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 A
Treasury of Ohio Tales: Unusual, Interesting and Little Known Stories
of Ohio, by Webb Garrison 
Summary: In A Treasury of Ohio Tales you'll discover: W
hat American president was so big that the first peice of furniture he
put in the White House was an oversized bath tub? W ho was the most
successful baseball pitcher in history? W hat Ohio woman smuggled
letters for the Confederacy and was captured by a Union general whose
proposal of marriage she had once rejected?
Category: Historical
Review: This book tells short stories about many colorful and
influential peoples who have Ohio ties. Five sections of the book deal
with first events and achievements, trailblazers and pioneers,
pacesetters and record makers, events that divided the state and finally
mavericks, strays and zealots. In the case of Buckeyes whose stories
are familiar everywhere, the author focused upon a little-known aspect.
Favorite Part: As a teacher, I found the chapter on William
McGuffey very interesting. Beside being the author the McGuffey Reader,
he also traveled to lobby legislators to back better training for
teachers. Also, at a time when the education of women was a
controversial issue, he persuaded colleagues to support better education
for women.
Least Favorite Part: The writing was just so-so.
Reviewed by: Paula
|
 Angels
and demons, by Dan Brown
Summary: From the New York Times bestselling author of
The Da Vinci Code comes the explosive thriller that started it all. An
ancient secret brotherhood. A devastating new weapon of destruction. An
unthinkable target. When world-renowned Harvard symbologist Robert
Langdon is summoned to his first assignment to a Swiss research facility
to analyze a mysterious symbol -- seared into the chest of a murdered
physicist -- he discovers evidence of the unimaginable: the resurgence
of an ancient secret brotherhood known as the Illuminati...the most
powerful underground organization ever to walk the earth. The Illuminati
has now surfaced to carry out the final phase of its legendary vendetta
against its most hated enemy -- the Catholic Church. Langdon's worst
fears are confirmed on the eve of the Vatican's holy conclave, when a
messenger of the Illuminati announces they have hidden an unstoppable
time bomb at the very heart of Vatican City. With the countdown under
way, Langdon jets to Rome to join forces with Vittoria Vetra, a
beautiful and mysterious Italian scientist, to assist the Vatican in a
desperate bid for survival. Embarking on a frantic hunt through sealed
crypts, dangerous catacombs, deserted cathedrals, and the most secretive
vault on earth, Langdon and Vetra follow a 400-year-old trail of
ancient symbols that snakes across Rome toward the long-forgotten
Illuminati lair...a clandestine location that contains the only hope for
Vatican salvation. Critics have praised the exhilarating blend of
relentless adventure, scholarly intrigue, and cutting wit found in
Brown's remarkable thrillers featuring Robert Langdon. An explosive
international suspense,Angels & Demons marks this hero's first
adventure as it careens from enlightening epiphanies to dark truths as
the battle between science and religion turns to war.
Category: Fiction
Review: Robert Langdon trying to solve a murder of a high
ranking scientist. He goes through Rome and the vatacan on a hunt for
the killer. There are a lot of historical/religious clues to solve
along the way.
Favorite Part: All of the references to the places that he had
referred to in the story line are really there.
Least Favorite Part: I had it figured out 1/2 way through. It
is better than Da Vinci code though.
Reviewed by: theresa f
|
 Bare
Bones : Conversations on Terror With Stephen King, by Tim
Underwood & Chuck Miller, editors
Summary: At last, the undisputed grandmaster of horror,
Stephen King, talks candidly and revealingly about the perils and
passions of the writer's life, and, most of all, about terror--as he
lives it, as he creates it, as he evokes it in the souls of millions of
fans who love nothing more than to be scared out of their wits. Book
jacket.
Category: Factual-Non-Fiction
Review: This book is filled with interviews of Stephen King when
he first became a popular horror novelist. I found it very interesting
hearing his point of view on fame, on horror novels, and on writing in
general. Stephen King was already a household name when I discovered
his writing and I was intrigued listening to his thoughts and where he
felt his career was going in the beginning.
Favorite Part: My favorite parts are when he discusses what the
point of his stories are or what message and/or idea he was attempting
to get across to his readers.
Least Favorite Part: My least favorite part was when the
interviewers (and there are several) would ask him the same questions. I
felt like saying, "You're interviewing Stephen King! Didn't you do
your homework?!?!"
Reviewed by: Erin K
|
 Bed
Rest, by Sarah Bilston
Summary: In a charming and witty novel, Sarah Bilston
tells the story of a busy career woman who finds her pregnancy a breeze
-- until she's ordered off her feet for complete and total bed rest.
Quinn "Q" Boothroyd is a young British lawyer married to an American and
living in New York City. She's checked off most of the boxes on her
"Modern Woman's List of Things to Do Before Hitting 30," and her busy
working life has been relatively painless. But when her doctor tells her
she must spend the last three months of her pregnancy lying in bed, Q
is thrown into a tailspin. Initially bored and frustrated, Q's days soon
fill up as she tries to reconnect with her workaholic husband, provide
legal advice for her sweet Greek neighbor, find romance for a loyal
co-worker, forge new emotional bonds with her mother and sisters, and
figure out who will keep her stocked up in cookies and sandwiches. Q
experiences adventures on the couch she never would have encountered in
the law firm, and learns a lot about herself and what she wants out of
life -- above all about the little one growing inside of her.
Category: Fiction
Review: a lawyer living a fast-paced life until she is confined
to bed rest during the remainder of her pregnancy. Her caring husband
resumes his extremely busy routine. But her life is full of interesting
visitors.
Favorite Part: Visits from neighbors, co-workers, & family
members trying to "help" make, what are supposed to be very stress free
days, comical & somewhat stressful!
Least Favorite Part: A married friend, having an affair,
confides in the main character.
Reviewed by: Theresa
|
Beltane,
by Erin O' Riordan
Category: Romance
Review: Beltane is smart, spiritual, & sexy. The novel is
vivid, fast paced, and imaginative. Her interesting characters make
Beltane a genuine page turner. Beltane has few wasted words or actions
and moves along with magnificent pacing. There are elements of suspense,
and O'Riodan has an astonishing ability to, handle stasis without
allowing things to stagnate; furthermore she created an element of
mystery that drives the story forward. I particularly enjoy that she has
incorporated bits of world mythology and folklore into her book. But be
forewarned; the sex is erotic and intense. The storyline is of course
an erotic romance that swirls around twin sisters Zenobia & Allegra
Van Zandt who are most definitely modern-day witches. Allie and Zen as
they are affectionately called have always shared everything: including
there childhood at Pagan Spirits Farms. They even fall in love at the
same time. When Zen meets Orlando, her intuition tells her he's the man
of her dreams, even if he is married to someone else. At the same time,
Allie, a pagan priestess, is finding out some not-so-flattering truths
about her love, Paul Phillip Washington, after she'd already convinced
herself that he's the love of her life and married him . As Beltane (
May Day) nears these two sisters are questioning what the Goddess, has
in store for them, but we all know that the Goddess moves in mysterious
ways, and May Day turns out to be magic for them both after all. And oh
what unexpected romantic delights happen that very evening. What a
wonderful beginning to her 12-part romance series; I look forward to
reading all of her Pagan Spirit Novels. If you have a chance to read
this book be prepared to be overwhelmed by the almost impossible and
intimate moments and discover who romances who. An absolutely stunning
first novel.
Favorite Part: The historical accuracy of the Pagan religions
Least Favorite Part: Some of the sexual scenes were pretty
graphic.
Reviewed by: April/ chstress |
 Best
Friends Forever, by Jennifer Weiner
Summary: Jennifer Weineris the author of six novels:Good
in Bed,In Her Shoes, which was made into a major motion picture,Little
Earthquakes,Goodnight Nobody,Certain Girls, andBest Friends Forever, as
well as the short story collection,The Guy Not Taken. A graduate of
Princeton University, she lives in Philadelphia with her family. Visit
her website at www.jenniferweiner.com.
Category: Fiction
Review: A possible hit and run reunites two best friends from
the past. Addie Downs leads a very lonely existence- working from home,
no friends, living by herself in the home of her deceased parents, and
internet dating. This is where we meet Addie- 32 years old and just home
from a night out on one of her internet dates. A date who has confessed
to her over dinner that he was abducted and violated by aliens. No
wonder she feels compelled to leave a note on her fridge explaining
where she is, and who she's with just in case she does not return from
yet another blind date.
In for the evening, there is a knock on her door, and opening it
Addie discovers Valerie Adler- her ex-best friend from childhood and
high school. Now a TV weather-girl and just back from their high school
reunion, and wearing a blood stained coat. Thinking she may have run
over a former classmate after trying to humiliate him, she is now asking
for Addie's help.
What follows is Weiner's story of friendship from the history of the
past, to the future, and the journey of these two women. It was a fun
read, one in which I kept rooting for Addie all the way through the
story. I'm a HUGE fan of Weiners books!
Favorite Part: I always love Weiner's characters, and she
seems to like them too, which is obvious by how they are written. I
enjoy the humor in Weiner's writing as well. Usually the main characters
are imperfect, everyday women, who have lots of heart and are given
opportunities and chances to change and grow.
Least Favorite Part: I didn't like the way Valerie always
seemed to take over and walk all over Addie in the past or in the
present.
Reviewed by: Randy
|
 Boom!:
Voices of the Sixties Personal Reflections on the '60s and Today,
by Tom Brokaw
Summary: InThe Greatest Generation, his landmark
bestseller, Tom Brokaw eloquently evoked for America what it meant to
come of age during the Great Depression and the Second World War. Now,
in Boom!, one of America’s premier journalists gives us an epic portrait
of another defining era in America as he brings to life the tumultuous
Sixties, a fault line in American history. The voices and stories of
both famous people and ordinary citizens come together as Brokaw takes
us on a memorable journey through a remarkable time, exploring how
individual lives and the national mindset were affected by a
controversial era and showing how the aftershocks of the Sixties
continue to resound in our lives today. In the reflections of a
generation, Brokaw also discovers lessons that might guide us in the
years ahead. Boom! One minute it was Ike and the man in the grey
flannel suit, and the next minute it was time to “turn on, tune in, drop
out.” While Americans were walking on the moon, Americans were dying in
Vietnam. Nothing was beyond question, and there were far fewer answers
than before. Published as the fortieth anniversary of 1968
approaches,Boom!gives us what Brokaw sees as a virtual reunion of some
members of “the class of ’68,” offering wise and moving reflections and
frank personal remembrances about people’s lives during a time of high
ideals and profound social, political, and individual change. What were
the gains, what were the losses? Who were the winners, who were the
losers? As they look back decades later, what do members of the Sixties
generation think really mattered in that tumultuous time, and what will
have meaning going forward? Race, war, politics, feminism, popular
culture, and music are all explored here, and we learn from a wide range
of people about their lives. Tom Brokaw explores how members of this
generation have gone on to bring activism and a Sixties mindset into
individual entrepreneurship today. We hear stories of how this formative
decade has led to a recalibrated perspective–on business, the
environment, politics, family, our national existence. Remarkable in
its insights, profoundly moving, wonderfully written and reported, this
revealing portrait of a generation and of an era, and of the impact of
the 1960s on our lives today, lets us be present at this reunion
ourselves, and join in these frank conversations about America then,
now, and tomorrow.
Category: Other-Miscellaneous
Review: I finished reading Boom! I found this to be a
fascinating and thought-provoking group of essays on many of the people
who had impact because of their leadership in the counterculture or
perhaps the politics or even because of their part in the war or maybe
their decision to NOT be involved in the war during the sixties/early
seventies. Also, of course, there were many people involved in the civil
rights movement. While I technically don't fall into the classification
of baby boomer (defined as the generation born between 1946 and 1964),
I'm close enough to the group (I've always said I'm on the cusp - just
as I'm an Aquarius but on the cusp there too - with the Capricorns) to
feel in kin with them, far more than I've ever felt a part of the next
generation really.
I loved the book. I have highlights and tabs throughout because there
were quotes I wanted to remember and things that I didn't know from the
past that I didn't want to lose track of. I recommend this book to
anyone wanting to learn a little more about our history, the history of
the boomers, and anyone who might want to know what some of those
boomers think about that time in history now given what they know about
where we've come. And what do they think about where our country is
today?
Favorite Part: Part of the book is a trip down memory lane, the
rest is insight into those living parallel lives under very different
circumstances.
Least Favorite Part: The sixties are like pornography: easy to
recognize but hard to describe, and Brokaw does a mediocre job at trying
to describe the indescribable And go figure, it's leftward-leaning: two
interviews with Karl Rove and Pat Buchanan-- out of 30 to 40 total--
does not a balanced book make. Watch the Woodstock and Altamont
documentaries and you'll understand more and have a better time doing
it.
Reviewed by: april/chstress
|
 Burn,
by Linda Howard
Summary: It’s true what they say: Money changes
everything. And in Linda Howard’s red-hot novelBurn, the changes come
fast, furious, and filled with the kind of sexy suspense, heart-stopping
romance, beautiful people, and risky business guaranteed to give you
the most bang for your buck. Money certainly changes Jenner Redwine’s
life when she wins a lottery jackpot. But it also costs her plenty: Her
father rips her off and disappears, her fortune-hunting boyfriend soon
becomes her ex, and friends-turned-freeloaders give her the cold
shoulder when she stops paying for everything. Flush with new money,
Jenner can’t imagine ever finding a place in the world of the wealthy.
Seven years later, though, she’s rubbing elbows with the rich, despite
the fact she still feels like a party crasher. Luckily she finds an
ally–and a guide to the rarefied realm of privilege–in shy, kind-hearted
heiress Sydney Hazlett, who quickly becomes Jenner’s confidante and
surrogate sister. When Sydney invites Jenner on a charity cruise aboard
a luxury liner, Jenner reluctantly agrees. But while she’s
expecting–and dreading–two weeks of masquerade balls, art auctions, and
preening glitterati, what she gets is more like a Hitchcock movie than a
Love Boat episode. Taken hostage by a menacing stranger, Jenner must
cooperate in a mysterious cloak-and-dagger scheme–or else. With nowhere
to run, and with Sydney’s life as well as her own at risk, Jenner is
drawn into a game of dizzying intrigue and harrowing danger. But as her
panic gives way to exhilaration, and fear of her captor turns to
fascination, Jenner rediscovers feelings she hasn’t had in years–and
realizes she’s found a life worth living.If she survives.
Category: Fiction
Review: The good news is that Jenner Redwine has won the
lottery and is able to quit her meat-packing job and enjoy life. The bad
news is that after planning to sail on a luxury charity cruise with her
best friend- Sydney Hazlett, both of the young women are kidnapped, and
soon Jenner finds herself involved with a mysterious stranger and his
group, in a scheme involving the ship's owner. There is suspense,
danger, and intrigue as to who exactly the "good guys" really are in
this plot. Factor in Jenner's fascination with her captor, and it makes
for an interesting story.
Favorite Part: I always enjoy Howard's characters, and enjoyed
the witty back and forth dialogue and exchange between Jenner and Cael-
her captor.
Least Favorite Part: I thought there could have been more in
depth background on Cael and his group as to their job experience and
description, and who they were working for, which led to the assignment.
