post while trying to deliver a payoff to Da Mob. Both the feds and the hoods start looking for him. In disguise, Danny flees downstate to Homecoming and his alumni reunion at Monmouth College. A tipster phones Da Mob with Danny's whereabouts, the FBI overhears the call, and the chase is on. The campus is roiled with mayhem and murder as thugs invade a seminar on Shakespeare, Chautauqua presentations by Al Capone and Billy Sunday, and the Monmouth-Knox football game. They turn a corn-picker in the Homecoming parade into a murder weapon. The Senior Bench on campus is also a murder scene, with Danny as the intended victim. He and his classmate Kitty, a Chicado lawyer, face a showdown with Da Mob. Danny and Kitty use themselves as bait. Backdrop for the scene is a replica of the Iron Curtain donated by an alumnus who was a former Hungarian Freedom Fighter."
Opinion: This book is filled with cliches and lots of extra stuff. Probably would have made a much better short story than novella. Still highly entertaining.

Swimsuit by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro

2009-06-29T07:34:00.003-04:00

Started: 6/25/09
Finished: 6/28/09
Year: 2009
Pages: 391
Genre: Mystery
Grade: C
Reason for reading: review for MyShelf.com
Blurb (from book jacket): "A breathtakingly beautiful supermodel disappears from a swimsuit photo shoot at the most glamorous hotel in Hawaii. Only hours after Kim McDaniels goes missing, her parents receive a terrifying phone call. Fearing the worst, they board the first flight to Maui and begin the hunt for their daughter.
"Ex-cop Ben Hawkins, now a reporter for the L.A. Times gets the McDaniels assignment. The ineptitude of the local police force defies belief-Ben has to start his own investigation for Kim McDaniels to have a prayer. And for Ben to have the story of a lifetime.
"All the while, a killer sets the stage for his next production. His audience expect the best-and they won't be disappointed. Swimsuit is a heart-pounding story of fear and desire, transporting you to a place where beauty and murder collide and horrors are hidden within paradise."
Opinion: I'm really wishing that James Patterson would take some time between books to really concentrate on his writing. It seems that every book that comes out now is rushed. This is still an enjoyable, fast-paced read.

Cold Paradise by Stuart Woods

2009-06-25T12:21:00.003-04:00

Started: 6/22/09
Finished: 6/25/09
Year: 2001
Pages: 412
Genre: Mystery
Grade: B+
Reason for reading: Grabbed it off the TBR shelf
Blurb (from back cover): "Luxuriating in Palm Beach's winter warmth, Stone is stunned to recognize someone he thought was dead. Former client Allison Manning is alive and well-and suddenly very rich. Now she needs Stone's help in squaring a charge of insurance fraud that's been hanging over her head for years-and in getting rid of a recently acquired stalker. Suspects abound, including an elusive writer, an enigmatic businessman, and Allison's devious former husband. Only Stone can thwart the sly and greedy plan to steal the millions of dollars at stake-and the crafty killer behind it..."
Opinion: This was a fun and enjoyable read.

Of Two Minds by T.M. Luhrmann

2009-06-23T08:17:00.002-04:00

Started: 6/15/09
Finished: 6/22/09
Year: 2000
Pages: 293
Genre: Non-Fiction/Psychiatry
Grade: C
Reason for reading: grabbed off the TBR shelf
Blurb (from back cover): "In this groundbreaking book, T.M. Luhrmann penetrates the mysterious culture of psychiatry, showing how psychiatrists learn to undertand people as they do, and how the enormous ambiguities in the field affect both practitioners and patients. Drawing on her extensive interviews with doctors and patients, as well as years of investigative fieldwork in residency programs and private and state psychiatric hospitals, Luhrmann illuminates a compelling profession.
"At a time when psychiatry is beset by a struggle between those who argue for the primacy of the brain and those who believe the mind is supreme, when mood-altering drugs have revolutionized treatments and medical insurers are forcing caregivers to forsake talk therapy for drug therapy, Lyhrmann's witty, sharp, and soulful study is both necessary and inspiring."
Opinion: This wasn't what I thought it was going to be like. It was long and drawn out but still pointed out a lot of important points.

