The Funny Thing is...by Ellen Degeneres

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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.