Reviewed by: Randy
|
 Cemetery
Dance, by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child
Summary: Pendergast-the world's most enigmatic FBI
Special Agent-returns to New York City to investigate a murderous
cult. William Smithback, a New York Timesreporter, and his wife Nora
Kelly, a Museum of Natural History archaeologist, are brutally attacked
in their apartment on Manhattan 's Upper West Side . Eyewitnesses claim,
and the security camera confirms, that the assailant was their strange,
sinister neighbor-a man who, by all reports, was already dead and
buried weeks earlier. While Captain Laura Hayward leads the official
investigation, Pendergast and Lieutenant Vincent D'Agosta undertake
their own private-and decidedly unorthodox-quest for the truth. Their
serpentine journey takes them to an enclave of Manhattan they never
imagined could exist: a secretive, reclusive cult of Obeah and vodou
which no outsiders have ever survived.
Category: Scary-Horror
Review: Another book from the Pendergast series, with voodoo, an
obscure cult and NYC history thrown in! FBI agent Pendergast is
investigating the murder of reporter Bill Smithback by a "zombie".
Favorite Part: I love the series! It's smart, often humorous,
and always entertaining! Add the tension between Police Lt. D'Agosta and
Cpt.Laura Hayward, and this book has it all!
Least Favorite Part: Pendergast is not as prominent in this
book, and the zombies are not my cup of tea.
Reviewed by: Sandra
|
 Cold
Comfort Farm, by Stella Gibbons
Summary: Stella Gibbons' novel is a wickedly funny
portrait of British rural life in the 1930s. Flora, a recently orphaned
socialite, moves in with her country relatives, the gloomy Starkadders
of Cold Comfort Farm.
Category: Fiction
Review:
Flora was orphaned at the age nineteen; she had to give up her
“civilized” life in London to live with her relatives on an old country
farm. Upon arriving at Cold Comfort, Flora noticed that something was
wrong—everybody behaved strangely, and strange still, the farm’s ruling
queen, Aunt Ada Doom, remained mysteriously in her room. Armed with the
"Higher Common Sense", Flora decided to change the life of her cousins
and to transform Cold Comfort Farm.
Favorite Part: Classic and funny, the book is beautifully
written. I especially like the detailed descriptions of the natural
scenes.
Least Favorite Part: Flora is quite a snob, and sometimes goofy.
But her wit and humor remind me of Jane Austen's characters.
Reviewed by: Wei J. Cui
|
 Confessions
of A Little Black Gown, by Elizabeth Boyle
Summary: With her latest book, "New York
Times"-bestselling author Boyle begins a two-book, back-to-back romance
set in Regency England. Original.
Category: Romance
Review: This book is about Thalia Langley and her cousin
Pippin, who have broken Captain Dashwell, an American pirate, and also
Pippin's love, out of prison. The British government suspects that this
is the case, and that he is hiding at the home of the Duke of
Hollindrake and his wife Felicity- Thalia's twin sister. They send in
one of their spys- Baron Larken- masquerading as Hollindrake's cousin
and a mild-mannered vicar, to investigate and get rid of Dashwell.
Thalia, upon seeing Larken at her sister's feels an instant
attraction, knowing in her heart that this is no mild-mannered vicar!
Larken, for his part, sensing the attraction as well, is determined to
not let anything stand in the way of his duty to the crown, and
restoring his family's honor.
As a romance novel, the plot was creative, with twists and turns along
the way, and lots of romance blended in the story.
Favorite Part: Were the scenes with Thalia's obnoxious dog
Brutus.
Least Favorite Part: The scenes with Aurora and her talk of "The
Order".
Reviewed by: Randy
|
 Dead
Dancing Women, by Elizabeth Kane Buzzelli
Summary: Escaping the city, and her coed-chasing
ex-husband, part-time journalist and full-time failed mystery writer
Emily Kincaid has moved into a cosy cabin nestled in the woods of
northern Michigan. Emily spends her days writing for the local newspaper
and crafting her latest forgettable novel. Then one morning her quiet
life turns grisly when a severed head tumbles out of her garbage can.
The victim belonged to the Women of the Moon, a group of old ladies who
sing and dance around a bonfire in the woods late at night. The members
claim it's just a harmless act in praise of mother earth, but certain
townspeople don't see it that way. Now, one by one, the women are
turning up dead. Between hosting her ex and his female "assistant",
reluctantly raising a rambunctious new puppy, and forming an uneasy
alliance with the fractious Deputy Dolly, can Emily put an end to the
killings - and somehow preserve her sanity?
Category: Mystery
Review: The story begins with a head coming out of a woman's
trash can. The head belongs to a woman who was part of a nature
worshiping group. The story of finding her murderer is handled with
great humor. The characters are just that and wonderfully put forward.
I highly recommend this book, I couldn't put it down and I look forward
to its sequel.
Favorite Part: The humor and the development of the characters.
Least Favorite Part: That the book came to an end.
Reviewed by: Roberta Taylor
|
 Dead
Floating Lovers, by Elizabeth Kane Buzzelli
Summary: Praise for Dead Dancing Women , the first
Emily Kincaid Mystery: "Every woman who's ever struggled with saying
no, fitting in, and balancing independence against loneliness will adore
first-timer Emily." - Kirkus Buried secrets never stay hidden...
Springtime in northern Michigan: a picture-perfect scene. Until
struggling mystery writer Emily Kincaid gets a visit from her
foul-weather friend Deputy Dolly, who frantically demands Emily's help.
Sandy Lake's receding waters have revealed a bullet-pierced skull, along
with a keepsake that could mean serious trouble for a man Dolly once
loved. As another set of bones surfaces, Emily finds herself wading
through Dolly's painful past, digging into Leetsville's dark history,
and dodging threats from an outraged Odawa Indian-who may be protecting
more than just sacred land. Now, Emily and Dolly are deadset on solving
the crime whether it breaks their hearts . . . or costs them their
lives.
Category: Mystery
Review: This is the second book in the series. Like the first
book, it made me laugh out loud. The author continues to develop the
characters from the first book drawing the reader in even more. I
couldn't put this book down!
Favorite Part: None
Least Favorite Part: None
Reviewed by: Roberta Taylor
|
 Dirty
Blonde, by Lisa Scottoline
Summary: This time, justice is blonde. . . . New York
Times bestselling author Lisa Scottoline delivers a riveting page-turner
about love and murder that starts in the elite chambers of a sexy
female judge and ends on the cold, gritty streets of Philadelphia. Cate
Fante is strong and smart, but when she becomes a federal judge, even
she wonders if she can do the job justice. She's in her thirties, so she
feels as though she's joining the world's most exclusive retirement
village. She worries inwardly that she only looks the part, in a
designer suit donned like overpriced armor. After all, a job described
in the United States Constitution would intimidate anybody. But Cate
keeps her doubts a secret. And, as it happens, much else. For she leads a
dark double life that she hides from everyone, even her best friend.
Then a high-profile case in her courtroom explodes into a shocking
murder-suicide, and it blasts her cover wide open. Overnight the
tabloids tell her secrets, her boyfriend dumps her, and her new career
hangs in tatters. But Cate's troubles are only beginning. An enemy no
one anticipated sends her running for her life - embarking on a journey
that begins in the mystery of her own childhood, where she first learned
to lie. She'll have to fight her way back to the truth, or die trying.
Dirty Blonde is Lisa Scottoline's most suspenseful and gripping
thriller to date. Mixing poignancy with her trademark wit and
wonderfully compelling characters, it showcases her remarkable talents
as never before, and questions whether law and justice are always the
same thing.
Category: Mystery
Review: A judge, who is sitting on a very interesting case,
finds herself caught up in the darker side of life in the evening when
she picks up down-and-out men at local bars.
Favorite Part: Her activities while not on the bench are funny
and sad.
Least Favorite Part: The melodrama of the court room is long and
tedious, but her remarks are witty.
Reviewed by: Krisco
|
 Down
Around Midnight, by Robert Sabbag
Summary: A bestselling author tells the terrifying and
inspiring story of the plane crash he survived Around midnight on June
17, 1979, Air New England flight 248 crashed into the woods on Cape Cod.
The pilot died but the copilot and eight passengers survived with
trauma both physical and emotional. Robert Sabbag, at the height of his
fame for his bestselling book Snowblind, was among them. Down Around
Midnightis SabbagÂ’s gripping account of what exactly happened on that
foggy night and his candid attempt to come to terms with the emotional
ramifications of the crash. He reconnects with the other survivors and
their rescuers for the first time in thirty years, weaving the narrative
between past and present to create a thrilling and affecting story of
survival and recovery. Like the best survivor tales—Jon Krakauer’s
Into Thin Airand Joe Simpson’s Touching the Void—Down Around
Midnightis fast paced and mesmerizing. It is also a meditation on
healing and the things we do to compartmentalize traumatic memories. Few
people experience a plane crash and live to tell the story. Sabbag
brings his striking, economical style to this personal tale of learning
how to remember and how to endure.
Category: Factual-Non-Fiction
Review: Robert Sabbag investigates the aftermath of a plane
accident he survived thirty years ago in which he suffered serious
injuries. He examines his emotional response and personal adjustment
in the immediate weeks and months following the accident, and throughout
the intervening years. He interviews other survivors, to compare
notes. There were eight surviving passengers and one surviving crew
member; the pilot died on impact.
Favorite Part: Having survived a serious car accident myself, I
was intrigued by Sabbag's description of the emotional aftermath of his
traumatic experience. I was also interested to discover the series of
situations which ultimately led to the pilot being in control when his
judgment and focus were seriously compromised, resulting in the crash.
Least Favorite Part: There were no photographs.
Reviewed by: Dory Dickson
|
 Down
Home with the Neely's, by Patrick and Gina Neely
Summary: Meet the Neelys: Pat and Gina, husband-and-wife
team, hosts of their own television show, and proprietors of the
celebrated Memphis and Nashville eateries, Neely's Bar-B-Que. The
Neelys' down-home approach to cooking has earned them the highest
accolades from coast to coast. It has also won them millions of viewers
on the Food Network. Simply put, the Neelys are all about good food and
good times. In this, their eagerly awaited debut cookbook, the Neelys
share the delicious food they have been cooking up for years both at
home and in their restaurants. Pat and Gina hail from families with a
boundless love of cooking and bedrock traditions of sharing meals. At
the Neelys', mealtime is family time, and that means no stinting on "the
sauce." Indeed, that's one of the Neely secrets: the liberal
application of barbeque sauce to almost anything - spaghetti, nachos,
salad, you name it. Of course, there are other secrets as well, and you
will find them all in the pages of Down Home with the Neelys, along with
more than 120 mouthwatering recipes. Here are the tried-and-true
southern recipes that have been passed down from one Neely generation to
the next, including many of their signature dishes, such as Barbeque
Deviled Eggs, Florida Coast Pickled Shrimp, Pat's Wings of Fire, Gina's
Collard Greens, Grandma Jean's Potato Salad, Nana's Southern Gumbo,
Memphis-sized Pulled Pork Sandwiches with Slaw, Get Yo-Man Chicken, and
Sock-It-to-Me Cake. Certainly, no self-respecting southerner would dream
of offering a meal to a guest without a proper drink, so Pat and Gina
have included some of their favorite libations here, too. The Neelys
work, laugh, love, and play harder than any family you'll ever meet.
Their love for good food is infectious, and in Down Home with the
Neelys, they bring their heavenly inspired cooking down to earth for all
to share.
Category: Factual-Non-Fiction
Review: Meet the Neelys: Pat and Gina, husband-and-wife team,
hosts of their own television show, and proprietors of the celebrated
Memphis and Nashville eateries, Neely’s Bar-B-Que.
The Neelys’ down-home approach to cooking has earned them the highest
accolades from coast to coast. It has also won them millions of viewers
on the Food Network. Simply put, the Neelys are all about good food and
good times. In this, their eagerly awaited debut cookbook, the Neelys
share the delicious food they have been cooking up for years both at
home and in their restaurants.
Pat and Gina hail from families with a boundless love of cooking and
bedrock traditions of sharing meals. At the Neelys’, mealtime is family
time, and that means no stinting on “the sauce.” Indeed, that’s one of
the Neely secrets: the liberal application of barbeque sauce to almost
anything—spaghetti, nachos, salad, you name it. Of course, there are
other secrets as well, and you will find them all in the pages of Down
Home with the Neelys, along with more than 120 mouthwatering recipes.
Here are the tried-and-true southern recipes that have been passed down
from one Neely generation to the next, including many of their signature
dishes, such as Barbeque Deviled Eggs, Florida Coast Pickled Shrimp,
Pat’s Wings of Fire, Gina’s Collard Greens, Grandma Jean’s Potato Salad,
Nana’s Southern Gumbo, Memphis-sized Pulled Pork Sandwiches with Slaw,
Get Yo’ Man Chicken, and Sock-It-to-Me Cake. Certainly, no
self-respecting southerner would dream of offering a meal to a guest
without a proper drink, so Pat and Gina have included someof their
favorite libations here, too.
The Neelys work, laugh, love, and play harder than any family you’ll
ever meet. Their love for good food is infectious, and in Down Home with
the Neelys, they bring their heavenly inspired cooking down to earth
for all to share.
Favorite Part: I loved the idea that the Neely's mixed recipes
with family pictures and stories. It makes them seem very down to earth
and homey. I also love their cooking show on the Food Network.
Least Favorite Part: I wish that nutrition information was
included with all of the recipes.
Reviewed by: Lisa Joy
|
 Dragon's
Kin, by Anne McCaffrey and Todd McCaffrey
Summary: Beginning with the classic Dragonriders of Pern,
Anne McCaffrey has created a complex, endlessly fascinating world
uniting humans and great telepathic dragons. Millions of devoted readers
have soared on the glittering wings of Anne’s imagination, following
book by book the evolution of one of science fiction’s most beloved and
honored series. Now, for the first time, Anne has invited another writer
to join her in the skies of Pern, a writer with an intimate knowledge
of Pern and its history: her son, Todd. DRAGON’S KIN Young Kindan has
no expectations other than joining his father in the mines of Camp
Natalon, a coal mining settlement struggling to turn a profit far from
the great Holds where the presence of dragons and their riders means
safety and civilization. Mining is fraught with danger. Fortunately, the
camp has a watch-wher, a creature distantly related to dragons and
uniquely suited to specialized work in the dark, cold mineshafts.
Kindan’s father is the watch-wher’s handler, and his son sometimes helps
him out. But even that important job promises no opportunity outside
the mine. Then disaster strikes. In one terrible instant, Kindan loses
his family and the camp loses its watch-wher. Fathers are replaced by
sons in the mine–except for Kindan, who is taken in by the camp’s new
Harper. Grieving, Kindan finds a measure of solace in a burgeoning
musical talent . . . and in a new friendship with Nuella, a mysterious
girl no one seems to know exists. It is Nuella who assists Kindan when
he is selected to hatch and train a new watch-wher, a job that forces
him to give up his dream of becoming a Harper; and it is Nuella who
helps him give new meaning to his life. Meanwhile, sparked by the
tragedy, long-simmering tensions are dividing the camp. Far below the
surface, a group of resentful miners hides a deadly secret. As warring
factions threaten to explode, Nuella and Kindan begin to discover
unknown talents in the misunderstood watch-wher–talents that could very
well save an entire Hold. During their time teaching the watch-wher, the
two learn some things themselves: that even a seemingly impossible
dream is never completely out of reach . . . and that light can be found
even in darkness.