The Pleasure of My Company by Steve Martin

2009-06-16T08:25:00.004-04:00

Started: 6/14/09
Finished: 6/15/09
Year: 2003
Pages: 164
Genre: Fiction
Grade: B
Reason for reading: grabbed off the TBR shelf
Blurb (from book jacket): "Daniel Pecan Cambridge, 30, 35, 38, or 27, depending on how he feels that day, is a young man whose life is rich and full, provided he never leaves his Santa Monica apartment. After all, outside there are 8-inch-high curbs and there's always the horrible chance he might see a gas station attendant wearing a blue hat. So, except for the occasional trip to the Rite Aid to admire the California girl Zandy and to buy earplugs because they're on sale, he stays home a lot. And a good thing too, or he would have never been falsely implicated in a murder, never almost seduced Philipa, never done the impossible task of jogging around the block with Brian, never ironed his pillows, and he might never have won the Most Average Amrican essay contest."
Opinion: This was different. But yet similar to Steve Martin's style of comedy.

Catch Me If You Can by Frank W. Abagnale

2009-06-16T08:14:00.002-04:00

Started: 6/13/09
Finished: 6/14/09
Year: 1980
Pages: 293
Genre: True Crime/Memoir
Grade: B-
Reason for reading: grabbed off the TBR pile
Blurb (from back cover): " Frank Abagnale, alias Frank Williams, Robert Conrad, Frank Adams, and Robert Monjo, was one of the most daring con men, forgers, imposters, and escape artist in history. During his brief but notorious criminal career, Abagnale donned a pilot's uniform and copiloted a Pan Am jet, masqueraded as the supervising resident of a hospital, practiced law without a license, passed himself off as a college sociology professor, and cashed over $2.5 million in forged checks-all before he was twenty-one. A hilarious, stranger-than-fiction account of his sumptuous life on the lam, international escapades, and ingenious escapes, Catch Me If You Can is a captivating tale of deceit.
Opinion: I had seen the movie and enjoyed it. However, as I was ready the book, I felt like all I was doing was giving money to a criminal who did not deserve the money-felt that there was no remorse for what he had done.

Dewey by Vicki Myron with Bret Witter

2009-06-13T16:59:00.002-04:00

Started: 6/11/09
Finished: 6/13/09
Year: 2008
Pages: 277
Genre: Non-fiction, animals
Grade: B
Reason for reading: grabbed it off the TBR pile
Blurb (from book jacket): "How much of an impact can an animal have? How many lives can one cat touch? How is it possible for an abandoned kitten to transform a small library, save a classic American town, and eventually become famous around the world? You can't even begin to answer those questions until you hear the charming story of Dewey Readmore Books, the beloved library cat of Spencer, Iowa.
"Dewey's story starts in the worse possible way. Only a few weeks old, on the coldest night of the year, he was stuffed into the returned book slot at the Spencer Public Library. He was found the next morning by library director Vicki Myron, a single mother who had survived the loss of her family farm, a breast cancer scare, and an alcoholic husband. Dewey won her heart, and the hearts of the staff, by pulling himself up and hobbling on frostbitten feet to nudge each of them in a gesture of thanks and love. For the next nineteen years, he never stopped charming the people of Spencer with his enthusiasm, warmth, humility (for a cat), and, above all, his sixth sense about who needed him most.
"As his fame grew from town to town, then state to state, and finally, amazingly, worldwide. Dewey became more than just a friend: he became a source of pride for an extraordinary Heartland farming town pulling its way slowly back from the greatest crisis in its long history."
Opinion: I'm a sucker for the true animal stories. Dewey was a sweet and loved cat during his stay at the library. Very cute stories.

