A Charmed Death by Madelyn Alt

Started: 11/27/06
Finished: 11/28/06
Year: 2006
Genre: Mystery
Grade: B
Reason for reading: review for MyShelf
Blurb (from back cover): "Now Maggie is Indiana's newest witch. Learning to cope with her newfound powers is tough enough, but add to that keeping the stock at Enchantments organized and remembering to tape reruns of her favorite show, Magnum, P. I., and Maggie's got a full plate.
"But when she witnesses an altercation between a local teenage princess and another customer in Enchantments-and later the girl turns up dead-she feels compelled to investigate. Though the police are at a loss, Maggie has some tricks up her sleeve, or to be more specific, some spells, charms, and mystical intuitions. And with the help of her boss (and favorite witch) Felicity Dow, Maggie is spellbound and determined to get to the bottom of this murder."
Opinion: Included some ghost haunting material which I enjoyed. Fairly predictable but still a fun mystery. For a complete review, check out MyShelf.com next month.

The One Worth Waiting For by Alicia Scott

Started: 11/25/06
Finished: 11/26/06
Year: 1996
Genre: Romance (Silhouette Intimate Moments)
Grade: B
Blurb (from back cover): "An unspoken promise from years before was all Suzanne Monteomery had to get her through the hard times. But get through them she did, because she knew it was only a matter of time until Garrett Guiness walked back into her life.
"And now Garret was back on her doorstep-though he didn't exactly walk in. He came equipped with a multitude of injuries and not a clue as to how he had gotten them. So maybe the only way he could remember was to leave her once again-with the promise, of course, that he would be back for her.
"Sometimes the more things change..."
Opinion: After reading Wizard and Glass, I needed something to get my mind off of it and this book did the trick. Like all other Harlequins or Silhouettes, the book is predictable but yet it was fun to read-and that to me, sometimes, is the most important thing.

Wizard and Glass by Stephen King

Started: 11/19/06
Finished: 11/24/06
Year: 2003 (this edition)
Genre: Sci-fi/fantasy
Grade: C-
Reason for reading: continue with the Dark Tower Series, borrowed from Natalie
Blurb (from front page): "Roland and his band of followers have narrowly escaped one world and slipped into the next. There Roland tells them a tale of long-ago love and adventure involving a beautiful and quixotic woman named Susan Delgado. And before long, Roland is drawn into an ancient mystery of spellbinding magic and supreme menace..."
Opinion: Probably the worst book in the series so far. I just do not care about Roland's past and it doesn't really seem to take a huge role in who Roland is and why he does what he does. I'm hoping that there will be some connection or I will just be really disappointed in this book.

Who's the Boss by Linda Turner

Started: 11/17/06
Finished: 11/18/06
Year: 1995
Genre: Romance (Silhouette Intimate Moments)
Grade: B
Reason for reading: grabbed off the TBR shelf
Blurb (from back cover): "Riley Whitaker had been sheriff of Hidalgo County for so long, he wasn't figuring on much trouble come election time. So it came as a heck of a shock for a Texas good ol' boy like him to find out he'd be getting the fight of his life-from a woman!
"Becca Prescott sure was riled up, and every woman in the county was on her side in this battle of the sexes. But the damnedest thing was, that feisty little single mother had him wishing he could do a little fraternizing with the enemy..."
Opinion: A pretty good romance quick read. Just what I needed before I go back to the Dark Tower series.