Category: Fantasy-Science Fiction
Review: Set in a mining hold on Anne McCaffrey's beloved Pern,
this book tells the story of Kindan, a boy who lives in a mining camp.
When tragedy strikes the camp, Kindan must figure out how to survive and
where exactly he fits in, as well as how to deal with the secrets held
by the camp's leader, Natalon. Kindan must learn to navigate the
difficult adult world with diplomacy and cunning, as well as wrestling
with questions about the origin, purpose, and abilities of the
watchwhers, cousins to fire-lizards and dragons. I found getting
acquainted with these oft-hidden nocturnal cousins of Pern's guardians
to be a fascinating and delightful experience, and recommend this novel
to anyone who wants to become more familiar with McCaffrey's intriguing
world of Pern.
Favorite Part: Kindan's notable first meeting with the new
Harper, Master Zist.
Least Favorite Part: I can't think of a least favorite part of
this story.
Reviewed by: Liz
|
 Drood,
by Dan Simmons
Summary: On June 9, 1865, while traveling by train to
London with his secret mistress, 53-year-old Charles Dickens--at the
height of his powers and popularity, the most famous and successful
novelist in the world and perhaps in the history of the world--hurtled
into a disaster that changed his life forever. Did Dickens begin living a
dark double life after the accident? Were his nightly forays into the
worst slums of London and his deepening obsession with corpses, crypts,
murder, opium dens, the use of lime pits to dissolve bodies, and a
hidden subterranean London mere research . . . or something more
terrifying? Just as he did in The Terror, Dan Simmons draws impeccably
from history to create a gloriously engaging and terrifying narrative.
Based on the historical details of Charles Dickens's life and narrated
by Wilkie Collins (Dickens's friend, frequent collaborator, and
Salieri-style secret rival), DROOD explores the still-unsolved mysteries
of the famous author's last years and may provide the key to Dickens's
final, unfinished work: The Mystery of Edwin Drood. Chilling, haunting,
and utterly original, DROOD is Dan Simmons at his powerful best.
Category: Scary-Horror
Review: An account of Victorian times with author Wilkie Collins
and his best friend Charles Dickens. Follows Dickens "fictional life"
over a five year period. Describes underground London in detail.
Favorite Part: According to my research, a great deal of this
book is based on actual events. The author wove two actual people into a
fictional adventure. The tale is interesting, and scary at times.
Least Favorite Part: The author gets long winded in the middle,
and the book is almost 800 pages!
Reviewed by: Sandra
|
 Dune
Road, by Jane Green
Summary: A sparkling new novel from the New York Times
bestselling author of The Beach House Jane Green's last novel, The Beach
House, was an instant New York Times bestseller and captured her
largest audience yet. From the sunny green lawns of Connecticut to the
cafés of London to the sandy beaches of Nantucket, Green draws from her
own life to craft each delicious story and the resulting tales resonate
with women everywhere. Dune Road is another fun and fearless adventure
that will take Green's many fans from laughter to tears and back again.
The novel is set in the beach community of a tony Connecticut town. Our
heroine is a single mom who works for a famous--and famously
reclusive--novelist. When she stumbles on a secret that the great man
has kept hidden for years, she knows that there are plenty of women in
town who would love to get their hands on it--including some who fancy
the writer for themselves. Dune Road is the story of life in an
exclusive beach town after the tourists have left for the summer and the
eccentric (and moneyed) community sticks around. Dune Road will surely
be the book to pack in beach bags next summer.
Category: Fiction
Review: A newly divorced single woman who tries to move forward
with her life. She gets a new job, starts attending a yoga class with
her friend and begins to date again.
Favorite Part: Was the friendships she had with Charlie and
Tracy and how regardless of circumstance they remained true to each
other.
Least Favorite Part: The author is British and sometimes the way
she phrased things was awkward. I thought the book was too predictable
and came up short.
Reviewed by: Kim G
|
 Eyes
of the Dragon, by Stephen King
Summary: The number-one "New York Times" bestselling
prequel to King's Dark Tower series is available again with a beautiful
new package and black-and-white artwork by David Palladini. Reissue.
Copyright © Libri GmbH. All rights reserved.
Category: Fantasy-Science Fiction
Review: Stephen King wrote this novel for his daughter, who
wouldn't read his horror stories and I feel it is one of his better
novels outside of his horror novels.
This story takes place in a far away kingdom. There is a court magician
that is trying to ruin the kingdom. There is an old king with two
sons, one who is strong and will rule the kingdom well and one that is
weak and will not rule as well. This story tells the tale of the two
sons and what happens to them when the king passes on. You think you
know how the story will go but there are several surprises, including
the ending.
For all you Stephen King fans, you will recognize some familiar names
(Roland, The White, Randal Flagg, etc.)For people new to Stephen King or
those who can't read horror, this story is a must-read. It's fast
paced, easy to read, and will hold your interest. Plus it's not really
long, like some of his novels can be. Lastly, there are some great
illustrations that just open up the story more.
Favorite Part: My favorite part comes when you realize one of
the characters is based on Stephen King's daughter and how great of a
character he writes for her.
Least Favorite Part: My least favorite part is the death of the
king. It is sad how he dies and what happens to his sons because of his
death. You need this part of the story to carry it through but I wish
there was a way to tell it without having the king die.
Reviewed by: Erin K
|
 Fingerlickin
15, by Janet Evanovich
Summary: SAVE THE DATE:Tuesday, June 23, 2009EVENT:The
next Stephanie Plum novel, in which complications arise, loyalties are
tested, cliffhangers are resolved, and donuts are eaten.WHERE:Wherever
books are sold across AmericaWHAT TO BRING:Sunglasses, insect repellant,
a flotation device, suntan lotion, cheez-doodles, extra-large towel,
fire extinguisher, baseball bat, lip balm, monkey leash, sixty three
pieces of chewing gum, and one canister of oxygen (don’t ask). Hey, it’s
a Stephanie Plum novel! nbsp; STEPHANIE PLUM'S BURG COMES TO LIFE!nbsp;
WWW.FINGERLICKINFIFTEEN.COM
Category: Mystery
Review: Good old Stephanie Plum trouble!! I think that her last
few have disappointed me in the lack of action.. This one does not.
There are plenty of hijinks and escapades just like some of the first
ones!
Favorite Part: That grandma Mazur and Lula were more in the
forefront of the action.
Least Favorite Part: There were some inconsistencies with what
was written... 1/2 hour to get to NYC from Trenton for instance.
Reviewed by: theresa F
|
 Harry
Truman's Excellent Adventure The True Story of a Great American Road
Trip, by Matthew Algeo
Summary: On June 19, 1953, Harry Truman got up early,
packed the trunk of his Chrysler New Yorker, and did something no other
former president has done before or since: he hit the road. No Secret
Service protection. No traveling press. Just Harry and his childhood
sweetheart Bess, off to visit old friends, take in a Broadway play,
celebrate their wedding anniversary in the Big Apple, and blow a bit of
the money he'd just received to write his memoirs. Hopefully incognito.
In this lively history, author Matthew Algeo meticulously details how
Truman's plan to blend in went wonderfully awry. Fellow diners,
bellhops, cabbies, squealing teenagers at a Future Homemakers of America
convention, and one very by-the-book Pennsylvania state trooper-- all
unknowingly conspired to blow his cover. Algeo revisits the Trumans'
route, staying at the same hotels and eating at the same diners, and
takes readers on brief detours into topics such as the postwar American
auto industry, McCarthyism, the nation's highway system, and the decline
of Main Street America. By the end of the 2,500-mile journey, you will
have a new and heartfelt appreciation for America's last
citizen-president.
Category: Factual-Non-Fiction
Review: This book chronicles a three week road trip taken by
Harry Truman and his wife Bess - in June and July of 1953, shortly after
he left the office of the presidency.
Algeo's sources included interviews with people the Trumans visited
along their way, news clippings and previous publications. He also
followed the route of the Truman's trip - stopping to see restaurants,
motels, hotels etc. which the former first couple had visited.
This was a highly enjoyable read! Algeo provided sufficient background
information to give the reader an idea of the situations and the people
the Trumans encountered along their way.
Favorite Part: The Trumans rubbed shoulders with an interesting
mix of people along their way - from gas station attendants and
waitresses, to heads of state. A clear picture of the Trumans'
personalities emerged, as their courteous demeanor and bantering
dialogue was related. The photographs accompanying the text reinforced
the historic time frame of their trip.
Least Favorite Part: I did not have a least favorite part of the
book. The story stayed interesting, and did not drag at any point.
The author did not repeat himself in a needless way - but chose a series
of vignettes which illustrated the tenor of the Trumans' trip, in an
ultimately satisfactory way.
Reviewed by: Dory Dickson
|
 Healing
Magic, by Robin Rose Bennett
Summary: Follow the path to physical and spiritual
health with this how-to manual filled with ancient lore and wisdom.
Using stories, songs, rituals, recipes, meditations, and trance
journeys, it suggests more than 100 ways to practice the art of magical
healing. Find out how to reconnect with the earth and draw on its
energy, interact with the power of the seven chakras, make use of moon
magic and women’s wisdom, prepare herbal infusions and baths, work with
the medicine wheel, and cast spells for love and wealth. No matter what
your beliefs, this guidebook will open your heart and mind to the joys
of everyday life.
Category: Other-Miscellaneous
Review: This is an informative book for any one wanting to live
in a more earth conscious way. The author follows the tradition of
Wicca but it is a good guide for anyone wanting to live in better
contact with the natural world.
Favorite Part: None
Least Favorite Part: None
Reviewed by: Roberta Taylor
|
 Hope
In A Jar, by Beth Harbison
Summary: Twenty years ago, Allie Denty was the pretty one
and her best friend Olivia Pelham was the smart one. Throughout high
school, they were inseparable... until a vicious rumor about Olivia - a
rumor too close to the truth - ended their friendship. Now, on the eve
of their twentieth high school reunion, Allie, a temp worker, finds
herself suddenly single, a little chubby, and feeling old. Olivia, a
cool and successful magazine beauty editor in New York, realizes she's
lonely, and is finally ready to face her demons. Sometimes hope lives in
the future; sometimes it comes from the past; and sometimes, when every
stupid thing goes wrong, it comes from a prettily packaged jar filled
with scented cream and promises. Beth Harbison has done it again. A
hilarious and touching novel about friendship, Love's Baby Soft perfume,
Watermelon Lip Smackers, bad run-ins with Sun-In, and the healing power
of "Gee Your Hair Smells Terrific." Hope in a Jar: we all need it.
Category: Fiction
Review: Two best friends- Olivia Pelham and Allie Denty-
inseparable while young, have not seen each other in twenty years, all
because of a vicious rumor. But at their 20th high school reunion, they
reconnect. Roles have reversed. Allie, the pretty one in high school, is
single, overweight, and under confident. Olivia, the smart one, is now a
successful beauty editor in New York.
But as Harbison shows in this novel about true friendship and
relationships, there is always hope, and sometimes it doesn't hurt to
not only have friends, but to try and find a little hope in that little
jar of face cream or that package of make-up, to give us that extra
boost of confidence that everybody needs now and again.
Favorite Part: I really enjoyed the references to beauty
products and their commercials at the beginning of each chapter in the
book. I also thought the interaction of the characters in high school
was so typical of the different cliques.
Least Favorite Part: I thought that the confrontation with
Vickie should have been stronger toward the end of the story.
Reviewed by: Randy
|
John
Steinbeck, Writer: A Biography, by Jackson J. Benson
Category: Biography-Life Events
Review: Like a fine artist, Dr. Jackson Benson painted an
extraordinary portrait of John Steinbeck, the Nobel Prize winner. This
book tells in detail every aspect of Steinbeck’s life — his adventurous
childhood in Salinas California, his uneventful college life at
Stanford, his hard work as a hired hand, his struggle to pursue his
dream as a writer, his reluctance to fame and dislike of publicity, his
bitterness toward media and critics and his stubbornness in protecting
his intellectual independence. This book is huge--over a thousand pages,
but it is not boring. Rather, it is quite entertaining, enriching, and
sometimes moving.
Favorite Part: Most people know Steinbeck as one of the
greatest American writers of the Twentieth Century, but very few know
that he was also a man of great integrity. Steinbeck had many great
qualities, among which were his loyalty, modesty, honesty and sense of
justice. I like Steinbeck as an honorable man as much as his literary
masterpieces.
Least Favorite Part: None.
Reviewed by: Melanie-Margie |
 Mad
River Road, by Joy Fielding
Summary: "New York Times" bestselling author Joy Fielding
returns with "Mad River Road," a sexy, suspenseful novel of murder,
romance, and revenge. After spending a year in prison, Ralph Fisher has
explicit plans for his first night of freedom: tonight, someone will be
held accountable. He goes to murderous lengths to obtain the address of
his former wife -- the woman he blames for his fate and against whom he
has sworn vengeance. Determined to bring her to his idea of justice,
Ralph's next step is to travel from Florida's sandy beaches to Dayton,
Ohio, where his ex-wife is struggling to make ends meet on Mad River
Road. Also in Florida, Jamie Kellogg wakes from an agonizing nightmare
of her mother's funeral, and assesses her life: a pretty but
unaccomplished twenty-nine-year-old woman in a dead-end job, with an
ex-husband in Atlanta, a married lover in the hospital, and a virtual
stranger in her bed. But this stranger is everything the previous men in
her life weren't: tender, attentive, and adventurous. After convincing
Jamie to quit her miserable job and ditch her judgmental, perfectionist
sister, he proposes a romantic getaway. While Jamie wonders if this
thrilling man might finally be her Prince Charming, they plan a road
trip to visit his son, who lives with his mother on a street called Mad
River Road.... As riveting and beguiling as Joy Fielding's previous
bestselling novels, which include "Whispers and Lies, Lost," and
"Puppet, Mad River Road" is a novel about courage, truth, and the
strength that comes only when you believe in yourself.
Category: Fiction
Review: After spending a year in prison, Ralph Fisher has
explicit plans for his first night of freedom: tonight, someone will be
held accountable. He goes to murderous lengths to obtain the address of
his former wife -- the woman he blames for his fate and against whom he
has sworn vengeance. Determined to bring her to his idea of justice,
Ralph's next step is to travel from Florida's sandy beaches to Dayton,
Ohio, where his ex-wife is struggling to make ends meet on Mad River
Road.
Favorite Part: The ending of this book was my favorite because I
love stories with a twist - that's all I'll say - I don't want to give
it away!
Least Favorite Part: I didn't care for the violent nature of a
few scenes in the book, although I think it was necessary to show how
monstrous Ralph really is.