Lucky Man by Michael J. Fox

2009-06-12T07:57:00.003-04:00

Started: 6/7/09
Finished: 6/11/09
Year: 2002
Pages: 260
Genre: memoir/autobiography
Grade: B+
Reason for reading: grabbed it off the TBR pile
Blurb (from book jacket): "In September 1998, Michael j. Fox stunned the world by announcing that he had been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease-a degenerative neurological condition. In fact, he had been secretly fighting it for seven years. The worldwide response was staggering. Fortunately, he had accepted the diagnosis, and by the time public started grieving for him, he had stopped grieving for himself. Now, with the same passion, humor, and energy that he has invested in his dozens of performances over the last eighteen years, he tells the story of his life, his career, and his campaign to find a cure for Parkinson's.
"Combining his trademark ironic sensibility and keen sense of the absurd, Fox recounts his life, from his childhood in western Canada to the meteoric rise in film and television that made him a worldwide celebrity. Most important, however, he writes of the last ten years, during which-with the unswerving support of his wife, family, and friends-he has dealt with his illness. He talks about what Parkinson's has given him: the chance to appreciate a wonderful life and career, and the opportunity to help search for a cure and spread public awarenss of the disease. He feels as if he is a very lucky man, indeed."
Opinion: One of the better memoirs that I've read. I thank Michael J. Fox for taking the courage to write about his life and how Parkinson's has played such a role in his life.

Final Approach by Rachel Brady

2009-06-08T08:26:00.003-04:00

Started: 6/7/09
Finished: 6/7/09
Year: 2009
Pages: 241
Genre: mystery
Grade: B
Reason for reading: review for MyShelf.com
Blurb (from back cover): For years ago Emily Locke's life was shattered when her infant daughter and husband were lost in an inexplicable accident. She was nearly rebuilt her fragile mental health with Richard Cole, a disgraced former police detective now working as a PI, resurfaces. He wants help he says only she can provide-reconnaissance at a Texas skydiving establishment over a thousand miles away. Emily knows better than to work with him again, but can't refuse. She identifies too greatly with the new missing child case.
"At Gulf Coast Skydiviing, similarites between this new case and Emily's troubled past make it increasingly difficult for her to stay objective, Soon she's convinced that she is somehow connected to whoever took little Casey Lyons. Someone at the quiet, rural airstrip knows that happened to the boy...and to Emily's own daughter.
"To find Casey before it's too late, Emily will have to make sense of the menacing parallels between his case and her daughter's..."
Opinion: Lots of action but the organization was off. For a more complete review, please look at MyShelf.com in the upcoming months.

Tori Amos: Piece by Piece by Tori Amos and Ann Powers

2009-06-08T08:14:00.002-04:00

Started: 6/3/09
Finished: 6/7/09
Year: 2005
Pages: 350
Genre: Biography/autobiography
Grade: B+
Reason for reading: fan of Tori's, grabbed off the TBR pile.
Blurb (from book jacket): "From her critically acclaimed 1992 debut, Little Earthquakes, to the recent hit Scarlet's Walk, Tori Amos has been a formidable force in contemporary music, with one of the most dedicated fan bases in the industry. In Tori Amos: Piece by Piece, the singer herself takes readers beyond the mere facts, explaining the specifics of her creative process-how her songs go from ideas and melodies to recordings and passionately performed concert pieces.
"Written with acclaimed music journalist Ann Powers, Tori Amos: Piece by Piece is a firsthand account of the most intricate and intimate details of Amos's life as both a private individual and a very public performing musician. In passionate and informative prose, Amos explains how her songs come to her and how she records and then performs them for audiences everywhere, all the while connecting with listeners across the world and maintaining her own family life (which includes raising a young daughter). But it is also much more, a verbal collage made by two strong female voices-and the voices of those closest to Amos-that calls upon genealogy, myth and folkore to express Amos's unique and fascinating personal history. In short, we see the pieces that make up-as Amos herself puts it-'the woman we call Tori.'"
Opinion: An interesting look at how Tori's life in music has come about. I wasn't thrilled with how the book was organized but I did appreciate the work that both Tori Amos and Ann Powers put in creating this biography.

