The World's Greatest Athlete by Gerald Gardner and Dee Caruso

Started: 4/27/06
Finished: 4/27/06
Pages: 142
Year: 1973
Genre: Disney children's book
Grade: C-
Reason for reading: grabbed off the shelf (from a bookbox)
Blurb (from back cover): "All the Merrivale teams have done is lose...and lose...and lose. Coach Sam Archer and his assistant, Milo Jackson, try desperately to think of something-anything-they can do to bring back the sweet smell of victory. Then one day, in Africa, they see Nanu, a boy of the jungle, race against a cheetah...and win. They are ecstatic. The answer to all their prayers!
"Back at Merrivale Nanu proves to be everything they prayed for-no one can surpass the new records he sets. Until the day the witch doctor who is Nanu's guardian shows up. Gazenga is plenty mad at the two coaches for taking Nanu away from home and friends. And when Gazenga is mad, look out! Poor Archer, poor Milo, and poor, poor, Nanu. What happens to them shouldn't happen to a dog!"
Opinion: If the writing in the blurb is any indication of the book-then you can guess why I gave it what I gave it. It's fitting for children but not for adults unless you actually remember the movie that the book is based on. I do remember the movie, and disliking it and the book reemphasized the dislike.

All U Can Eat by Emma Holly

Started: 4/27/06
Finished: couldn't

Due to missing pages, I was not able to finish this book. I had originally got it to review for My Shelf but due to the erotic nature of the book, something which My Shelf does not review, I will not be completing this book.

Understanding Your Immune System by Eve Potts and Marion Morra

Started: 4/26/06
Finished: 4/27/06
Pages: 205
Year: 1986
Genre: Health
Grade: B
Reason for reading: grabbed it off the shelf (from a bookbox)
Blurb (from back cover): "All around us are tiny invisible enemies...dangerous, deadly, ever alert to the body's weaknesses. But nature has provided us with an amazing mechanism called the IMMUNE SYSTEM to protect us from these continuous threats to our well-being. Now, UNDERSTANDING YOUR IMMUNE SYSTEM will show you how to build and protect your body's essential defese system to ensure good health.
"Understand how an extraordinary network of cells and organs mobilize to seek out and destroy hostile invaders such as bacteria, viruses, and tumor cells.
"Be aware of the role nutrition plays in a strong immune system.
"Discover how vitamins and minerals can help you build immune power.
"Identify the common substances that can weaken your immune system.
"Learn how genetics, aging, and lifestyle affect your immune system.
"Find out how stress and your emotions can determine how well your immune system works.
"Learn the results of the latest research on AIDS."
Opinion: Full of information, much of it still relevant after 20 years of research. Easy language that most everyone will be able to understand.

Fine-Feathered Death by Linda O. Johnston

Started: 4/25/06
Finished: 4/26/06
Pages: 261
Year: 2006
Genre: Mystery
Grade: C
Reason for reading: review for My Shelf
Blurb (from back cover): "Kendra Ballantyne, Esq., is flying high. Her license to practice law has been rightfully restored. She's dating the foxiest P.I. in all of L.A. And best of all, since she moonlights as a pet-sitter, she gets to see her furry best friends every day. And these cuddly clients beat out her cranky two-legged ones, paws-down...
"To earn a much-needed feather in her cap, Kendra must work closely on a new case with law partner Ezra Cossner. But things stop short when he's found murdered in his office. The only witness is of the avian persuasion-and Gigi, Ezra's blue macaw, can only say her own name and sing '99 Bottles of Beer.' The list of suspects grows and grows, and whodunit nobody knows-unless Kendra can get Gigi to change her tune..."
Opinion: I wish that there was more animal involvement in solving the mystery but still a good read. For a complete review, check out My Shelf.

Hideaway by Dean Koontz

Started: 4/24/06
Finished: 4/25/06
Pages: 413
Year: 1992
Genre: Horror/Thriller/Suspense
Grade: B+
Reason for reading: booksfree.com book, favorite author
Blurb (from inside page): "He was clinically dead after the accident-but was miraculously revived. Now Hatch Harrison and his wife, Lindsey, approach each day with a new appreciation of life...shadowed by his glimpse of death.
"Something has come back from the other side. A terrible presence that links Hatch's mind to a dangerous psychotic. A dark force of murderous rage that hides within us all..."
Opinion: I love Koontz and haven't really been disappointed by any of his books. My mother introduced me to him with Watchers. Several of his books do follow the good vs. evil general plot but does add interesting twists and turns. This edition has the newer afterword which talks about how people have hated this book and the reasons of why. I found that interesting and tried to not laugh about the irony of those letters. And, of course, any author who loves goldens is an A+ in my book.