The Ultimate New York Diet by David Kirsch

Started: 11/16/06
Finished: 11/17/06
Year: 2006
Genre: Diet
Grade: C
Blurb (from book jacket): "When supermodel Heidi Klum needed to get into tip-top shape for the Victoria's Secret fashion show-just eight weeks after giving birth to her second child-she turned to a miracle worker, celebrity fitness trainer David Kirsch, and his Ultimate New York Diet.
"But you don't have to be a celebrity-or a New Yorker-to reap the benefits of this fresh approach to a healthy, fit lifestyle. All you need is the desire to take control of your eating and your body and the willingness to change your life for the better. Once you take that first step to a new, improved you, there's no limit to how fabulous you can look and feel!
"The Ultimate New York Diet provides the tools to slim down quickly and safely:
"A diet broken down into three phases over the course of eight weeks, so you can see results fast and be inspired to stay on track.
"Advice on how to make healthy choices at all types of restaurants, allowing you to eat out every night.
"A guilt-free cheat day that allows you to splurge.
"64 quick, easy-to-prepare recipes for healthy, satisfying meals
"Ten-minute workouts you can do anywhere-from your cubicle to a taxicab-that will raise your metabolism so the weight comes off fast.
"David Kirsch, author of the wildly popular Ultimate New York Body Plan, has written this book for the needs of people with busy, multitasking lives-people who want to be on top of their game when it comes to their careers and their bodies. This is not just a diet; it's a life transformation. After completing The Ultimate New York Diet, your attitude toward food, exercise, and wellness will be forever changed and you'll finally have the key to a fit and fabulous body."
Opinion: Not one of the best diet books that I've read. Too many foods that are banned in the first phase-foods that some professionals state are necessary. For a complete review, please check out MyShelf.com next month.

The Waste Lands by Stephen King

Started: 11/13/06
Finished: 11/16/06
Year: 2003 (this edition) originally 1991
Genre: Sci-fi/fantasy
Grade: B
Reason for reading: borrowed from Natalie, continuing the series
Blurb (from front page): "Roland, the last gunslinger, moves ever closer to the Dark Tower of his dreams and nightmares as he travels through city and country in Mid-World-a macabre world that is a twisted image of our own. With him are those he has drawn to this world: street-smart Eddie and courageous, wheelchair-bound Susannah.
"Ahead of him are mind-bending revelations about who and what is driving him. Against him is arrayed a swelling legion of foes-both more and less than human."
Opinion: It's very obvious where Stephen King got his inspiration for this series. The series is getting better as I do continue reading it. Glad that I didn't give up like I had done before. But, still not as good as King's horror books.

On Wings of Angels by Ken Follett

Started: 11/6/06
Finished: 11/12/06
Year: 1984
Genre: Nonfiction
Grade: B+
Reason for reading: grabbed it off the TBR shelf
Blurb (from back cover): "The Team: The Eagles, a group of volunteers from the executive ranks of a great American corporation, hand-picked and trained by a retired Green Beret officer.
"The Mission: To penetrate a heavily guarded prison fortress in Iran and free the American imprisoned there.
"The Odds: If you had to calculate them, you didn't go.
"The story on these pages would have been incredibly exciting had it been fiction. But it is more than that-it is fact. It's a story that only Ken Follett, today's master of action and suspense, could do justice to."
Opinion: A surprisingly entertaining read-I'm not a real history buff and could really care less about Ross Perot but this book let me see him in another light. Definitely glad that I grabbed it to read.

Hearts of Darkness by Joseph Conrad

Started: 11/3/06
Finished: 11/6/06
Year: This edition is 1999 but originally published in 1902
Genre: Classic Literature
Grade: C
Reason for reading: booksfree.com book
Blurb (from book jacket): "In Heart of Darkness, Marlow, a seaman and wanderer, recounts his physical and psychological journey to the center of the African continent in search of the dangers and enigmatic trader Kurtz. While navigating the dark rivers of the Belgian Congo, Marlow witnesses the brutalization of the natives by white traders and struggles with what he discovers is the true heart of darkness."
Opinion: In my attempts to brush up on some classics, I requested this from booksfree. Not one of the best classic books but certainly not one of the worst. I can understand why it's considered a classic and I guess that's the main point-understanding why it is considered a classic.

The Hard Way by Carol Lea Benjamin

Started: 11/1/06
Finished: 11/3/06
Year: 2006
Genre: Mystery
Grade: B
Reason for reading: review for MyShelf.com
Blurb (from book jacket): "A lifelong New Yorker, Rachel Alexander has seen her city change shape through the years. But while New York has never been cleaner and crime is rapidly in decline, a vestige of grittier days remains. When wealthy business owner Eleanor Redstone approaches Rachel to ask if she can investigate her father's murder-a brutal slaying that occurred when he was pushed onto the subway tracks-Rachel takes the case, plunging herself into parts of the city only its poorest residents have ever known. Because to solve Gardner Redstone's murder, Rachel must disguise herself as a homeless woman and live on the streets, searching for the dispossessed man witnesses say made the fatal push. In one of the coldest winters New York City has seen in years, Rachel is helped by a homeless Iraq War veteran, a man whose sad circumstances leave Rachel pondering her own fortunate life. This is a once-in-a-lifetime case that, before it's over, will engulf Rachel in a dangerous new world and change the way that she sees her city forever."
Opinion: One of the better mysteries that I've read. Kept my interest throughout my flight to Florida. For a more complete review, be sure to check out MyShelf next month.