Bird in Hand by Christina Baker Kline

2009-06-03T12:29:00.004-04:00

Started: 5/31/09
Finished: 6/3/09
Year: 2009
Pages: 274
Genre: Fiction
Grade: B
Reason for reading: review for MyShelf.com
Blurb (from back cover): "It was an accident. It was dark, it was raining, she'd only had two drinks. And the other car ran the stop sign. But Alison, feeling alone and estranged from her husband, Charlie, is suffocated by grief and guilt.
"A man with his own secrets, Charlie endures a long commute to a boring job so that Alison can stay home with the kids. The only thing that keeps him going these days is the thought of another woman-the only woman he has ever truly loved.
"Claire is everything her best friend, Alison, is not. Vibrant and ambitious, she's just had her first novel published and is married to Ben, a successful architect. Everything is going right-so why can't she stop thinking about what it would mean to have a different kind of life?
"Passionate about his work, Ben is living the New York dream, but what he yearns for is a house and family-the kind of life his friends Charlie and Alison have. Alternating through these four intertwined perspectives, Bird in Hand is a thought-provoking exploration of lies, betrayals, and unexpected twists that can irrevolcably alter everything we believe to be true."
Opinion: Not many books can work with multiple perspectives but this one does. A decent novel. For a more in depth review, please check out MyShelf in the upcoming months.

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

2009-06-01T08:16:00.002-04:00

Started: 5/31/09
Finished: 5/31/09
Year: 1818, This edition 2003
Pages: 213
Genre: Classic/Horror
Grade: B
Reason for reading: grabbed it off the TBR pile
Blurb (from back cover): "'I saw the pale student of unhallowed arts kneeling beside the thing he had put together. I saw the hideous phantasm of a man stretched out, and then, on the working of some powerful engine, show signs of life and stir with an uneasy, half-vital motion.' A summer event's ghost stories, lonely insomnia in a moonlit Alpine room, and a runaway imagination-fired by philosophical discussions with Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley about science, galvanism, and the origins of life-conspired to produce for Mary Shelley this haunting night specter. By morning it had become the germ of her Romantic masterpiece, Frankenstein.
Opinion: Not too bad of a book considering how old it is. Not a thriller horror novel like in today's time but still worth the read.

The Road Home by Rose Tremain

2009-06-01T08:11:00.002-04:00

Started: 5/22/09
Finished: 5/31/09
Year: 2007, this edition 2009
Pages: 411
Genre: Literature
Grade: B-
Reason for reading: Review for MyShelf
Blurb (from back cover): "After losing both his job and his beloved wife, Lev journeys from Eastern Europe to London in search of employment to suppot his family. At first he is homeless, but before long he lands a job, finds shelter, and even begins to make friends. While he embarks on an affair with a fellow restaurant worker (and dodges the attentions of other women), Lev's new life remains constricted. Homesickness dogs him, not only for nostalgic reasons but because he doesn't belong, body or soul, to his new contry. But can Lev really go home again?
Opinion: This book dragged on for me. Many can relate to Lev's character and story but as someone who has never had to leave their country and family to look for better opportunities, I cannot relate and found parts of it dull. For a more complete review, please visit MyShelf in the upcoming months.

Cat Stories by James Herriot

2009-05-23T06:47:00.002-04:00

Started: 5/22/09
Finished: 5/22/09
Year: 1994
Genre: Animals
Grade: B
Reason for reading: grabbed it off the TBR pile
Blurb (from book jacket): "Between these covers, teller and tales finally meet in a warm and joyful new collection that will bring delight to the hearts of readers the world over. Here are Buster, the kitten who arrived on Christmas; Alfred, the cat at the sweet shop; Emily, who lived with the gentleman tramp; and Olly ang Ginny, the kittens who charmed readers when thry first appeared at the Herriots' house in thr worldwide bestseller Every Living Thing. And along with these come others, each story as memorable and heartwsrming as thr last, each told with that magic blend of gentle wit and human compassion that markes every word from James Herriot's pen.
Opinion: A sweet collection of stories all about cats and their antics.

Trick or Treat by Kerry Greenwood

2009-05-23T06:41:00.003-04:00

Started: 5/18/09
Finished: 5/22/09
Year: 2009
Pages: 246
Genre: Mystery
Grade: C
Reason for reading: review for MyShelf.com
Blurb (from back cover): "When a cut-price franchise bakery opens its doors just down the street from Earthly Delights and crowds flock to purchase the bread, baker Corinna Chapman is understandably nervous. Meanwhile, her lover Daniel's old friend Georgiana Hope has temporarily set up residence in his house, and it doesn't take Corinna long to work out that she's tall, blonde, gorgeous, and up to something. Daniel is making excuses and Corinna is worried about his absences. Even more worrisome is the strange outbreak of madness that seems to be centered on Lonsdale Street.
"Can Corinna find her way through a maze of health regulations, missing boyfriends, sinister strangers, fraudulent companies and back-alley ambushes? Or will this be the end of the Earthly Delights Bakery?
Opinion: This novel appears to me to be choppy. For an Advanced Reader Copy from a puplisher that I've received several from before, there is A LOT of editing that needs to be done before the final novel comes out in America-it's already been released in Australia several years ago.