Forging the Darksword by Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman

Started: 4/21/06
Finished: 4/24/06
Pages: 391
Year: 1987
Genre: Fantasy
Grade: C
Reason for reading: grabbed it off the shelf (from a bookbox)
Blurb (from back cover): "In the enchanted realm of Merilon, magic is life.
"Born without magical abilities and denied his birthright, Joram is left for dead. Yet he grows to manhood in a remote country village, hiding his lack of powers only through constant vigilance and ever more skillful sleight-of-hand.
"Forced to kill a man in self-defense, Joram can keep his secret from the townspeaople no longer; he has no magic, no life. Fleeing to the Outlands, Joram joins the outlawed Technologists, who practice the long forbidden arts of science. Here he meets the scholarly catalyst Saryon, who has been sent on a special mission to hunt down a mysterious "dead man" and instead finds himself in a battle of wits and power with a renegade warlock of the dark Duuk-tsarith caste."
"Together, Joram and Saryon begin their quest toward a greater destiny-a destiny that begins with the discovery of the secret books that will enable them to overthrow the evil usurper Blachloch...and forge the powerful magic-absorbing Darksword."
Opinion: Anyone who knows me knows that I usually despise fantasy books. However, this one was okay-certainly not the best but I didn't end up throwing it across the subway while reading it.

Flesh Gothic by Edward Lee

Started: 4/20/06
Finished: 4/21/06
Pages: 404
Year: 2004
Genre: Horror
Grade: B
Reason for reading: Booksfree.com book
Blurb (from back cover): "Hildreth House isn't like other mansions. One warm night in early spring, fourteen people entered Hildreth House's labyrinthine halls to partake in diabolical debauchery. When the orgy was over, the slaughter began. The next morning, thirteen of the revelers were found naked and butchered. Dismembered. Mutilated. But the fourteenth body was never found.
"The screams have faded and the blood has dried, but the house remains...watching. Now five very special people have dared to enter the infamous house of horrors. Who-or what-awaits them? And who will live to tell Hildreth House's ghastly secrets?"
Opinion: It's been a while since I've read a horror novel and this was a good one. It reminded me a lot of The House on Haunting Hill by Shirley Jackson but with a lot more sex. And not the sweet romantic lovemaking. Just down and dirty sex. For some, they won't be able to get past the sex scenes. I could see some throwing the book purely based on the sex but it's needed in this book. A smooth flowing book.

Aspects of Love by David Garnett

Started: 4/18/06
Finished: 4/20/06
Pages: 182
Year: 1955, renewed 1983
Genre: Fiction
Grade: C
Reason for reading: pulled it off the shelf (received in bookbox)
Blurb (from jacket): "This novel of unusual charm, style and feeling, first published in 1955, speaks pointedly to us today as it considers, with a wicked delicacy, the rival claims of youth and age in the arenas of love-love changing, maturing, coming full circle.
"The time is the mid-twentieth century. In a society still sunlit and amply furnished with champagne and a virtually shockproof decorum, the lives of four people intersect. Two are young: Alexis, an English soldier-passionate and penniless-and Rose, a beautiful French actress who is, for a while, his lover. Another is old, a poet, a baronet and extremely attractive. He is Alexis' uncle, Sir George Dillingham, whom Rose will marry. Their child is Jenny, who will fall in love with Alexis. These loves, these desires, these tangled emotions flower and flower again in patterns constantly surprising, in a novel that is a rear delight to read-as it is to see in its theatrical incarnation, Andrew Lloyd Webber's first musical work since The Phantom of the Opera."
Opinion: You can take it and you can leave it. I wasn't thrilled by the read. I can see why it would make a good play, if not musical, but eh, not that great to read.