Dangerous by Caroline Cross

Started: 10/31/06
Finished: 11/1/06
Year: 1993
Genre: Romance (Silhouette Desire)
Grade: B
Reason for reading: grabbed off the TBR shelf
Blurb (from back cover): "Logan Bradshaw was a hard man, as hard as the life he led-running a high-country horse ranch and raising two boys alone. The last thing he needed was some damn woman turning his life upside down. No woman alive could be trusted, and that went double for this one, who could make a grown man ache like a schoolboy...
"But Gloryanne Rossiter owned a piece of his spread now, and she meant to stay, whether the dark and dangerous Logan Bradshaw liked it or not. The simple pleasures of the ranch were bringing her a newfound peace of mind-but the rancher was another story. Whenever he laid a hand on her, wild horses couldn't drag her away..."
Opinion: The story is much better than the written blurb on the back. Highly predictable but still entertaining.

Shem Creek by Dorothea Benton Frank

Started: 10/28/06
Finished: 10/30/06
Year: 2004
Genre: Southern Fiction
Grade: B
Reason for reading: booksfree.com book
Blurb (from back cover): "Meet Linda Berland, single parent of two teenage daughters-one of whom is headed off to college. Between that and the married men, the cold New Jersey winters, her pinched wallet, and her ex-husband who marries a beautiful, successful woman ten years younger than she is-let's just say Linda has seen enough to fill a thousand pages. Now she's bound for Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, the magical landscape of her ancestors. Welcomed by the help of her advice-dispensing sister and an intriguing ex-investment banker turned restuarant owner, Linda slowly begins to find her way and realizes that she, too, is entitled to a second chance..."
Opinion: At first, it was a bit confusing on who the narrator was because each chapter it seemed to switch up. But it was an enjoyable read that kept my attention. It was nice to read a character who despite all the negative things, still rise above it all and be successful in life.

Parallel Heat by Deidre Knight

Started: 10/24/06
Finished: 10/28/06
Year: 2006
Genre: Paranormal romance
Grade: D
Reason for reading: review for MyShelf
Blurb (from back cover): "Warrior and royal guardian Marco McKinley has been assigned a vital mission on Earth, where a war between human fighters and otherworldly soldiers is rising. But he's also been warned about twists of fate yet to come-ones that will transform him into the enemy of his own peple and appoint him the personal protector of beautiful soldier Thea Haven.
"Little do Marco and Thea know, but they have met before in an alternate universe, and they are bound by betrayal and vengeance. Now, on a world at the brink of destruction, they feel only a forbidden passion and the unease that comes with it..."
Opinion: Just not my cup of tea, coffee, soda, what have you. It's going to be hard for me to write a positive review for MyShelf-too much unrealistic romance and passion between characters-yes it's paranormal and I can respect the paranormal features but the romance and passion is just too much

Buchanan's Baby by Pamela Toth

Started: 10/23/06
Finished: 10/24/06
Year: 1996
Genre: Romance (Silhouette Special Edition)
Grade: B
Reason for reading: grabbed it off the TBR shelf-received from a bookbox
Blurb (from back cover): "They say you never forget your first love, and Donovan Buchanan was more unforgettable than most. The rough-and-ready cowboy had left a trail of broken hearts along the road to success...and he'd left perky waitress Bobbie McBride with just a little bit more. Sweet little Rose was now four years old-and about to mee the daddy who didn't know she existed.
"Bobbie expected all kinds of reactions from Big D., none of them good. But suddenly the hunky hero was proposing marriage! What was a mother to do?"
Opinion: Unrealistic? Sure. Still enjoyable read? Yes. Obvious how stupid men and women can be but that helps us reconnect with our significant others.

Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser

Started: 10/18/06
Finished: 10/23/06
Year: this edition is from 2000
Genre: Classic Literature
Grade: B
Reason for reading: booksfree.com
Blurb (from back cover): "Theodore Dreiser's first and perhaps most accessible novel, Sister Carrie is an epic of urban life-the story of an innocent heroine adrift in an indifferent city. When small-town girl Carrie Meeber sets out for Chicago, she is equipped with nothing but a few dollars, a certain unspoiled beauty and charm-and a pitiful lack of preparation for the complex moral choices she will face. Her story is one of struggle-from sweatshop to stage success-and of the love she inspires in a married man twice her age, whose obession with her threatens to destory him."
Opinion: A surprisingly good novel. I had read Dreiser's An American Tragedy and enjoyed that one so I picked this one to read. I'm glad that I did.

Death Drop by Alina Adams

Started: 10/16/06
Finished: 10/18/06
Year: 2006
Genre: Mystery
Grade: C
Reason for reading: review for MyShelf.com
Blurb (from back cover): "Figure skaters start young, but when a baby is seemingly abandoned at a Nationals practice session, Bex suspects that there's more going on than a bid for early coaching. A few hours later, Allison Adler, a young ice-dancing champion, is also discovered at the arena-dead, at the end of a rope.
"It soon becomes clear that Allison was the baby's mother, but the candidates for paternity are multiplying: both her ex-boyfriend, a former champion skater himself, and her married coach claim to be the father. Then the police learn that Allison died by strangulation, not suicide. Suddenly the skating world is full of suspects, and it's about to get thrown for a triple loop..."
Opinion: Not one of the best mysteries that I've read but still enjoyable. Enough twists and turns so the reader isn't 100% sure whodunit. For a more complete review, check out MyShelf.com next month.

The Cellar by Richard Laymon

Started: 10/15/06
Finished: 10/16/06
Year: 2006
Genre: Horror
Grade: B
Reason for reading: had to get a book to read for the ride back home from my interview
Blurb (from back cover): "They call it Beast House. Tourists flock to see it, lured by its history of butchery and sadistic sexual enslavement. They enter, armed with cameras and camcorders, but many never return. The men are slaughtered quickly. The women have a far worse fate in store. But the worst part of the house is what lies beneath it. Behind the cellar door, down the creaky steps, waits a creature of pure evil. At night, when the house is dark and all is quiet...the beast comes out.
"Awakened by an early-morning phone call, Donna found out that her ex-husband, Roy, has been released from prison. She immediately dragged her twelve-year-old daughter out of bed and together they hit the road-fast. The last thing she wants is for Roy to get his hands on them again. But in fleeing one danger, Donna and her daughter are unknowingly heading straight toward another. They're heading toward Beast House."
Opinion: Considering I haven't read a horror book in a while, this one was pretty good. Very quick to read. My big objection was the "romantic" link between Donna and another character. Very unrealistic and unnecessary. Other than that, it has all the key elements to a good horror book.

Fear: A Cultural History by Joanna Bourke

Started: 10/10/06
Finished: 10/14/06
Year: 2006
Genre: History/Psychology
Grade: A
Reason for reading: interest-TBR pile
Blurb (from book cover): "Fear. The word itself conjures the appropriate response. With a dark cacophony of associated words-fright, dread, horror, panic, alarm, anxiety, terror-fear is universally understood as one of the most basic and powerful human emotions, obtaining a nearly palpable and overwhelming substance in today's world.
"In this remarkable, groundbreaking book, acclaimed historian Joanna Bourke covers the landscape of fear over the past two hundred years: from the nineteenth-century dread of being buried alive-a subject dear to the heart of Edgar Allen Poe-to the current worry over being able to die when one chooses; from the diagnoses of phobias and anxieties produced by psychotherapists and livingly catalogued, to the role of popular culture and media in inciting panic and dread; from the horrors of the nuclear age to the cold fear of twenty-first-century terrorism. Fear tells the compelling story of anguish in modern times.
"A blend of social and cultural history with psychology, philosophy, and popular science, this astonishing book-exhaustively researched and beautifully written-offers strikingly original insights into the mind and worldview of the 'long twentieth century' from one of the brilliant scholars of our times."
Opinion: By far, one of the best books I've read this year. It's very obvious that Ms. Bourke did extensive research to complete this well written piece of work. If you have any sort of interest is history or psychology, this is a must get.