Under the Banner of Heaven by Jon Krakauer

2009-05-19T08:03:00.002-04:00

Started: 5/15/09
Finished: 5/18/09
Year: 2003
Pages: 331
Genre: Non-fiction, religion
Grade: B+
Blurb (from book jacket): "Jon Krakauer's literary reputation rests on insightful chronicles of lives conducted at the outer limits. In Under the Banner of Heaven, he shifts his focus from extremes of physical adventure to extremes of religious belief within our own borders. At the core of his book is an appalling double murder committed by a pair of Mormon Fundamentalist brothers, Ron and Dan Lafferty, who insist they received a revelation from God commanding them to kill their blameless victims. Beginning with a meticulously researched account of this crime, Krakauer constructs a multilayered, bone-chilling narrative of messsianic delusion, savage violence, and unyielding faith. In the process, he uncovers a shadowy offshoot of America's fastest growing religion, analyzes the abduction of fourteen-year-old Elizabeth Smart (and her forced 'marrage' to her polygamous kidnapper), and raises provocative questions about the nature of religious belief.
"Krakauer takes readers inside isolated communities in the American West, Canada, and Mexico, where some forty thousand Mormon Fundamentalists believe that the mainstream Mormon Church went unforgivably astray when it renounced polygamy. Defying both civil authorities and the Mormon establisment in Salt Lake City, the leaders of these outlaw sects are zealots who answer only to God. Marrying prodigiousy and with virtual impunity (the leader of the largest fundamentalist church took seventy-five 'plural wives,' several of whom were wed to him when they were fourteen or fifteen and he was in his eighties), fundamentalist prophets exercise absolute control over the lives of their followers and preach that any day now the world will be swept clean in a hurricane of fire, sparing only their most obedient adherents.
"Weaving the story of the Lafferty brothers and their fanatical brethren with a clear-eyes look at Mormonism's violent past, Krakauer examines the underbelly of the United States' most successful homegrown faith and finds a distinctly American brand of religious extremism. The result is vintage Krakauer, an utterly compelling work of nonfiction that illuminates an otherwise confounding realm of human behavior."
Opinion: Wow. This is the first Krakauer book I've read and I had no idea what it was about when I got it. I'm not one that believes in certain religion and didn't know much about the Mormon religion. Greatly researched and an interesting look into the history of the Mormons.

Persuader by Lee Child

2009-05-15T19:57:00.002-04:00

Started: 5/10/09
Finished: 5/15/09
Year: 2003
Pages: 465
Genre: Suspense
Grade: B+
Reason for reading: booksfree.com
Blurb (from back cover): "Jack Reacher is the Persuader.
"An ex-military cop and the ultimate loner. No family, no possessions, no commitments, no fear, nothing-except a strong sense of justice.
"Which is why Reacher agrees to help a female agent caught in a death trap. Why Reacher must outwit and outfight a criminal army.
"Because once Reacher finds trouble, he cannot quit.
"Not once.
"Not ever."
Opinion: A great thriller. Definitely one of the better books I've read this year so far.

Milagro Lane by Jay Brandon

2009-05-10T16:40:00.002-04:00

Started: 5/3/09
Finished: 5/10/09
Year: 2008
Pages: 241
Genre: Fiction
Grade: B-
Reason for reading: Review for MyShelf.com
Blurb: "When Estela Valenzuela appears at the funeral of the scion of one of the oldest, richest families in town, she is a mystery-an apparent stranger who seems to know everyone. Gabe Grohman, the son of the deceased, is fascinated by her. Through Estela he discovers parts of the city he never knew, even a part that doesn't exist: Milagro Lane, a street of mind where one can only go in rare, fulfilling moments."
Opinion: Much of the extended blurb on the book is focused on how much the book is about San Antonio. I did not get that feel from reading it. It was a good read. For a more extended review, please check out MyShelf in the upcoming months.