Reviewed by: Lisa Joy
|
 March,
by Geraldine Brooks
Summary: As the North reels under a series of unexpected
defeats during the dark first year of the war, one man leaves behind his
family to aid the Union cause. His experiences will utterly change his
marriage and challenge his most ardently held beliefs. Riveting and
elegant as it is meticulously researched, Marchis an extraordinary novel
woven out of the lore of American history.From Louisa May AlcottÂ’s
beloved classic Little Women, Geraldine Brooks has taken the character
of the absent father, March, who has gone off to war, leaving his wife
and daughters to make do in mean times. To evoke him, Brooks turned to
the journals and letters of Bronson Alcott, Louisa May’s father—a
friend and confidant of Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. In
her telling, March emerges as an idealistic chaplain in the little known
backwaters of a war that will test his faith in himself and in the
Union cause as he learns that his side, too, is capable of acts of
barbarism and racism. As he recovers from a near mortal illness, he must
reassemble his shattered mind and body and find a way to reconnect with
a wife and daughters who have no idea of the ordeals he has been
through.Spanning the vibrant intellectual world of Concord and the
sensuous antebellum South, Marchadds adult resonance to AlcottÂ’s
optimistic childrenÂ’s tale to portray the moral complexity of war, and a
marriage tested by the demands of extreme idealism—and by a dangerous
and illicit attraction. A lushly written, wholly original tale steeped
in the details of another time, Marchsecures Geraldine BrooksÂ’s place
as an internationally renowned author of historical fiction.
Category: Fiction
Review: The thoughts and events occurring to Mr. March -- the
mostly absent father from Louisa May Alcott's "Little Women" -- during
his youth and then during his service in the Civil War.
Favorite Part: The character of Marmee -- the angelic mother
from "Little Women". Here, she is given three dimensions and flaws, and
her fierce philosophies are given great context.
Least Favorite Part: Every now and then the girls from "Little
Women" are mentioned by name, and I found this unnecessary and
distracting. Almost as if the author needed to remind us that she was
basing this story on a character from another story.
Reviewed by: Rachel
|
 My
Sisters Keeper, by Jodi Picolt
Summary: New York Timesbestselling author Jodi Picoult is
widely acclaimed for her keen insights into the hearts and minds of
real people. Now she tells the emotionally riveting story of a family
torn apart by conflicting needs and a passionate love that triumphs over
human weakness.Anna is not sick, but she might as well be. By age
thirteen, she has undergone countless surgeries, transfusions, and shots
so that her older sister, Kate, can somehow fight the leukemia that has
plagued her since childhood. The product of preimplantation genetic
diagnosis, Anna was conceived as a bone marrow match for Kate -- a life
and a role that she has never challenged...until now. Like most
teenagers, Anna is beginning to question who she truly is. But unlike
most teenagers, she has always been defined in terms of her sister --
and so Anna makes a decision that for most would be unthinkable, a
decision that will tear her family apart and have perhaps fatal
consequences for the sister she loves.My Sister's Keeperexamines what it
means to be a good parent, a good sister, a good person. Is it morally
correct to do whatever it takes to save a child's life, even if that
means infringing upon the rights of another? Is it worth trying to
discover who you really are, if that quest makes you like yourself less?
Should you follow your own heart, or let others lead you? Once again,
inMy Sister's Keeper,Jodi Picoult tackles a controversial real-life
subject with grace, wisdom, and sensitivity.
Category: Fiction
Review: A young girl comes to realize that she has been born to
save her older sister life. She understand why then rebels since she has
her own life to live and should not be held responsible for the sister
she loves.
Favorite Part: How she goes out and finds a lawyer who
understands her and he is willing to work with her.
Least Favorite Part: What happens to her.
Reviewed by: Krisco
|
 New
Moon, by Stephenie Meyer
Summary: I FELT LIKE I WAS TRAPPED IN ONE OF THOSE
TERRIFYING NIGHTMARES. For Bella Swan, there is one thing more important
than life itself: Edward Cullen. But being in love with a vampire is
even more dangerous than Bella ever could have imagined. Edward has
already rescued Bella from the clutches of one evil vampire, but now, as
their daring relationship threatens all that is near and dear to them,
they realize their troubles may be just beginning. . . . Legions of
readers entranced by the New York Times bestseller Twilight are hungry
for the continuing story of star-crossed lovers Bella and Edward. In New
Moon, Stephenie Meyer delivers another irresistible combination of
romance and suspense with a supernatural spin. Passionate, riveting, and
full of surprising twists and turns, this vampire love saga is well on
its way to literary immortality.
Category: Other-Miscellaneous
Review: Star-crossed lovers Bella and Edward find themselves
facing new obstacles, including a devastating separation, the mysterious
appearance of dangerous wolves roaming the forest, a terrifying threat
of revenge from a female vampire and a deliciously sinister encounter
with Italy's reigning royal family of vampires. This story is
passionate, riveting, and full of surprising twists and turns. Looking
forward to reading Eclipse, the next installment of this love story.
Favorite Part: My favorite part was when Bella and Edward were
reunited in Italy.
Least Favorite Part: My least favorite part was when Edward left
Bella because he felt it would keep her out of harm.
Reviewed by: Suzanne Musser
|
 Nightime
Is My Time, by Mary Higgins Clark
Summary: "The definition of an owl had always pleased
him: a night bird of prey...sharp talons and soft plumage which permits
noiseless flight...applied figuratively to a person of nocturnal habits.
'I am The Owl,' he would whisper to himself after he had selected his
prey, 'and nighttime is my time.'"Jean Sheridan, a college dean and
prominent historian, sets out to her hometown in Cornwall-on- Hudson,
New York, to attend the twenty-year reunion of alumni of Stonecroft
Academy, where she is to be honored along with six other members of her
class. There is, however, something uneasy in the air: one woman in the
group about to be feted, Alison Kendall, a beautiful, high-powered
Hollywood agent, died just a few days before, drowned in her pool during
an early- morning swim, the fifth woman in the class whose life has
come to a sudden, mysterious end.Also adding to Jean's sense of unease
is a taunting, anonymous fax she has just received, referring to her
daughter, Lily, a child she had given up for adoption twenty years ago,
the offspring of a romance between her and a West Point cadet killed in
an accident a week before graduation. She had always kept the child's
existence a secret, so who has found out? And why the implied threat
now?Struggling to conceal her fears, Jean arrives at the hotel where the
reunion is being held. One by one she sees the other honorees,
including Laura Wilcox, the class beauty, whose dazzling exterior belies
the fact that her television career is sinking, and the four men who,
like Jean, had spent four bitterly unhappy years at Stonecroft: Carter
(formerly Howie) Stewart, an acerbic and successful playwright, once the
class nerd; renowned child psychiatrist and talk-show celebrity Mark
Fleischman, who has never been able to resolve the pain of his own
adolescence; Gordon Amory, a media mogul, hardly recognizable as the
awkward boy who was the butt of cruel jokes; Robby Brent, a popular
comedian, whose caustic humor emanates from a childhood of rejection.
Omnipresent is an old classmate, Jack Emerson, the chairman of the
reunion, whose reasons for spearheading the event may be motivated by
something other than class spirit.At the award dinner, Jean is
introduced to Sam Deegan, a detective obsessed for years by the unsolved
murder of a young woman in Cornwall, who may also hold the key to the
identity of the Stonecroft killer and the source of the anonymous threat
to her child. She does not suspect that among the distinguished people
she is greeting is The Owl, a murderer nearing the countdown on his
mission of vengeance against the Stonecroft women who had mocked and
humiliated him, with Jean his final intended victim.In Nighttime Is My
Time, Mary Higgins Clark creates a riveting novel of psychological
suspense, penetrating behind the pervading façade of status and
respectability to depict the mind of a killer.
Category: Mystery
Review: An investigation into murders that have occurred over a
20 year period. The victims were all part of the same school that
reunites in their reunion.
Favorite Part: I enjoyed the intrigue. The murderer is
discovered but the suspense is finding out the conclusion.
Least Favorite Part: None
Reviewed by: TD
|
 Nineteen
Minutes, by Jodi Picolt
Summary: In nineteen minutes, you can mow the front lawn,
color your hair, watch a third of a hockey game. In nineteen minutes,
you can bake scones or get a tooth filled by a dentist; you can fold
laundry for a family of five....In nineteen minutes, you can stop the
world, or you can just jump off it. In nineteen minutes, you can get
revenge.Sterling is a small, ordinary New Hampshire town where nothing
ever happens -- until the day its complacency is shattered by a shocking
act of violence. In the aftermath, the town's residents must not only
seek justice in order to begin healing but also come to terms with the
role they played in the tragedy. For them, the lines between truth and
fiction, right and wrong, insider and outsider have been obscured
forever. Josie Cormier, the teenage daughter of the judge sitting on the
case, could be the state's best witness, but she can't remember what
happened in front of her own eyes. And as the trial progresses, fault
lines between the high school and the adult community begin to show,
destroying the closest of friendships and families.Nineteen MinutesisNew
York Timesbestselling author Jodi Picoult's most raw, honest, and
important novel yet. Told with the straightforward style for which she
has become known, it asks simple questions that have no easy answers:
Can your own child become a mystery to you? What does it mean to be
different in our society? Is it ever okay for a victim to strike back?
And who -- if anyone -- has the right to judge someone else?
Category: Fiction
Review: A young boy is bullied all his life and seeks revenge on
the High School he attends.
Favorite Part: Understanding the families behind these
characters. We so often forget that these damaged people come from
others who love them and think they have done their best by them.
Least Favorite Part: Was when the young girl featured chooses to
be popular rather than stand by her friend.
Reviewed by: Krisco
|
 Old
Path, white clouds:walking in the footsteps..., by Thich
Nhat Hanh
Summary: Drawn from original sources, this classic
recounting of the life of Gautama Buddha gracefully covers the course of
eighty years.
Category: Biography-Life Events
Review: This is a story of Buddha. Buddha means "the enlightened
one" It was given by his followers out of admiration and respect.
Buddha's birth name was Siddhartha Gautama. He gave up his royal title
as a Prince in order to find enlightenment, with which he hoped to
relieve people of their suffering. Through the stories of Buddha's
life--which is full of philosophical wonders--Old Path introduces what
Buddhism is about.
Favorite Part: In general, Buddha was a human being, not God.
He believed that everyone could become a Buddha if he or she were as
devoted and determined. He also believed in the coexistence of
religions. He encouraged his disciples and followers to respect and
learn from other religions.
To be specific, I was very much impressed by Buddha's willpower to
conquer fear (Chapter 15: Forest Ascetic). His calm, kind and graceful
manner gave one a sense of tranquility, which not only affected those
who met him but also had a calming effect on wild animals. His breathing
method has such a soothing effect that it is beneficial to both body
and mind. Focus on your breath, live in your present, and be at peace
with the world.
Least Favorite Part: Some of the sections were repetitive and
boring.
Reviewed by: Wei J. Cui
|
 One
Piece, by Eiichirō Oda
Summary: In the jungle on the trail of her missing
brother, Grace Carlyle never expects to find a world of mythological
creatures, guarded by a sword-wielding Atlantean sworn kill anyone who
strays into the lost city's boundaries. Now, he finds himself tempted to
betray his centuries-old vow. Reissue.
Category: Adventure
Review: In the Golden Age of pirates Golden Rogers, the greatest
of the pirates, was about to be executed when he made a challenge to
all the pirates of the world; to find the great one piece of treasure
that he has hidden in the Grand Line, the most dangerous destination in
the seas. Years later a young aspiring pirate, Monkey D. Luffy sets sail
to find the one piece and become king of the pirates.
Favorite Part: The authors great sense of humor. Each member of
the pirate crew that Luffy forms has his or her own endearing quirks and
some of the scenarios they land in are downright hysterical.
Least Favorite Part: The pattern of the story starts to get
repetitive after a while. At times it feels as though the story is
always, sail to and island, defeat an evil pirate or overlord, then
repeat.
Reviewed by: Lydia Eaves
|
 Prairie
Tale, by Melissa Gilbert
Summary: A fascinating, heartbreaking, and ultimately
uplifting tale of self-discovery from the beloved actress who earned a
permanent place in the hearts of millions when she was just a child. To
fans of the hugely successful television series Little House on the
Prairie, Melissa Gilbert grew up in a fantasy world with a
larger-than-life father, friends and family she could count on, and
plenty of animals to play with. Children across the country dreamed of
the Ingalls' idyllic life--and so did Melissa. She was a natural on
camera, but behind the scenes, life was more complicated. Adopted as a
baby into a legendary show business family, Melissa wrestled with
questions about her identity and struggled to maintain an image of
perfection her mother created and enforced. Only after years of
substance abuse, dysfunctional relationships, and made-for-television
movies did she begin to figure out who she really was. With candor and
humor, the cherished actress traces her complicated journey from
buck-toothed Laura "Half-pint" Ingalls to Hollywood starlet, wife, and
mother. She partied with the Brat Pack, dated heartthrobs like Rob Lowe
and bad boys like Billy Idol, and began a self-destructive pattern of
addiction and codependence. Left in debt after her first marriage, and
struggling to create some sense of stability, she eventually realized
that her career on television had earned her popularity, admiration, and
love from everyone but herself. Through hard work, tenacity, sobriety,
and the blessings of a solid marriage, Melissa has accepted her many
different identities and learned to laugh, cry, and forgive in new ways.
Women everywhere may have idolized her charming life on Little House on
the Prairie, but Melissa's own unexpectedly honest, imperfect, and
down-to-earth story is an inspiration.
Category: Biography-Life Events
Review: Little House on the Prairie Star Melissa Gilbert, her
growing up as a Child star. She told all about her relationships with
different stars and her recovery from alcohol.
Favorite Part: Her relationship with Rob Lowe.
Least Favorite Part: Her bizarre mother.
Reviewed by: Kim G
|
 Quiet
Water New Jersey, by Kathy Kenley
Summary: This new edition of AMC's popularQuiet Water
New Jerseyis completely updated, featuring more than 50 quiet water
tours of the state's most stunning paddling destinations.
Category: Factual-Non-Fiction
Review: With hundreds of lakes and ponds within a few hours
drive from both New York City and Philadelphia, New Jersey is a quiet
water paddler's paradise. In this revised edition of AMC's popular
paddling guide, you'll discover pristine mountain lakes, salt and
freshwater marshes, fragrant cedar swamps, and more as paddler Kathy
Kenley shares more than 50 of her favorite calm-water trips. Beginners
and experienced paddlers alike will appreciate the detailed tour
descriptions-now made even easier to use with the addition of new
summaries that detail the time, distance, difficulty, and special
features of each destination-and notes on the flora and fauna you can
expect to see.
Favorite Part: There are many details regarding each paddling
site including maps. Also, the book is broken down geographically to
make it easier to find a site. I am a new kayaker and it really helps
find places to go in the area.
Least Favorite Part: I wish there were more places to paddle in
my area!
Reviewed by: Lisa Joy
|
 Red
Leaves, by Thomas H. Cook
Summary: 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
Keith, Eric must counsel 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? Red Leaves is a
story of broken trust and one man's heroic effort to hold fast the ties
that bind him to everything he loves.
Category: Mystery
Review: When Eric Moore's teenaged son, Keith, becomes the
target of a kidnapping investigation after a young girl Keith was
babysitting disappears, Eric struggles with his conscience. How well
does he know his son?
Favorite Part: There's a moral in here about the dangerous
powers of assumption. A fascinating and disturbing read.