The Best of Me by Tina Wainscott

Started: 4/17/06
Finished: 4/18/06
Pages: 217
Year: 2002
Genre: Romance (Harlequin Temptation)
Grade: B+
Reason for reading: grabbed off the shelf (purchased)
Blurb (from back cover): "Lucy Donovan has always subscribed to the finer things in life. That is, until a fateful trip to the Bahamas and an even more fateful encounter with the sexy, cynical Chris Maddox. His take on the world leaves her speechless. So does his gorgeous body. Lucy knows he brings out the best in her, but can she give everything up for him? For them?
"Chris Maddox is totally amazed by the incredible woman who keeps surprising him at every turn. Lucy is unlike anyone he's ever met, and she's the only one who's ever really gotten to him. He's not just taken with her beauty and sophistication-it's the woman inside that's captivated him. Chris knows she brings out the best in him, but can he ask her for all and let them risk having nothing instead?"
Opinion: Almost any story with rescueing dolphins deserves a high grade from me-this coming from the marine mammalogist side of me. It also pleased me that Chris and Lucy were shown as a team instead of always butting heads with each other. The sex scenes are not over the top and the romance is well developed-another plus.

White Noise by Don DeLillo

Started 4/15/06
Finished: 4/17/06
Pages: 310
Year: 1985
Genre: Literature
Grade: C
Reason for reading: booksfree.com book
Blurb (from jacket): " A brilliant satire of mass culture and the numbing effects of technology, White Noise tells the story of Jack Gladney, a teacher of Hitler studies at a liberal arts college in Middle America. Jack and his fourth wife, Babette, bound by their love, fear of death, and four ultramodern offspring, navigate the rocky passages of family life to the background babble of brand-name consumerism. Then a lethal black chemical cloud, unleashed by an industrial accident, floats over their lives, an "airborne toxic event" that is a more urgent and visible version of the white noise engulfing the Gladneys-the radio transmissions, sirens, microwaves, and TV murmurings that constiture the music of American magic and dread."
Opinion: I'm not a fan of satires and I'm not even sure why I chose this book on booksfree. This book jumped around a lot and didn't make a lot of sense overall. The white noise that the Gladneys, along with the rest of the world, especially America, is constantly brought up in the writing and makes sense in looking at the first line of the jacket.

Introduction to Forensic Psychology by Bruce A. Arrigo

Started: several years ago (was lost for awhile during moves)
Finished: 4/14/06
Pages: 338
Year: 2000
Genre: Non-fiction/text book/forensic psychology
Grade: A
Reason for reading: always been interested in forensics
Blurb (from back cover): "Introduction to Forensic Psychology: Issues and Controversies in Crime and Justice is an original approach to understanding how psychologists impact the research, practive, and policy of crime, law, and justice. Written specifically for students, lay professionals, and practitioners, the text systematically examines police, court, and correctional aspects of forensic psychology. By further subdiving the text into the adult, juvenile, family and civil components of forensic psychology, the author brings the interdependence and overlap among these dimensions and the three board thematic areas themselves into sharp, clear, and compelling focus. Contained within each of the 12 substantive chapters are series of timely issues or controversies that provocatively capture the significance of these relationships. Selected topics include incarceration of the mentally ill, the police as mediators in prison, competency to stand trial, treatment refusal rights, police stress and suicide, and sex offender treatment."
Opinion: I love the format of this book which is described above. This book contains a lot of information including research topics that should be looked into. I'm almost curious information to see if there is an updated version and to compare the findings and research topics still needed. It also has me thinking about entering forensic psychology or law as it's always been an interest of mine.

The Mercy Room by Gilles Rozier

Started: 4/11/06
Finished: 4/12/06
Pages: 147
Year: 2003/translated 2005
Genre: fiction
Grade: C
Reason for reading: to review for My Shelf
Blurb (from book jacket): "In a small town in occupied France, a teacher of German is recruited by the Gestapo to translate sensitive documents. Every week, waiting for the net assignment, the teacher must sit for hours outside the commandant's office as prisoners are led past. Some are strangers; others are friends and neighbors known for a lifetime. It is ofter difficult to avoid eye contact, to keep from reacting, as men and women are taken to detention cells and then to the covered trucks that wait outside.
"One day, a strikingly handsome Jewish soldier is among the prisoners, and a spark is ignited. In an unprecedented act of boldness, the teacher saves the doomed man from the Gestapo and hides him in a secret room in the cellar. Here begins an extraordiary and shattering affair in which two bodies and two antagonistic languages, Yiddish and German, are magnetically attracted."
Opinion: Because of the translation, I feel that something is missing. Not sure what but it jumps around. For a more complete review check mine out on My Shelf next month.