The Beach House by James Patterson and Peter De Jonge

2009-05-04T08:07:00.003-04:00

Started: 4/28/098
Finished: 5/3/09
Year: 2002
Pages: 358
Genre: mystery
Grade: B+
Reason for reading: grabbed it off the TBR pile
Blurb (from book jacket): "Jack Mullen is in law school in New York City when the news comes that his brother, Peter, has drowned in the ocean off East Hampton. Jack knows his brother practically grew up in the water, and that this couldn't be an accident. Someone must have wanted his brother dead.
"But the police say otherwise. As Jack tries to uncover details of his brother's last night, he confronts a maddening barricade of lawyers, police, and paid protectors who separate the wealthy summer residents from local workers like Peter. Motivated by a hundred forms of grief, Jack rallies his hometown friends to help him find the truth of Peter's death-no matter how rich or corrupt the people who stand in their way.
"Jack's relentless crusade puts him into a head-on collision with one of the most powerful and ruthless men in New York, a man who wipes out resistance with a snap of his fingers. As it unfolds that his brother was involved with some of the richest women and men in America-in ways Jack never imagined-his dream of justice fades. Only if he can somehow beat the rich at their own game will he be able to avenge his brother."
Opinion: One of the better Patterson books that I've read. Good story. Interesting plot. I liked how it ended-not rushed.

Mutiny on the Bounty by Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall

2009-04-28T12:34:00.002-04:00

Started: 4/16/09
Finished: 4/28/09
Year: 1932
Pages: 379
Genre: Classic Literature
Grade: B+
Reason for reading: 1001 Books you should read before you die, Booksfree.com
Blurb (from back cover): "Cherished as one of the most thrilling sea adventures ever recorded, Mutiny on the Bounty has sold millions of copies and enthralled generations of readers around the world in the seven decades since its initial publication. The novel reprises a true story-the strange, eventful, and tragive voyage of His Majestry's Ship Bounty in 1788-1789, which culminated in Fletcher Christian's mutiny against Captain Bligh-and reaches peaks of narrative excitement that mark the book indelibly as a modern classic."
Opinion: I really enjoyed reading this. It wasn't dry like other classic novels I've read. I hadn't realized that it was part of trilogy that I will now be looking to read the rest of it.

Murder of a Royal Pain by Denise Swanson

2009-04-17T08:00:00.003-04:00

Started 4/11/09
Finished: 4/16/09
Year: 2009
Pages: 248
Genre: Mystery
Grade: B-
Reason for reading: review for MyShelf.com
Blurb (from back cover): "When school psychologist Skye Denison stumbles over the body of pushy Promest chairperson Annette Paine during a Halloween fund-raiser, it looks like a clear-cut case of promicide. Annette was not the only prom mom desperate to see her daughter crowned queen-and her skirt-chasing hubby is no prince either.
"Skye's anxious to investigate, but she keeps getting sidetracked by the overeager new social worker at school and also by her beau's emotional distance. Still, one question haunts her: Since Annette Paine was wearing a witch costume identical to Skye's, which witch was the intended victim? Will Skye realize too late that finding this killer is a matter of her own life or death?"
Opinion: Definitely not as good as Swanson's previous novels. Still enjoyable. For a more complete review, please check out MyShelf.com in the upcoming months.

The Good Guy by Dean Koontz

2009-04-12T02:54:00.002-04:00

Started: 4/5/09
Finished: 4/11/09
Year: 2007
Pages: 447
Genre: Thriller
Grade: B-
Reason for reading: fan of author, grabbed off the TBR pile
Blurb (from back cover): Timothy Carrier is an ordinary guy who enjoys a beer after work. But tonight is no ordinary night. The jittery man sitting beside him has mistaken Tim for someone else-and passes him an envelope stuffed with cash and the photo of a pretty woman. 'Ten thousand now. You get the rest when she's gone.'
"Now everything he thought he knew-even about himself-will be challenged. For Tim Carrier is the one man who can save an innocent life and stop a killer as relentless as evil incarnate. But first he must discover resources within himself that will transform his idea of who he is and what it takes to be..."
Opinion: Somewhat of a typical Koontz book-guy and woman trying to fight something bad. The way that it was presented was different in this book. No sidekick dog like in most Koontz books.