Least Favorite Part: XXX
Reviewed by: Christina Chichester
|
 Remember
Me, by Sophiw Kinsella
Summary: With the same wicked humor and delicious charm
that have won her millions of devoted fans, Sophie Kinsella, author of
the #1New York TimesbestsellerShopaholic & Baby, returns with an
irresistible new novel and a fresh new heroine who finds herself in a
life-changing and utterly hilarious predicament…. When
twenty-eight-year-old Lexi Smart wakes up in a London hospital, she’s in
for a big surprise. Her teeth are perfect. Her body is toned. Her
handbag is Vuitton. Having survived a car accident—in a Mercedes no
less—Lexi has lost a big chunk of her memory, three years to be exact,
and she’s about to find out just how much things have changed. Somehow
Lexi went from a twenty-five-year-old working girl to a corporate big
shot with a sleek new loft, a personal assistant, a carb-free diet, and a
set of glamorous new friends. And who is this gorgeous husband—who also
happens to be a multimillionaire? With her mind still stuck three years
in reverse, Lexi greets this brave new world determined to be the
person she…well, seems to be. That is, until an adorably
disheveled architect drops the biggest bombshell of all. Suddenly Lexi
is scrambling to catch her balance. Her new life, it turns out, comes
complete with secrets, schemes, and intrigue. How on earth did all this
happen? Will she ever remember? And what will happen when she does?
From the Hardcover edition.
Category: Fiction
Review: A young woman who has 3 great friends, a jerky boyfriend
and a fun life. She has a car accident and loses her memory. (She)wakes
up to find she is married, rich, and has a fabulous career. She is of
course delighted with all of these changes until she realizes she has
lost her best friends. She tries to put the pieces of her life back
together, and that is where it gets really good. Written with an English
touch, it's a fun read.
Favorite Part: When she speaks with loser Dave, the ex
boyfriend.
Least Favorite Part: Not sure if I have a lest favorite, but
possible her boss would qualify for that position.
Reviewed by: Krisco
|
 Revenge
of the Middle-Aged Woman, by Elizabeth Buchan
Summary: Full of humor, clever insight, and a whimsical
sense of the absurd, "Revenge of the Middle-Aged Woman" is an
irresistible and finely-written fantasy for anyone who ever wondered
what a certain age would look like from beyond the looking-glass--and
who will find it ripe with promise that the best days are yet to come.
Category: Fiction
Review: A woman, who seemingly has it all together, has raised
her two young adult children, enjoys her job & feels safest with her
husband and their home. Out of the blue, her husband tells her he is
leaving for her much younger assistant. Shortly, her assistant takes
her job as well. Her pain is raw & real but little by little she
finds her purpose & begins a slow recovery.
Favorite Part: The humor with which her friends try to draw her
out of it.
Least Favorite Part: The selfishness & ego-centric nature of
her husband to hurt, humiliate & disregard all the years together.
Reviewed by: Theresa
|
 Run
for Your Life (Mike Bennett), by James Patterson
Summary: A calculating killer who calls himself The
Teacher is taking on New York City, killing the powerful and the
arrogant. His message is clear: remember your manners or suffer the
consequences! For some, it seems that the rich are finally getting what
they deserve. For New York's elite, it is a call to terror. Only one
man can tackle such a high-profile case: Detective Mike Bennett. The
pressure is enough for anyone, but Mike also has to care for his 10
children-all of whom have come down with virulent flu at once!
Discovering a secret pattern in The Teacher's lessons, Detective Bennett
realizes he has just hours to save New York from the greatest
disaster in its history. From the #1 bestselling author comes BE AFRAID,
the continuation of his newest, electrifying series.
Category: Fiction
Review: This is Patterson's second novel featuring the
character, Mike Bennett. In this episode, Bennett has to battle finding a
cunning serial killer, who calls himself, "The Teacher". In between
this mystery, he is attempting to be a single parent to his ten
children. The detective must take clues from each seemingly random
murder to discover who this "Teacher" is before capturing him.
Favorite Part: The story keeps one's interest in that it does
not reveal the killer's true motivation and intent until the end.
Least Favorite Part: There was no least favorite part as
Patterson keeps the reader turning the page to discover what happens
next.
Reviewed by: Roger
|
 S'mores:
Gourmet Treats for Every Occasion, by Lisa Adams
Summary: "S'mores" takes the classic campfire
treat-graham cracker, marshmallow, andhocolate melted together in a
deliciously gooey mess - to an unbelievablyummy new level! "S'mores"
shares dozens of delightful recipes that useruits, chocolates of every
variety, sauces, breads, cookies and more tombellish the classic smore
and add variety, creativity, and fun to the fire.dams also includes
sidebars about finding the best ingredients, creatingour own unique
recipes, campfire cookery, roasting marshmallows, meltinghocolate, and
indoor cooking tips and techniques.
Category: Factual-Non-Fiction
Review: This is a wonderful cookbook full of ideas for
scrumptious treats. It will inspire you to get creative with
marshmallows year round. Included are cooking/melting tips for quickly
and easily preparing S'mores around a campfire or grill, as well as in
an oven or microwave.
Favorite Part: You can prepare an entire cookie sheet full of
many of the varieties of S'mores featured in this cookbook in a 350
degree oven in 5 minutes or less with very good results.
Least Favorite Part: I take issue with the title of this
cookbook. No matter how tasty or unique the recipes, I would not define
S'mores as a gourmet treat.
Reviewed by: Gail
|
 Skeleton
Canyon, by JA Jance
Summary: "It was love that brought young Brianna "Bree"
O'Brien to Skeleton Canyon for a romantic tryst with her adoring
boyfriend, Ignacio Ybarra - a rendezvous the beautiful teenager would
never live to experience." "It was love also that compelled Joanna Brady
to seek - and win - the office of Cochise Country Sheriff: love of her
murdered policeman husband, whose memory she was honoring; of her little
daughter Jenny, for whom she was now solely responsible; and for
justice and truth." "It is the truth about that terrible night in
Skeleton Canyon - a night that witnessed the cruel death of an innocent
girl - that now concerns Joanna, even as she struggles to come to terms
with her own enduring grief and loneliness. Bree's distraught parents
are convinced Ignacio is the killer - that the boy was enraged by their
refusal to condone his relationship with their daughter." "But the
sudden disappearance of a friend - combined with startling revelations
gleaned from a chance encounter - suggests to Sheriff Brady that there
is much more involved in this case than passionate anger and forbidden
love. And her investigation is beginning to expose a complex web of
crime and deception that stretches from an isolated desert canyon to the
luxurious O'Brien family compound, Sombra del San Jose. For nothing is
exactly as it seems in either locality. And Joanna is suddenly in danger
of discovering first-hand that lies, both criminal and seemingly
innocent alike, can have devastating - and deadly - consequences."--BOOK
JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
Category: Mystery
Review: Brianna O'Brien never returns from Skeleton Canyon,
where she had waited under cover of darkness to rendezvous, à la Juliet
and Romeo, with her boyfriend, Ignacio Ybarra. In investigating
Brianna's murder, Sheriff Joanna Brady must confront both the blatant
racism of the O'Brien family--horrified to discover that their daughter
could have been involved with a Mexican boy--and the family's dark past.
Favorite Part: I really love all of the Joanne Brady series so
far. Every book is exciting to the point that you root for Joanna
wholeheartedly. The stories are believable and realistic.
Least Favorite Part: I am disappointed when the book ends
because it always pulls me in.
Reviewed by: Lisa Joy
|
 Star
Trek - Vulcan's Heart, by Josepha Sherman and Susan Shwartz
Summary: Captain Spock has left Starfleet to become
Ambassador Spock, and has been bonded in a Vulcan engagement ceremony to
the beautiful Commander Saavik. A call from an old enemy, now a friend,
sends him off on a dangerous mission to the planet Romulus, where
society is facing collapse unless Spock and Saavik can put aside their
mating drives long enough to warn the Klingons of a sneak attack on the
outpost at Narrendra III. Meanwhile, Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the
U.S.S. Stargazer is sent to recover Spock and Saavik. But is his out to
aid them, or to stop them from completing a mission which has put the
peace of the galaxy at risk?
Category: Fantasy-Science Fiction
Review: Spock, now a career diplomat, receives a covert plea
from Romulan Commander Charvanek to help the Romulan empire resist its
own power-mad, bloodthirsty, and honorless praetor, Dralath. Spock
answers the call, but the chief of Starfleet Intelligence, Captain
Uhura, detects his departure and sends Spock's betrothed, Commander
Saavik, after him as backup. The Vulcans plunge into a hotbed of deadly
intrigue, in the middle of which they develop pon farr, the Vulcan
mating frenzy that can be fatal if not consummated. Still, both fight it
and risk their lives, Spock to aid a rebellion that overthrows Praetor
Dalath, and Saavik to carry warning of Dalath's military adventurism so
that it can be frustrated by yet another incarnation of the Enterprise,
as well as the Stargazer, under the command of young Captain Jean-Luc
Picard.
Favorite Part: The intrigue involved in overthrowing the corrupt
Romulan government.
Least Favorite Part: None
Reviewed by: Les
|
 Sticks
and scones, by Diane Mott Davidson
Summary: TheNew York Timesbestselling author ofTough
Cookiedishes up another tasty treat of murder and mystery -- as caterer
turned sleuth Goldy Schulz stirs up a heap of trouble while trying not
to get burned by a killer who is striking far too close to home.... For
Colorado caterer Goldy Schulz, accepting a series of bookings at Hyde
Castle is like a dream come true. It's not every day that she gets to
cook authentic Elizabethan fare -- especially at a real castle that was
brought over from England and reassembled stone by stone in Aspen
Meadow. Goldy is determined that everything will go right -- which is
why, she figures later, everything went terribly wrong. It all started
before dawn on the day of the first Anglophile lunch, when Goldy had
just about the rudest awakening possible: a shotgun blast through her
living room window. With her home now a crime scene and her cop husband,
Tom, out of town searching for a fugitive hijacker, Goldy has no choice
but to show up at the castle -- six hours early. And it doesn't take
her long to realize that her early morning wake-up call was only the
beginning.... While out checking on the tables for the luncheon, Goldy
spots something strange lying in the Cottonwood Creek. Upon closer
inspection, she can see that it is a body, clad in flannel and shot
through the head. Goldy quickly dials 911, but before the police arrive,
shots ring out for the second time that day -- and this time, someone
Goldy loves is right in the line of fire. Now Goldy has to face tough
question: Was the victim killed by his partners in crime to keep him
quiet -- and would they go so far to target Goldy herself? Could Tom's
investigation have trigger a murder? Or could that shots be completely
unrelated, perhaps coming at the hands of Goldy's violent and recently
paroled ex-husband? With her own life in peril, the last thing Goldy
wants to think about is Shakespeare's Steak Pie, 911 Chocolate Emergency
Cookies, or Damsel-in-Distress Plum Tart. But with death peering around
every corner, she has no choice but to cook up some crime-solving
solutions -- before the only dish that's left on her menu is murder....
Category: Mystery
Review: This book has the reoccurring character of Goldy Schulz,
who is the chef-owner of a catering service. As usual there is a
murder and she assists her police detective in solving it as well as
cooking for her latest job.
Favorite Part: I like the idea of the various recipes, which she
prepares for the events, being included in the book. The name of the
recipes have cute tie-in with the event, usually.
Least Favorite Part: Choosing a recipe to try
Reviewed by: Paula
|
 Storm
Cycle, by Iris Johansen/Roy Johansen
Summary: Rachel Kirby is a computer genius whose personal
life is hell. While she continues to climb the corporate ranks, her
beloved twin sister is plagued by a chronic illness that will eventually
kill her, leaving Rachel all alone. Serendipity in the form of a
mysterious email lands in Rachel's lap one day, but not without a price.
Thousands of miles away, archeologist John Tanek sits trapped inside a
collapsed Egyptian tomb with a functioning laptop. He knows that Rachel
is the only person who can help him, but time is quickly running out. It
turns out the collapse was no accident. John has discovered something
very valuable in that tomb, something that humankind has been searching
for throughout history, something that Rachel could use as it may hold
the key to her sister's cure. While Rachel orchestrates his rescue, she
soon finds herself trapped in a dangerous web of deceit and murder. Can
she put her trust in John Tanek? She'd do anything to save her sister.
Will they both live long enough to unravel the ancient mystery they've
found inside the tomb? With Johansen and Johansen's fast-paced action,
charismatic characters, and impeccable research, Storm Cycle will carry
you away.
Category: Fiction
Review: Rachel Kirby is a computer genius, working at Ardmore
University, in charge of a "mega-computer" nicknamed "Jonesy". She is
also obsessed with finding a cure for her sister's degenerative Krabbes
disease, knowing that time is running out. Walking to the computer lab- a
sniper tries to assassinate Rachel, grazing her forehead, and if that
isn't strange and scary enough, she receives a strange e-mail from a
John Tanek. Tanek, who is trapped inside an Egyptian tomb, requests her
help and tells her that he has found something in that tomb that is
valuable enough to help Allie. Rachel, willing to try anything to help
her sister, learns to trust the brilliant and daredevil Tanek, and along
with billionaire Hal Demanski, and sister Allie, embarks on a quest to
learn the valuable secrets in the tomb, and the key to a cure that will
not only help Allie, but all of mankind.
This thriller will keep you interested from beginning to end with all
its action, such as the chase given by Tanek's nemesis Dawson to uncover
the secrets before Tanek, Rachel, and the group.
Favorite Part: The research was great and I enjoyed all the
descriptions of the various hieroglyphics, and inside the tomb. Enjoyed
the chase scenes as well.
Least Favorite Part: The romantic aspect seemed forced and just
put in there to have it, didn't seem to flow.
Reviewed by: Randy
|
 Swimsuit,
by James Patterson
Summary: THE BEACH... A breathtakingly beautiful
supermodel disappears from a swimsuit photo shoot at the most glamorous
hotel in Hawaii. Only hours after she goes missing, Kim McDaniels's
parents receive a terrifying phone call. Fearing the worst, they board
the first flight to Maui and begin the hunt for their daughter.
...WILL NEVER BE... 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 his life.
...THE SAME FOR YOU AGAIN. All the while, the killer sets the stage
for his next production. His audience expects 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
unspeakable horrors are hidden within paradise.
Category: Mystery
Review: A serial killer is getting paid to kill and film
attractive women. The novel starts off in Hawaii with the murder of a
swimsuit model, and travels around the world as out killer picks his
victims. All the while ex-cop/novelist/journalist, who is selected to
cover the first murder, gets the break of his life, an interview/book
contract with the killer!
Favorite Part: That is was suspenseful all the way to the end of
the novel. It was one of the better James Patterson Novels in a a long
time.
Least Favorite Part: Who he chooses to murder...
Reviewed by: Theresa F
|
Swimsuit,
by James Patterson
Summary: Syd, a breathtakingly beautiful supermodel on a
photo shoot inH awaii, disappears. Fearing the worst, her parents travel
to Hawaii to investigate for themselves, never expecting the horror
that awaits them. LA Times reporter Ben Hawkins is conducting his own
research into the case, hoping to help the victim and get an idea for
his next bestseller. With no leads and no closer to uncovering the
kidnapper's identity than when he stepped off the plane, Ben gets a
shocking visit that pushes him into an impossible-to-resist deal with
the devil. A heart-pounding story of fear and desire, Swimsuit
transports readers to a chilling new territory where the collision of
beauty and murder transforms paradise into a hell of unspeakable
horrors.