White Hot by Sandra Brown

Started: 4/7/06
Finished: 4/11/06
Pages: 579
Year:2004
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Grade: B
Reason for reading: booksfree.com book
Blurb (from back cover): "When her younger brother, Danny, commits suicide, Sayre Lynch breaks her vow never to return to her Louisiana hometown, and gets drawn back into her tyrannical father's web. He and her older brother-who control the town's sole industry, an iron foundry-are as corrupt as ever. Worse, they have hired a shrewd and disarming new lawyer, Beck Merchant...a man with his own agenda. When the police determine that Dannys suicide was actually a homicide, Sayre must battle her family-and her passionate feelings for Beck-as she confronts a powder keg of old hatreds, past crimes, and a surprising plan of revenge."
Opinion: When I reflect back on this book, I'm amazed at the number of pages and then wonder if it would have been able to be smaller without losing anything. My answer to that is no. Despite it's size, this book is one of the better romantic suspense novels that I've read. Great mixture of mystery and romance. And neither is compromised by the other.

22 Indigo Place by Sandra Brown

Started: 4/6/06
Finished: 4/7/06
Pages: 200
Year: 1986
Genre: Romance
Grade: B
Reason for reading: grabbed it off the TBR shelf (from a bookbox)
Blurb (from back cover): "To beautiful Laura Nola, the mansion on Indigo Place wasn't just a home-it was her life's passion. Now old family debts were forcing her to sell and, much to her surprise, James Paden was the prospective buyer. Once the high school bad boy, he'd been too dangerous to flirt with, but too gorgeous to ignore. Now he was all man, and he still had the devastating power to seduce Laura's senses, to make her shiver with emotions she dared not confess...
"Years ago, James Paden skipped town, leaving behind Saturday-night drag races for the thrill of the professional race circuit. He'd burned rubber in the fast lane of beautiful women and big money, but now he's back, a millionaire tycoon with a dream-to lay claim to 22 Indigo Place and its alluring owner. In his mind Laura had always been the girl he couldn't have, the rich man's daugher for whom he'd never be good enough...until that moonlit night when the fierce touch of his lips branded her forever his..."
Opinion: There hasn't been a Sandra Brown book that I have enjoyed for some reason. My only problem with this one is that James and Laura never admitted their true feelings until the end-something that just wasn't realistic. Other than that, the romance between the two was good-especially with James's secret.

The Prince's Cowboy Double by Victoria Chancellor

Started: 4/5/06
Finished: 4/6/06
Pages: 248
Year: 2003
Genre: Romance (Harlequin American Romance)
Grade: B+
Reason for reading: taken off the TBR bookcase (purchased)
Blurb (from back cover): "When the Prince of Belegovia deserted his royal tour of Texas to take an impromptu holiday with a blond waitress, his PR coordinator needed to do some serious damage control. Desperate, prim-and-proper Lady Gwendolyn Reed hired rodeo star Hank McCauley-a dead ringer for the roaming royal-to stand in until the prince's return. But would Lady Gwendolyn be able to tame this willful Texan into the picture of dutiful decorum? Or would Hank seduce the stunning aristocrat into letting down her hair...and more?"
Opinion: Despite it's predictabilty, the love story between Hank and Lady Wendy was endearing and showed how two people can really become a working team and do it well. Sweet story where the sex was not the focus.

Undercover Lovers by Julie Kenner

Started: 4/5/06
Finished: 4/5/06
Pages: 217 pages
Year: 2002
Genre: Romance (Harlequin Temptation)
Grade: B
Reason for reading: Grabbed it off the TBR shelf (might have actually bought)
Blurb (from back cover): "That's exactly what FBI agent Tori Lowell is afraid of. Especially after she learns that he first undercover assignment will involve going into a sex resort, posing as the wife of her longtime nemesis-and nightly fantasy-gorgeous Carter Sinclair. Which wouldn't be so bad, except that, years ago, she'd almost made it into Carter's bed. And she's afraid that once she gets there, she won't be able to leave...
"After years of undercover work, all Carter Sinclair wants is a little peace. But when his final assignment pairs him wiht Tori, he decides to go for one last fling, too! The sexy brunette has had him tied up in knots since they were both cadets. And now, given their new "marital" status. Carter can enjoy his "husbandly" rights until Tori's out of his system, once and for all. Little does he guess that this "marriage" was meant to last..."
Opinion: great passionate sex scenes-Scott's in trouble.