The Drawing of the Three by Stephen King

Started: 10/6/06
Finished: 10/10/06
Year: 2003
Genre: Sci-fi
Grade: B
Reason for reading: Booksfree.com book, also need to continue with the series.
Blurb (from first page): "While pursuing his quest for the Dark Tower through a world that is a nightmarishly distorted mirror image of our own, Roland is drawn through a mysterious door that brings him into contemporary America.
"Here he links forces with defiant young Eddie Dean and with the beautiful, brilliant, and brave Odetta Holmes in a savage struggle agaisnt underworld evil and otherworldly enemies."
Opinion: I enjoyed this one a lot more than the first of the Dark Tower series. At least I have hope that the rest of the series will be decent reading. I have book five on my TBR shelf but I'm going to be borrowing the 3rd and 4th from my coworker/friend.

No Lights, No Sirens by Robert Cea

Started: 10/1/06
Finished: 10/6/06
Year: 2006
Genre: True Crime
Grade: C
Reason for reading: review for MyShelf.com
Blurb: "What Office Robert Cea learned at the Police Academy never prepared him for the depraved reality of the streets. Beginning his career as an idealistic young policeman, he swore that he'd never become one of the thugs, creeps, and criminal "monsters" he was chasing. He was wrong.
"In No Lights, No Sirens, one ex-New York cop offers a gritty, graphic, brutally authentic portrait of daily life in the patrol cars, the gutters, and the urban dark alleys-exposing the corruption that runs rampant throughout the deparment as law enforcers routinely break the law to stay one step ahead of their prey. Cea's courageous, uncompromising memoir is a gripping and terrifying morality tale with repercussions for us all-the spellbinding true story of an officer who traveled through hell en route to becoming one of the most highly decorated cops in NYPD history...and lost his soul along the way."
Opinion: Not one of the best written stories that I've read. Not enough background was given in my opinion. For a complete review, check out Myshelf next month.

Crime Beat by Michael Connelly

Started: 9/28/06
Finished: 10/1/06
Year: 2006
Genre: True Crime
Grade: B
Reason for reading: fan of Michael Connelly
Blurb (from book jacket): "Before he became a novelist, Michael Connelly was a crime reporter, covering the detectives who worked the homicide beat. In these vivid, hard-hitting articles, Connelly leads the reader past the yellow police tape as he follows the investigators, the victims, their families and friends-and, of course, the killers-to tell the real stories of murder and its aftermath.
"Connelly's firsthand observations would lend inspiration to his novels. His first book, The Black Echo, was drawn from a real-life bank heist, while Trunk Music was based on an unsolved case of a man found in the trunk of his Rolls-Royce. And the vital details of Connelly's best-known characters, both heroes and villains, would get their realism from the cops and killlers he reported on: from loner detective Harry Bosch to the manipulative serial killer the Poet.
"Crime Beat presents stories as fascinating as they are chilling, from the serial killer of young models who cuts a swath across the country to elude police, to the man who leads a bizarre double life on two coasts before his elaborate hoax breaks down. Here, too, we can see Connelly's razor-sharp eye for telling details: a worn-down earpiece on a cop's eyeglasses, the revealing high school yearbook quotes of an alleged cold-blooded murderer, the checkered career of a bumbling gang of killers who publicly advertise their services.
"Stranger than fiction and every bit as gripping, these pieces show once again that Michael Connelly is not only a master of his craft but also one of the Amercian writers in any form. Crime Beat confirms why the Washington Post distinguishes Connelly as the real thing, taking us into the parts of the real America that most of our novelists never visit because they don't even know where, or what, they are."
Opinion: It was nice to read the stories and actually clips that Connelly has complied over the years. As a fan of Connelly's fictional works-it was nice to see the background of where the ideas came from for Harry Bosch's character.