Category: Fiction
Review: Patterson adds a new character and one of his most
frightening groups of antagonists. Ben Hawkins is an ex-cop, ex-mystery
writer and currently a reporter for the LA Times. He gets the assignment
of his life to investigate the disappearance of a model in Hawaii,
which could cost his life. This is an action-packed book that deals with
the fears and horrors of a psychopathic killer and his international
backers.
Favorite Part: The story is easy to read and difficult to put
down
Least Favorite Part: It is frightening to believe that a group
as Patterson describes can truly exist, but he achieves a very realistic
portrayal of a dark side of mankind.
Reviewed by: Roger |
Swimsuit,
by James Pattterson and Maxine Paetro
Summary: Syd, a breathtakingly beautiful supermodel on a
photo shoot inH awaii, disappears. Fearing the worst, her parents travel
to Hawaii to investigate for themselves, never expecting the horror
that awaits them. LA Times reporter Ben Hawkins is conducting his own
research into the case, hoping to help the victim and get an idea for
his next bestseller. With no leads and no closer to uncovering the
kidnapper's identity than when he stepped off the plane, Ben gets a
shocking visit that pushes him into an impossible-to-resist deal with
the devil. A heart-pounding story of fear and desire, Swimsuit
transports readers to a chilling new territory where the collision of
beauty and murder transforms paradise into a hell of unspeakable
horrors.
Category: Fiction
Review: A swimsuit model named Kim McDaniels has disappeared in
Hawaii during a photo shoot without a trace. Her parents get a bizarre
phone call in the middle of the night telling them she is in "bad
hands". LA Times crime reporter Ben Hawkins is covering the story of
Kim's disappearance, and in the course of his investigation meets Kim's
parents. Trying to help them with the resources available to him, and
cover the story in the days that follow, he gets further and further
involved. More dead bodies surface. What is bizarre is that the killer, a
dangerous psychopath named Henri Benoit wants Ben to tell his story to
the world. The question is- "Will Ben live long enough to tell it?"
Favorite Part: Is the fact that a James Patterson book is always
fast paced, with his usual short chapters, making it a perfect summer
read.
Least Favorite Part: What I didn't like is the interaction
between Henri and Ben toward the end of the book. In some sections it
seemed to be bogged down and drag, in contrast to the rest of the book's
fast pace.
Reviewed by: Randy |
 Swimsuit,
by James Patterson
Summary: Syd, a breathtakingly beautiful supermodel on a
photo shoot inH awaii, disappears. Fearing the worst, her parents travel
to Hawaii to investigate for themselves, never expecting the horror
that awaits them. LA Times reporter Ben Hawkins is conducting his own
research into the case, hoping to help the victim and get an idea for
his next bestseller. With no leads and no closer to uncovering the
kidnapper's identity than when he stepped off the plane, Ben gets a
shocking visit that pushes him into an impossible-to-resist deal with
the devil. A heart-pounding story of fear and desire, Swimsuit
transports readers to a chilling new territory where the collision of
beauty and murder transforms paradise into a hell of unspeakable
horrors.
Category: Fiction
Review: Swimsuit model is kidnapped and killed. This leads to
other murders. The killer also discusses all his other murders, starting
when he was young. He has grown into his style of killing. This is a
very descriptive book, I would warn you not to read it if you are
squeamish.
Favorite Part: I don't know that I had a favorite part, this was
a hard book for me to read. I suppose they way it was ended, with the
good guys coming out on top.
Least Favorite Part: The way the murders were so spelled out, it
was to much detail and to explicit.
Reviewed by: Krisco
|
 The
American, by Andrew Britton
Summary: In this powerful debut thriller, a fresh new
voice in international suspense crafts a bold novel that crackles with a
high-stakes, post-9/11 urgency and introduces maverick CIA agent Ryan
Kealey.
Category: Fiction
Review: At thirty-three, Ryan Kealey has achieved more in his
military and CIA career than most men can dream of in a lifetime. He's
also seen the worst life has to offer and is lucky to have survived it.
But being left alone with his demons is no longer an option. The CIA
needs him badly, because the enemy they're facing is former U.S. soldier
Jason March. Ryan knows all about March - he trained him. He knows
they're dealing with one of the most ruthless assassins in the world, a
master of many languages, an explosives expert, a superb sharpshooter
who can disappear like a shadow and who is capable of crimes they cannot
begin to imagine. And now, March has resurfaced on the global stage,
aligning himself with a powerful Middle East terror network whose goal
is nothing less than the total destruction of the United States.
Teaming up with beautiful and tenacious British-born agent Naomi
Kharmai, Ryan intends to break every rule in order to hunt down his
former pupil, whatever the cost to himself. As Ryan puts together the
pieces of a terrifying puzzle, and as the elusive March taunts him,
always staying one step ahead, he discovers the madman's crusade is
personal as well as political - and Ryan himself is an unwitting pawn.
With the clock ticking down and the fate of the country resting uneasily
on his shoulders, Ryan is caught in a desperate game of cat-and-mouse
with the most cunning opponent he's ever faced, one who will never stop
until he's committed the ultimate act of evil - a man who is all the
more deadly for being one of our own.
Favorite Part: None.
Least Favorite Part: I really did not care for this story. I had
a tough time keeping my mind from straying while reading. It got great
reviews, but I just couldn't get into the story.
Reviewed by: Lisa
|
 The
bone collector, by jeffery deaver
Summary: "Lincoln Rhyme, ex-head of NYPD forensics, was
the nation's foremost criminalist, the man who could work a crime scene
and come away with a perfect profile of the killer, frozen in time. Now,
Lincoln is frozen in place - permanently. An accident on the job left
him a quadriplegic who can move just one finger, a great mind strapped
to his bed, mulish and sarcastic, hiding from a life he no longer wants
to live." "Until he sees the crime-scene report about a corpse found
buried on a deserted West Side railroad track, its bloody hand rising
from the dirt. It belonged to a man who got into a cab at the airport
and never got out. Reluctantly, Lincoln Rhyme abandons retirement to
track down a killer whose ingenious clues hold the secret to saving his
victims - if Rhyme can decipher them in time." "The search leads him to
the Bone Collector, whose obsession with old New York colors every scrap
of evidence he leaves for Rhyme and his new partner, Amelia Sachs, whom
he drafts as his arms and legs. But she's never worked a crime scene in
her life - and he can only whisper in her ear as she does the exacting
work he loved more than anything else."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field
provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Category: Mystery
Review: A serial killer that is stalking new york and a
quadriplegic ex cop whoneed to be part of the action. I also deals with
human relationships and how we can have preconceived notions of people
based on outward appearances.
Favorite Part: I really like all of the forensic detail that the
author had included. It was on a level that you could relate to. Has
alot of twists and turns.. Just when you think you have it figured out
.. BAM!
Least Favorite Part: NONE!
Reviewed by: theresa farmer
|
 The
Castaways, by Elin Hildebrand
Summary: Greg and Tess MacAvoy are one of four prominent
Nantucket couples who count each other as best friends. As pillars of
their close-knit community, the MacAvoys, Kapenashes, Drakes, and
Wheelers are important to their friends and neighbors, and especially to
each other. But just before the beginning of another idyllic summer,
Greg and Tess are killed when their boat capsizes during an anniversary
sail. As the warm weather approaches and the island mourns their loss,
nothing can prepare the MacAvoy's closest friends for what will be
revealed. Once again, Hilderbrand masterfully weaves an intense tale of
love and loyalty set against the backdrop of endless summer island
life.
Category: Fiction
Review: This book is about four couples who are friends, who
live in Nantucket. They socialize with each other, raise their children
together, and even take vacations together. In fact, that is where the
name- "The Castaways" come from, they gave themselves the name on their
first vacation together. Tragedy strikes, when one of the couples in the
group drown in a sailing accident on their 12th anniversary, leaving
behind not only grief for the reminder of the friends, but their twins
to raise.
This book deals with all of the friends and relations in the group and
how each deals with their grief. The group falls apart, and each
chapter contains stories, insights, and secrets into each individual,
building a background of the best friends and their group dynamics.
Secrets are shared, the mysterious sailing accident is explored, and
their grief and coping shown. It makes for a very multi-layered journey.
Favorite Part: I like the way Hildebrand takes each individual
throughout the book and gives them their own section, their own voice,
to explain themselves and how they are dealing with their grief.
Least Favorite Part: Delilah was really annoying and immature.
Reviewed by: Randy
|
 The
Finishing Touches, by Hester Browne
Summary: The author of the "New York Times"-bestselling
Little Lady Agency novels delivers a hilarious and heartwarming work,
featuring a young woman who sets out to transform a failing finishing
school into a thriving real-life skills academy for young women.
Category: Fiction
Review: As a baby, Betsy Phillimore was left on the doorstep
of an English finishing school in a "Cooper's Fine Cut Marmalade" box.
Now her adoptive mother is dead. Coming home for the funeral Betsy finds
that the school where she grew up and called home is now failing, with
enrollment numbers way down. Asked by her adoptive father- Lord
Phillimore- to stay in London as a consultant to help the academy, Betsy
plans to make changes and bring the finishing school into the 21st
century, and while she's at it, she intends to try and find out who left
her on that doorstep.
As a fan of Hester Browne's "Little Lady Agency" books, I was looking
forward to reading this, her latest, and I really enjoyed it. It's
imaginative, fun, and I loved all the characters.
Favorite Part: Browne's characters don't take themselves too
seriously. They're humorous and just plain fun. Loved the "finishing
tips".
Least Favorite Part: Can't think of something that I didn't
like.
Reviewed by: Randy
|
 The
Five Peoople You Meet In Heaven, by Mitch Albom
Summary: Eddie is a wounded war veteran, an old man who
has lived, in his mind, an uninspired life. His job is fixing rides at a
seaside amusement park. On his 83rd birthday, a tragic accident kills
him as he tries to save a little girl from a falling cart. He awakes in
the afterlife, where he learns that heaven is not a destination. It's a
place where your life is explained to you by five people, some of whom
you knew, others who may have been strangers. One by one, from childhood
to soldier to old age, Eddie's five people revisit their connections to
him on earth, illuminating the mysteries of his 'meaningless' life, and
revealing the haunting secret behind the eternal question: 'Why was I
here?'
Category: Fiction
Review: Eddy died in order to save a little girl from a crashing
roller coaster cart. The end of Eddy’s life is the beginning of the
book. Throughout the book Eddy met five people: the blue man who saved
Eddy’s life, the Captain who promised not to leave any of his soldiers
behind, Mrs. Ruby, the owner of Ruby Pier, who taught Eddy about his
father, his sole loving wife, Marguerite, who brought a lump to his
throat, and the little Filipino girl, Tala, whose death was Eddy's
sorrowful guilt. Each person Eddy met told him a moving story, and from
each story Eddy learned a lesson.
Favorite Part: I was deeply touched by this moving story. But
what touched me more was the fact that this book received the full
attention of my thirteen-year-old son. We were listening to the
unabridged version in the car. When I pulled into our driveway, my son
grabbed the discs and disappeared into his room. He stayed up late that
night and came down late for breakfast the next morning. Later he told
me, “Ma, it’s a real good book.” I asked him why he thought so, he
replied, “It's just good ... inspirational.” He even asked me to buy the
book for him. I wondered if “Five people ...” could catch such interest
of a boy of thirteen, it must be really good.
Least Favorite Part: None
Reviewed by: T. L.
|
 The
Last Summer (of You & Me), by Ann Brashares
Summary: With a narrative perspective that's a perfect
blend of knowingness and innocence, a terrific ear for the rhythms of
speech of teenaged girls, and genuine stylistic flair, Ann Brashares
turned an outstanding, unusually satisfying novel for young adults into a
generation-defining phenomenon. The Sisterhood of the Traveling
Pantsseries-now three novels strong-has sold more than five million
copies, has ridden bestseller lists solidly since publication, has
inspired a successful feature film, and has won the hearts and minds of
legions of teenaged girls-and their mothers-with its uncanny wisdom,
emotional truth, and magical appeal. In what is sure to be one of the
most eagerly anticipated events of this publishing season, Brashares now
makes her debut as a writer of perceptive, resonant, utterly engaging
women's fiction. The Girl of Lost Thingstells the story of Gracie
Martin, a New Yorker who has a gift for returning lost objects to their
rightful owners. It's a talent that plays off her inherent curiosity
about things and the people attached to them. Gracie's also fond of tidy
endings. But as the years go by, her unusual, glancing experiences with
people-strangers, really-and their belongings point up the sort of
meaningful connection that's eluded her in her own life. She swears off
her vocation-that is, until she finds a backpack left behind in a taxi,
full of mystery and promise, and convinces herself that, based on its
contents, its (male) owner holds the key to her ultimate happiness.
Wise and enchanting, with a heroine as endearing as the four young women
who made up the "Sisterhood," this novel is poised to capture not only
the girls who spent their young adulthood reading Ann Brashares, but
their mothers, big sisters, cousins, and friends, too.
Category: Fiction
Review: Three young adults return to the shore community they
grew up in each summer. Two are very close sisters who share a friend in
a young man. To one sister, he is a best friend. To the other, he is
someone who she has fallen in love with. The guilt they feel in
starting a relationship is compounded when the other sister falls
gravely ill.
Favorite Part: The way the author describes the life of someone
who lives in the city all year & spends summers at the beach.
Least Favorite Part: Bitter-sweet ending.
Reviewed by: Theresa
|
 The
Murder Book, by Jonathan Kellerman
Summary: In seventeen consecutive bestselling novels,
Jonathan Kellerman has distinguished himself as the master of the
psychological thriller. Now in Kellerman’s most compelling and powerful
novel yet, L.A. psychologist-detective Alex Delaware confronts a
long-unsolved murder of unspeakable brutality—an ice-cold case whose
resolution threatens his survival, and that of longtime friend, homicide
detective, Milo Sturgis. The nightmare begins when Alex receives a
strange package in the mail with no return address. Inside is an ornate
album filled with gruesome crime scene photos—a homicide scrapbook
entitled The Murder Book. Alex can find no reason for anyone to send him
this compendium of death, but when Milo views the book, he is
immediately shaken by one of the images: a young woman, tortured,
strangled, and dumped near a freeway ramp. This was one of Milo’s first
cases as a rookie homicide cop: a vicious killing that he failed to
solve, because just as he and his training partner began to make
headway, the department closed them down. Being forced to abandon the
young victim tormented Milo. But his fears prevented him from pursuing
the truth, and over the years he managed to forget. Or so he thought.
Now, two decades later, someone has chosen to stir up the past. As Alex
and Milo set out to uncover what really happened twenty years ago, their
every move is followed and their lives are placed in jeopardy. The
relentless investigation reaches deep into L.A.’s nerve-centers of power
and wealth—past and present. While peeling back layer after layer of
ugly secrets, they discover that the murder of one forgotten girl has
chilling ramifications that extend far beyond the tragic loss of a
single life. A classic story of good and evil, sacrifice and sin, The
Murder Book is a gripping page-turner that illuminates the darkest
corridors of the human mind. It is a stunning tour de force. From the
Hardcover edition.