Love Me to Death by Steve Jackson

Started: 4/4/06
Finished: 4/5/06
Pages: 302
Year: 2002
Genre: true crime
Grade: B+
Blurb (from back cover): "Those were the words of William Lee "Cody" Neal, 43, to Angela Fite on July 5, 1998, after luring the pretty 28-year-old to the Denver, Colorado townhouse he'd turned into a den of torture and slaughter. With twisted pleasure, he showed her two dead female bodies on the floor and a third, live one-naked, gagged and bound, and spread-eagled on a mattress.
"Neal, who called himself "WIld Bill Cody," was seductive and skillful at separating love-struck women from their money, and ultimately, their lives, 43-year-old divorcee Rebecca Holberton let Neal move into her townhouse and "loaned" him $70,000. On June 30, 1998, he repaid her by crushing her skull with an ax and wrapping her in plastic. On Friday, July 3, he brought another girlfriend, Candace Walters, 48, to the townhouse, clubbing her to death and desecrating the body. On Sunday, yet another acquaintance, Suzanne Scott, 21, watched helplessly as Angela Fite was murdered by Neal, who then sodomized and raped his bound captive.
"Apprehended by police, Neal, who proclaimed himself better than Ted Bundy, insisted on representing himself at the trial. Though the evidence against him was overwhelming, it was the testimony of Suzanne, who had survived Neal's unspeakable torture, that finally put this monster on Colorado's death row."
Opinion: Fairly interesting true crime story. Had lots of court involvement which was interesting since Neal represented himself. A good read that kept my attention during a long commute.

The Diet Code by Stephen Lanzalotta

Started: 4/3/06
Finished: 4/4/06
Pages: 348
Year: 2006
Genre: Health
Grade: B
Reason for reading: review for MyShelf.com
Blurb (from jacket cover): "As master baker and craftsman, Stephen Lanzalotta had been applying the mathematical principles of the Golden Ratio for more than twenty years. His realization that this ancient, universal formula, used by Da Vinci and other great geniuses of the renaissance, also held the secret to optimal nutrition and health led him to apply it to his own diet and the menu at his popular cafe. The weight loss and sense of wellbeing that he and his customers experienced convinced him that he had cracked the diet code, discovering a simple, natural, and nutritious approach to healthy eating that is as easy as 1, 2, 3.
"His revolutionary Mediterranean-style eating program uses the Golden Ratio to link the proper proportions of everyday foods to boost metabolism and spark weight loss. Combining a three-phase eating program with detailed menu plans, mouthwater recipes, Renaissance lore, and Italian-inspired lifestyle advice, The Diet Code is a unique health and weight loss program from the ages for the ages."
Opinion: What I like best about this diet plan is that life style changes is what is emphasized not just another quick weight loss program. For a more complete review, check out MyShelf.com next month.

The Cowboy and the Cossack by Merline Lovelace

Started: 3/30/06
Finished: 4/3/06
Pages: 250
Year: 1995
Genre: Romance (Harlequin Intimate Moments)
Grade: C
Reason for reading: taken off the TBR shelf (from a bookbox)
Blurb (from back cover): "Alexandra Jordan was hardly thrilled to be appointed leader of her late grandfather's ancient Russian tribe, but she had to help her people, who were long on troubles and short on everything else, especially weapons-and men! So when Omega Agent Nate Sloan showed up, allegedly to deliver a champion stallion, Alexandra couldn't help but be suspicious-even though she was as aware of his charms as any of her love-starved tribe mates...
"Nate was after Alexandra, all right-for the crucial nuclear coding device she had in her possession. But as the Wyoming rancher-turned-agent found himself increasingly mesmerized by Alexandra, he began to wonder if the key to her people's future was all she held in her delicate hands..."
Opinion: Very aveage and no real passion felt between Alexandra and Nate. The way that the women in the Russian tribe acted towards Nate was horrible-just flirty and hooker-like-totally turned me off.