Category: Mystery
Review: This book is another psychological thriller by Jonathan
Kellerman. In this one a case from the past comes back to haunt
Detective Milo. His friend and psychologist by trade, Alex Delaware,
receives a book of gruesome crime photos. In it is a case from Milo's
rookie year--a case which was taken away from him and never solved.
Someone is trying to get it resolved but why now???
Favorite Part: My favorite part is the references to past events
in the Alex Delaware series. Plus the book was one you want to keep
reading --just can't put down.
Least Favorite Part: Nothing
Reviewed by: Paula
|
 The
New Rules of Lifting for Women, by Lou Schuler
Summary: If you believe what most women's magazines tell
you, muscles can be "shaped," "toned," and "sculpted" with nothing more
than a little dumbbell that weighs less than a can of peas. But muscles
aren't modeling clay, and the only way to transform them is to
strengthen them. The New Rules of Lifting for Womenis for the woman
who's ready to throw down the "Barbie" weights and start a strength and
conditioning program that will give her the body of her dreams. The
book puts to rest the shop-worn notion that women who train with heavy
weights will bulk up. Nonsense! Women simply don't have enough
testosterone to pack on muscle like a bodybuilder. Here's the truth:
lifting weights not only makes you stronger, it also makes you leaner.
In fact, most women would have to run twice as long to receive the same
fat-burning benefits as weight lifters. A better workout in less time
may sound too good to be true, but champion trainer Alwyn Cosgrove
creates six months' worth of workouts that will build strength, burn
fat, and rev up the metabolism. His total body workouts target all the
major muscle groups, and each exercise is accompanied by clear black-
and-white photographs that illustrate proper technique and form. A
nutrition plan is another key feature of the book. To gain strength you
have to feed muscle, and nutritionist CassandraForsythe has designed a
regimen to achieve this goal. She strongly recommends small, frequent
meals and offers meal plans, along with fifty recipes, to satisfy
women's special needs through breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks. The
New Rules of Lifting for Womenwill become the standard for smart women
who take their fitness goals seriously.
Category: Factual-Non-Fiction
Review: If you believe what most women's magazines tell you,
muscles can be "shaped," "toned," and "sculpted" with nothing more than a
little dumbbell that weighs less than a can of peas. But muscles aren't
modeling clay, and the only way to transform them is to strengthen
them. The New Rules of Lifting for Women is for the woman who's ready to
throw down the "Barbie" weights and start a strength and conditioning
program that will give her the body of her dreams.
The book puts to rest the shop-worn notion that women who train with
heavy weights will bulk up. Nonsense! Women simply don't have enough
testosterone to pack on muscle like a bodybuilder. Here's the truth:
lifting weights not only makes you stronger, it also makes you leaner.
In fact, most women would have to run twice as long to receive the same
fat-burning benefits as weight lifters.
A better workout in less time may sound too good to be true, but
champion trainer Alwyn Cosgrove creates six months' worth of workouts
that will build strength, burn fat, and rev up the metabolism. His total
body workouts target all the major muscle groups, and each exercise is
accompanied by clear black- and-white photographs that illustrate proper
technique and form.
A nutrition plan is another key feature of the book. To gain strength
you have to feed muscle, and nutritionist CassandraForsythe has designed
a regimen to achieve this goal. She strongly recommends small, frequent
meals and offers meal plans, along with fifty recipes, to satisfy
women's special needs through breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks. The
New Rules of Lifting for Women will become the standard for smart women
who take theirfitness goals seriously.
Favorite Part: I love how detailed the plan is. There are
charts to track your progress, recipes, and pictures. The author gets
into great detail regarding the whys of nutrition, exercise, etc. It
really motivated me.
Least Favorite Part: I don't like the fact the exercise portion
of the book requires specialized gym equipment-not easy for everyone.
Reviewed by: Lisa Joy
|
 The
Pact, by Jodi Picoult
Summary: From Jodi Picoult, one of the most powerful
writers in contemporary fiction, comes a riveting, timely,
heartbreaking, and terrifying novel of families in anguish -- and
friendships ripped apart by inconceivable violence. Until the phone
calls came at 3: 00 <small>A.M.</small> on a November
morning, the Golds and their neighbors, the Hartes, had been
inseparable. It was no surprise to anyone when their teenage children,
Chris and Emily, began showing signs that their relationship was moving
beyond that of lifelong friends. But now seventeen-year-old Emily has
been shot to death by her beloved and devoted Chris as part of an
apparent suicide pact -- leaving two devastated families stranded in the
dark and dense predawn, desperate for answers about an unthinkable act
and the children they never really knew.
Category: Fiction
Review: A relationship between two young teens. The story takes
you on a journey through their lives and the horrible incident that
occurs.
Favorite Part: The way the author switches between present day
and the past.
Least Favorite Part: I loved the book.
Reviewed by: Aimee
|
 The
Plot Against America, by Philip Roth
Summary: When the renowned aviation hero and rabid
isolationist Charles A. Lindbergh defeated Franklin Roosevelt by a
landslide in the 1940 presidential election, fear invaded every Jewish
household in America. Not only had Lindbergh, in a nationwide radio
address, publicly blamed the Jews for selfishly pushing
America toward a pointless war with Nazi Germany, but upon taking
office as the thirty-third president of the United States, he
negotiated a cordial "understanding" with Adolf Hitler, whose conquest
of Europe and virulent anti-Semitic policies he appeared to accept
without difficulty. What then followed in America is the
historical setting for this startling new book by Pulitzer
Prizendash;winner Philip Roth, who recounts what it was like for his
Newark family - and for a million such families all over the country -
during the menacing years of the Lindbergh presidency, when American
citizens who happened to be Jews had every reason to expect the worst.
Category: Fiction
Review: This historical fiction takes you back to the 1940
election when instead of electing FDR for a third consecutive term, the
country instead elects Charles A Lindberg who immediately begins to make
agreements with the Third Reich and the Japanese Empire to not
interfere with their wars. America follows the path of true
isolationism, or so it seems.
Mr. Roth sets his tale through the eyes of a young boy growing up in
Newark, NJ... a young Jewish boy in a family that is being torn apart by
political propaganda from Lindberg's administration, the media and his
own family.
Favorite Part: Mr. Roth tells his tale with such eloquence that
you feel the rising turmoil in the young boy. This boy struggle's to
understand while his brother is swept into the political machine as a
symbol of American assimilation of Jewish culture; his uncle joins the
Canadian forces to fight against Hitler's army and returns a broken man;
his mother who worries what her mother must think about how she has
tended to the family left in her care.
Least Favorite Part: Philip Roth's fictional tale does more to
open your eyes to the ease in which the public can be swayed by those
that they trust; their government, their media and even their religious
leaders. It is not so hard to imagine this a very real possibility if
not from our past, but in our future.
Reviewed by: Trisha
|
 The
Pretend Wife, by Bridget Asher
Summary: What would life be like with the one who got
away? From the author of My Husband's Sweethearts hailed as "a
laugh-and-cry novel", that's "whip-smart, tender, an undiluted joy to
read", comes this bighearted, funny, fiercely perceptive tale about a
happily married woman and the little white lie that changed everything.
For Gwen Merchant, love has always been doled out in little packets;
from her father, a marine biologist who buried himself in work after her
mother's death; and from her husband, Peter, who's always been
respectable and safe. But when an old college boyfriend, the
irrepressible Elliot Hull, invites himself back into Gwen's life, she
starts to remember a time when love was an ocean. What does Elliot
want? In fact, he has a rather surprising proposition: he wants Gwen to
become his wife. His pretend wife. Just for a few days. To accompany
him to his family's lake house for the weekend so that he can fulfill
his dying mother's last wish. Reluctantly Gwen agrees to play along,
with her husband Peter's full support. It's just one weekend-- what harm
could come of it? But as Gwen is drawn into Elliot's quirky, wonderful
family, his astonishingly wise and open mother, his warm and welcoming
sister, and his adorable, precocious niece, she starts questioning
everything she's ever expected from love. And as she begins to uncover a
few secrets about her own family, it suddenly looks like a pretend
relationship just might turn out to be the most real thing she's ever
known.
Category: Fiction
Review: A woman who is having second thoughts about her own
life, then she sees her old boyfriend from high school. He needs someone
to be his wife and meet his dying mother.
Favorite Part: she decides what decision to make.
Least Favorite Part: is when she leaves her decision and goes
back to her home.
Reviewed by: civic
|
 The
Silver Linings Playbook, by Matthew Quick
Summary: This brilliantly written debut novel is the
riotous and poignant story of how one man regains his memory and comes
to terms with the magnitude of his wife's betrayal.
Category: Fiction
Review: An enchanting first novel about love, madness, and Kenny
G.
The Silver Linings Playbook is the riotous and poignant story of how one
man regains his memory and comes to terms with the magnitude of his
wife’s betrayal.
During the years he spends in a neural health facility, Pat Peoples
formulates a theory about silver linings: he believes his life is a
movie produced by God, his mission is to become physically fit and
emotionally supportive, and his happy ending will be the return of his
estranged wife, Nikki. When Pat goes to live with his parents,
everything seems changed: no one will talk to him about Nikki; his old
friends are saddled with families; the Philadelphia Eagles keep losing,
making his father moody; and his new therapist seems to be recommending
adultery as a form of therapy.
When Pat meets the tragically widowed and clinically depressed Tiffany,
she offers to act as a liaison between him and his wife, if only he will
give up watching football, agree to perform in this year’s Dance Away
Depression competition, and promise not to tell anyone about their
“contract.” All the while, Pat keeps searching for his silver lining.
In this brilliantly written debut novel, Matthew Quick takes us inside
Pat’s mind, deftly showing us the world from his distorted yet endearing
perspective. The result is a touching and funny story that helps us
look at both depression and love in a wonderfully refreshing way.
Favorite Part: I love Pat's personality - his child-like views
and thoughts. The conversations he has with himself and with God are
great!
Least Favorite Part: I loved the whole story - excellent read!
Reviewed by: Lisa Joy
|
 The
Tenth Circle, by Jodi Picoult
Summary: Jodi Picoult,theNew York Timesbestselling author
ofVanishing Acts,offers her most powerful chronicle yet of an American
family with a story that probes the unbreakable bond between parent and
child -- and the dangerous repercussions of trying to play the
hero.Trixie Stone is fourteen years old and in love for the first time.
She's also the light of her father's life -- a straight-A student; a
freshman in high school who is pretty and popular; a girl who's always
looked up to Daniel Stone as a hero. Until, that is, her world is turned
upside down with a single act of violence...and suddenly everything
Trixie has believed about her family -- and herself -- seems to be a
lie.For fifteen years, Daniel Stone has been an even-tempered,
mild-mannered man: a stay-at-home dad to Trixie and a husband who has
put his own career as a comic book artist behind that of his wife,
Laura, who teaches Dante'sInfernoat a local college. But years ago, he
was completely different: growing up as the only white boy in an Eskimo
village, he was teased mercilessly for the color of his skin. He learned
to fight back: stealing, drinking, robbing, and cheating his way out of
the Alaskan bush. To become part of a family, he reinvented himself,
channeling his rage onto the page and burying his past
completely...until now. Could the young boy who once made Trixie's face
fill with light when he came to the door have been the one to end her
childhood forever? She says that he is, and that is all it takes to make
Daniel, a man with a history he has hidden even from his family,
venture to hell and back in order to protect his daughter.The Tenth
Circlelooks at that delicate moment when a child learns that her parents
don't know all of the answers and when being a good parent means
letting go of your child. It asks whether you can reinvent yourself in
the course of a lifetime or if your mistakes are carried forever -- if
life is, as in any good comic book, a struggle to control good and evil,
or if good and evil control you.
Category: Fiction
Review: Fourteen-year-old Trixie Stone is in love for the first
time. She's also the light of her father, Daniel's life -- a straight-A
student; a pretty, popular freshman in high school; a girl who's always
seen her father as a hero. That is, until her world is turned upside
down with a single act of violence. Suddenly everything Trixie has
believed about her family -- and herself -- seems to be a lie. Could the
boyfriend who once made Trixie wild with happiness have been the one to
end her childhood forever? She says that he is, and that is all it
takes to make Daniel, a seemingly mild-mannered comic book artist with a
secret tumultuous past he has hidden even from his family, venture to
hell and back to protect his daughter.
With The Tenth Circle, Jodi Picoult offers her most powerful chronicle
yet as she explores the unbreakable bond between parent and child, and
questions whether you can reinvent yourself in the course of a lifetime
-- or if your mistakes are carried forever.
Favorite Part: I loved the whole book. Jodi Picoult is one of
my favorite authors. All of her books are great.
Least Favorite Part: Nothing.
Reviewed by: Lisa
|
 The
Year We Disappeared, by Cylin Busby and John Busby
Summary: With their lives unraveling around them, the
Busby family left everything and everyone they had ever known--and
simply disappeared. As told by both father and daughter, this is a
harrowing true story of a family, a brutal shooting, and the year that
would change their lives forever.
Category: Factual-Non-Fiction
Review: Cylin is a tender nine year old when her father, a
police officer, is shot and horribly wounded. The story is told through
the voices of Cylin and her father John in alternating chapters. The
person who attempted to kill John is still at large. The family faces
incredible challenges. This was a book I couldn't put down. The story
was sad, but honest.
Favorite Part: The book was well organized and well written. It
was easy to identify and sympathize with the main characters. The
detail of events and the inner dialogue presented, combined to paint a
compelling story.
Least Favorite Part: I wouldn't change a thing in this book.
I'd be interested in reading a follow-up story from the perspective of
some of the other characters, including Cylin's mom, her Aunt Kelly, and
John's brother or any of John's friends.
Reviewed by: Dory Dickson
|
 There
is no me without you, by Melissa Fay Greene
Summary: Atlanta-based journalist Greene is the author of
three books and has written for a number of major publications,
including the New Yorker, the Washington Post, the New York Times
Magazine, the Atlantic Monthly, Newsweek, and Life. She offers an
insightful look into the AIDS crisis in Africa through the story of
Haregowoin Teferra, an Ethiopian woman who, since losing her husband and
23-year-old daughter to AIDS, has cared for hundreds of AIDS orphans in
Addis Ababa. Annotation ©2007 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR
(booknews.com)
Category: Factual-Non-Fiction
Review: AIDS orphan epidemic in Ethiopia and one brave women
that takes children into her home. History of building an orphanage from
scratch which parallels the recovery from grief over the death of a
daughter.
Favorite Part: The statistics on AIDS; what other countries have
done to help Africa; what the US has done to help.
Least Favorite Part: I loved the photos but wished there were
lots more.
Reviewed by: Sue
|
 This
Book Will Save Your Life, by A.M. Homes
Summary: From the author of Music for Torching-an
uplifting and apocalyptic tale set in Los Angeles about one man's
efforts to bring himself back to lifeSince her debut in 1989, A. M.
Homes has been among the boldest and most original voices of her
generation, acclaimed for the psychological accuracy and unnerving
emotional intensity of her storytelling. Her keen ability to explore how
extraordinary the ordinary can be is at the heart of her touching and
funny new novel, her first in six years.Richard Novak is a modern-day
Everyman, a middle-aged divorce trading stocks out of his home. He has
done such a good job getting his life under control that he needs no
one?except his trainer, nutritionist, and housekeeper. He is
functionally dead and doesn?t even notice until two incidents?an attack
of intense pain that lands him in the emergency room, and the discovery
of an expanding sinkhole outside his house?conspire to hurl him back
into the world. On his way home from the hospital, Richard forms the
first of many new relationships: He meets Anhil, the doughnut shop
owner, an immigrant who dreams big. He finds a weeping housewife in the
produce section of the supermarket, helps save a horse that has fallen
into the sinkhole, daringly rescues a woman from the trunk of her
kidnapper?s car, and, after the sinkhole claims his house and he has to
relocate to a Malibu rental, he befriends a reluctant counterculture
icon. In the end, Richard is also brought back in closer touch with his
family?his aging parents, his brilliant brother, the beloved ex-wife
whom he still desires, and finally, before the story?s breathtaking
finale, with his estranged son Ben.The promised land of Los Angeles?a
surreal city of earthquakes, wildfires, mudslides, and feral
Chihuahuas?is also very much a character in This Book Will Save Your
Life. A vivid, revealing novel about compassion, transformation, and
what can happen if you are willing to lose yourself and open up to the
world around you, it should significantly broaden Homes?s already
substantial audience.
Category: Humorous
Review: Richard Novak, a wealthy stock trader, walked out of his
marriage and moved into a huge art-filled house in Beverly Hills, L.A.
For nine years he lived happily in isolation, until one day he had a
“heart attack”, and called 911. The dramatic experience in the ambulance
and at the hospital changed his view of life. Suddenly he felt lonely,
yearned to socialize, wanted to do good, and most of all, he missed his
family, especially his teenage son…
Favorite Part: I listened to the unabridged audio book; I like
the tone of the first-person narration. It is hilarious. While this book
will not save your life, it will surely make you laugh.
Least Favorite Part: Some of the episodes were unreal and too
coincidental. I especially disliked the scene in which the depressed
housewife refused to go home when her children and husband came to pick
her up at Richard's house. Instead, she drove away with Richard leaving
her family devastated on the driveway.
Reviewed by: Wei-Jie Cui
|
 Twenties
Girl, by Sophie Kinsella
Summary: Lara Lington has always had an overactive
imagination, but suddenly that imagination seems to be in overdrive.
Normal professional twenty-something young women don't get visited by
ghosts. Or do they? When the spirit of Lara's great-aunt Sadie-- a
feisty, demanding girl with firm ideas about fashion, love, and the
right way to dance-- mysteriously appears, she has one last request:
Lara must find a missing necklace that had been in Sadie's possession
for more than seventy-five years, and Sadie cannot rest without it.
Lara, on the other hand, has a number of ongoing distractions. Her best
friend and business partner has run off to Goa, her start-up company is
floundering, and she's just been dumped by the "perfect" man. Sadie,
however, could care less. Lara and Sadie make a hilarious sparring duo,
and at first it seems as though they have nothing in common. But as the
mission to find Sadie's necklace leads to intrigue and a new romance
for Lara, these very different "twenties" girls learn some surprising
truths from each other along the way. Written with all the
irrepressible charm and humor that have made Sophie Kinsella's books
beloved by millions, Twenties Girl is also a deeply moving testament to
the transcendent bonds of friendship and family.
Category: Fiction
Review: Lara Lington is a twenty seven year old British
professional, partners in a start-up company with her best friend
Natalie. Of course, that particular friend has run off to Goa with a new
love, leaving Lara to cope with running their business alone. Not only
that, but to make matters worse, Lara has just been dumped by the
"perfect man"! So could it be the stress, or Lara's over-active
imagination that is the cause for the ghost she sees at her 105 year
old great-aunt Sadie's funeral? Turns out to be great-aunt Sadie, a
flapper from the 1920's, with one last request for Lara- to help her
find her precious dragonfly necklace...and so, begins their journey
together. The duo are hilarious- bickering, helping each other along the
way, relating to each other, no matter the age difference, and growing
closer as friends and family. Their quest leads to intrigue,
discoveries, and romance, and they learn that though from different
decades, they have more in common than they would have
imagined...because everyone wants to find love.
As with all of Sophie Kinsella's books, this was written with humor,
while touching our hearts.
Favorite Part: When Lara goes on a date dressed in full Flapper
getup, and Sadie thinks she can enjoy it vicariously.
Least Favorite Part: I wanted more of a show down between Lara
and Natalie! I thought Natalie really deserved it!
Reviewed by: Randy
|
 Twenty
Wishes, by Debbie Macomber
Summary: Anne Marie Roche wants to find happiness again.
At thirty-eight, her life's not what she'd expected—she's
childless, a recent widow, alone. She owns a successful bookstore on
Seattle's Blossom Street, but despite her accomplishments, there's a
feeling of emptiness.On Valentine's Day, Anne Marie and several other
widows get together to celebrate…what? Hope, possibility, the
future. They each begin a list of twenty wishes, things they always
wanted to do but never did.Anne Marie's list starts with: Find one good
thing about life. It includes learning to knit, doing good for someone
else, falling in love again. She begins to act on her wishes, and when
she volunteers at a local school, an eight-year-old girl named Ellen
enters her life. It's a relationship that becomes far more involving
than Anne Marie intended.It also becomes far more important than she
ever imagined.As Ellen helps Anne Marie complete her list of twenty
wishes, they both learn that wishes can come true—but not
necessarily in the way you expect.
Category: Romance
Review: Book #4 in the Blossom St. series
What Anne Marie Roche wants is to find happiness again. At thirty-eight,
she's childless, a recent widow, alone. She owns a successful bookstore
on Seattle's Blossom Street, but despite her accomplishments, there's a
feeling of emptiness.
On Valentine's Day, Anne Marie and several other widows get together to
celebrate...hope. They each begin a list of twenty wishes, things they
always wanted to do but never did.
Anne Marie's list includes learning to knit, falling in love again,
doing good for someone else. When she volunteers at a local school, an
eight-year-old girl named Ellen enters her life. It's a relationship
that becomes far more involving--and far more important--than Anne Marie
had ever imagined.
As Ellen helps Anne Marie complete her list of twenty wishes, they both
learn that wishes can come true...but not necessarily in the way you
expect.
Favorite Part: I was happy to see Anne Marie find happiness
through the adoption of Ellen.
Least Favorite Part: It was sad that Ellen's grandmother had to
die in order for Anne Marie to find happiness.
Reviewed by: Lisa Joy
|
 Twilight,
by Stephenie Meyer
Summary: "Softly he brushed my cheek, then held my face
between his marble hands. ''Be very still,'' he whispered, as if I
wasn''t already frozen. Slowly, never moving his eyes from mine, he
leaned toward me. Then abruptly, but very gently, he rested his cold
cheek against the hollow at the base of my throat. " As Shakespeare
knew, love burns high when thwarted by obstacles. In Twilight, an
exquisite fantasy by Stephenie Meyer, readers discover a pair of lovers
who are supremely star-crossed. Bella adores beautiful Edward, and he
returns her love. But Edward is having a hard time controlling the blood
lust she arouses in him, because--he''s a vampire. At any moment, the
intensity of their passion could drive him to kill her, and he agonizes
over the danger. But, Bella would rather be dead than part from Edward,
so she risks her life to stay near him, and the novel burns with the
erotic tension of their dangerous and necessarily chaste
relationship.Meyer has achieved quite a feat by making this scenario
completely human and believable. She begins with a familiar YA premise
(the new kid in school), and lulls us into thinking this will be just
another realistic young adult novel. Bella has come to the small town of
Forks on the gloomy Olympic Peninsula to be with her father. At school,
she wonders about a group of five remarkably beautiful teens, who sit
together in the cafeteria but never eat. As she grows to know, and then
love, Edward, she learns their secret. They are all rescued vampires,
part of a family headed by saintly Carlisle, who has inspired them to
renounce human prey. For Edward''s sake they welcome Bella, but when a
roving group of tracker vampires fixates on her, the family is drawn
into a desperate pursuit to protect the fragile human in their midst.
The precision and delicacy of Meyer''s writing lifts this wonderful
novel beyond the limitations of the horror genre to a place among the
best of YA fiction. (Ages 12 and up)
Category: Other-Miscellaneous
Review: loved this book. This story follows the saga of Bella
Swan, who moves to a small town to live with her father. At school, she
meets Edward Cullen, a mysterious classmate who reveals himself to be a
108-year-old vampire. Despite his cautions, Bella falls in love with
Edward, which endangers her life when a coven of bloodsuckers arrives to
challenge Edward and his family. Once I started reading it, I had a
hard time putting it down. I am looking forward to reading New Moon the
next book about Bella and Edward's romance.
Favorite Part: I didn't have a favorite part. I enjoyed the
whole book.
Least Favorite Part: Didn't have a least favorite part. Loved
the whole book.
Reviewed by: Suzanne Musser
|
 Twinkie
Deconstructed, by Steve Ettlinger
Summary: For consumers who have wondered about
multisyllabic ingredients in processed foods, a New York author who has
appeared on the Food Network and worked as a chef demystifies them.
Drawing on interviews with industry professionals, Ettlinger reveals
that these snack cakes and other popular products are concocted from
byproducts of chlorine bleaching, gypsum mining, petroleum processing,
and other chemicals also used in non-food products--which explains the
Department of Homeland Security's role in food supply protection.
Annotation ©2007 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
Category: Factual-Non-Fiction
Review: This is a book about the ingredients found not only in
Twinkies but in a lot of our processed food. It explains how the
ingredients are made and why they are added. I picked this book up on a
whim and I am glad I did, it is a very interesting read.
Favorite Part: The author's sense of humor.
Least Favorite Part: Sometimes the facts can get a little
tedious.
Reviewed by: Roberta Taylor
|
 Unaccustomed
Earth, by Jhumpa Lahiri
Summary: From the internationally best-selling, Pulitzer
Prize–winning author, a superbly crafted new work of fiction: eight
stories—longer and more emotionally complex than any she has yet
written—that take us from Cambridge and Seattle to India and Thailand as
they enter the lives of sisters and brothers, fathers and mothers,
daughters and sons, friends and lovers. In the stunning title story,
Ruma, a young mother in a new city, is visited by her father, who
carefully tends the earth of her garden, where he and his grandson form a
special bond. But he’s harboring a secret from his daughter, a love
affair he’s keeping all to himself. In “A Choice of
Accommodations,” a husband’s attempt to turn an old friend’s wedding
into a romantic getaway weekend with his wife takes a dark, revealing
turn as the party lasts deep into the night. In “Only Goodness,” a
sister eager to give her younger brother the perfect childhood she never
had is overwhelmed by guilt, anguish, and anger when his alcoholism
threatens her family. And in “Hema and Kaushik,” a trio of linked
stories—a luminous, intensely compelling elegy of life, death, love, and
fate—we follow the lives of a girl and boy who, one winter, share a
house in Massachusetts. They travel from innocence to experience on
separate, sometimes painful paths, until destiny brings them together
again years later in Rome. Unaccustomed Earthis rich withJhumpa
Lahiri’s signature gifts: exquisite prose, emotional wisdom, and subtle
renderings of the most intricate workings of the heart and mind. It is a
masterful, dazzling work of a writer at the peak of her powers.
Category: Fiction
Review: Short stories about the lives of Bengali (India)
immigrants to the US
Favorite Part: Gaining insight into the traditions of Bengalese
families
Least Favorite Part: The sadness in each short story because it
seems like immigrant parents don't want to let their children be free to
follow their own hearts, rather there seems to be a lot of pressure to
follow tradition.
Reviewed by: Sharon
|
 Unaccustomed
Earth, by Jhumpa Lahiri
Summary: From the internationally best-selling, Pulitzer
Prize–winning author, a superbly crafted new work of fiction: eight
stories—longer and more emotionally complex than any she has yet
written—that take us from Cambridge and Seattle to India and Thailand as
they enter the lives of sisters and brothers, fathers and mothers,
daughters and sons, friends and lovers. In the stunning title story,
Ruma, a young mother in a new city, is visited by her father, who
carefully tends the earth of her garden, where he and his grandson form a
special bond. But he’s harboring a secret from his daughter, a love
affair he’s keeping all to himself. In “A Choice of
Accommodations,” a husband’s attempt to turn an old friend’s wedding
into a romantic getaway weekend with his wife takes a dark, revealing
turn as the party lasts deep into the night. In “Only Goodness,” a
sister eager to give her younger brother the perfect childhood she never
had is overwhelmed by guilt, anguish, and anger when his alcoholism
threatens her family. And in “Hema and Kaushik,” a trio of linked
stories—a luminous, intensely compelling elegy of life, death, love, and
fate—we follow the lives of a girl and boy who, one winter, share a
house in Massachusetts. They travel from innocence to experience on
separate, sometimes painful paths, until destiny brings them together
again years later in Rome. Unaccustomed Earthis rich withJhumpa
Lahiri’s signature gifts: exquisite prose, emotional wisdom, and subtle
renderings of the most intricate workings of the heart and mind. It is a
masterful, dazzling work of a writer at the peak of her powers.
Category: Fiction
Review: Eight short stories examining familial relationships of
persons from India and cultural differences between Indians and
Americans.
Favorite Part: The characters are well defined and interesting.
The locales are diverse, and play a part in the stories.
Least Favorite Part: That the stories are not longer!
Reviewed by: Sandra
|
 When
Day Breaks, by Mary Jane Clark
Summary: On the day she died, Constance Young was the
undisputed star of morning television. But her plans to move herself and
her loyal audience to another network were cancelled when she ended up
at the bottom of her swimming pool. And the fabled unicorn amulet that
Constance had been wearing during her final hours--a gift from King
Arthur to his beloved Guinevere and the centerpiece of the upcoming
Camelot exhibit at New York's Cloisters museum--is missing. A morning
show veteran and now anchor of the "KEY Evening Headlines," Eliza Blake
is shocked by the death of her former colleague, and is determined to
discover who wanted Constance out of the way . . . and why. To do so,
she enlists the aid of three KEY News coworkers: "Jane-of-all-trades"
Annabelle Murphy, who can switch from producing to sleuthing at a
moment's notice; charming and fearless cameraman extraordinaire B.J.
D'Elia to add brains, brawn, and a much-needed male perspective to the
team; and Dr. Margo Gonzalez, on-air psychiatrist, who understands the
complex puzzles of the human mind. Calling themselves "The Sunrise
Suspense Society," they set out to get to the bottom of the heinous
murder, in a case that will test their ingenuity and their courage to
the very limits. The deeper they dig, the more twisted the trail to
Constance's killer becomes--as the list of suspects grows longer by the
minute. Was it her spurned and enraged medievalist lover, or a
muckraking author who blamed her for ruining her life? Perhaps money was
the motive, and Constance's sister, jealous of her wealth and fame, was
responsible. Or possibly someone at Key News was angry enough--or
frightened enough--to commit cold-blooded murder. The onesure thing is
that Constance Young made a lot of enemies--and now one of them is
Eliza's enemy as well. And the closer she and the Society get to
unmasking the murderer, the closer they each get to dying, suddenly . . .
and brutally.
Category: Fiction
Review: A young broadcaster is murdered and there are plenty of
people with motives to be questioned.
Favorite Part: Getting an inside look at the goings-on in the
broadcast world of local news shows.
Least Favorite Part: None
Reviewed by: Theresa
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