536 pages by NY Tmes bestseller James Lee Burke.
Publishers Weekly calls this thriller "Superlative". Sorry, don't agree, did not make me want to read another Dave Robicheaux mystery.
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Love on Assignment by Cara Lynn James
323 pages..................................................................................................................................................
A working girl who goes undercover as a governess in 1900 Newport Rode Island. A tale of love and faith byu the author of Love on a Dime.
A working girl who goes undercover as a governess in 1900 Newport Rode Island. A tale of love and faith byu the author of Love on a Dime.
Heroes of the Holocaust by Allan Zullo and Mara Bovsun
Heroes of the Holocaust by Allan Zullo and Mara Bovsun183 pages
These are the astounding stories of teens who risked their lives, and the lives of their families in order to help Jews hide and escape from imprisonment and death at the hands of the Nazis. Very powerful, leaving one to think of the things we do, and the things we do not do, to help those around us.
Extras by Scott Westerfeld
Extras by Scott Westerfeld417 pages
book 4 of the uglies series
It has been three years since Tally Youngblood saved the world, and now Aya is living her life as an extra...someone so invisible that she rates low in the reputation economy. She has got to build up her reputation and find her place around the surge monkeys and tech heads.
Specials by Scott Westerfeld
Specials by Scott Westerfeld372 pages
book 3 of the uglies series
Tally is now a special, part of an elite force that enforces the government rules. She is one who gets called in to fix 'special circumstances' that may endanger the plan to keep everyone brain-missing and oblivious to the world around them. But now she is set on those that she once fought along beside.
Pretties by Scott Westerfeld
Pretties by Scott Westerfeld368 pages
book 2 of the uglies series
Tally is back, and now she is a pretty. Will the ugly Tally convince her pretty self to take the cure, to fix her brain, or will she be too far into the bubbleheads to want to be fixed?
Monday, July 30, 2012
Death's Acre, by Dr. Bill Bass
320 pages
Loved it!
Sunday, July 29, 2012
The Girls Who Went Away, by Ann Fessler
354 pages
"In this deeply moving work, Ann Fessler brings to light the lives of hundreds of thousands of young single American women forced to give up their newborn children in the years following World War II and before Roe v. Wade. The Girls Who Went Away tells a story not of wild and carefree sexual liberation, but rather of a devastating double standard that has had punishing long-term effects on these women and on the children they gave up for adoption. Based on Fessler's groundbreaking interviews, it brings to brilliant life these women's voices and the spirit of the time, allowing each to share her own experience in gripping and intimate detail."
I couldn't put it down. I cried, I loved it.
Friday, July 27, 2012
Not Quite What I Was Planning, by Larry Smith
225 pages
"When the online storytelling magazine SMITH asked readers to submit six-word memoirs, they proved a whole, real life can be told this way, too. The results are fascinating, hilarious, shocking, and moving. From small sagas of bittersweet romance ("Found true love, married someone else") to proud achievements and stinging regrets ("After Harvard, had baby with crackhead"), these terse true tales relate the diversity of human experience in tasty bite-size pieces."
This was a fantastic, fun book to read.
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
The Truth (With Jokes!), by Al Franken
384 pages
I find him so funny, I really enjoyed this one. I enjoyed Lying Liars... more, but this one was good.
The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom by Christopher Healy
The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom by Christopher Healy438 pages
Fun story, good for boys and girls alike. Definitely would stick to younger readers. Great fantasy/adventure, but the writing is absolutely geared towards a lesser mature audience, in my opinion.
Uglies by Scott Westerfeld
Uglies by Scott Westerfeld406 pages
What is no one had the advantage for being extra pretty? What if no one had the disadvantage of being ugly? Jobs, elected offices, friends, everything was based on the person themselves, and not the way they looked? It seems great on the surface...everyone has cosmetic surgery on their 16th birthday, and everybody looks basically the same. But everything is different about that person. Would it be worth it?
Tally is nearing her sixteenth birthday, and cannot wait for her surgery so she can finally be pretty. But her alliance with the rebelious Shay may cost her in a big way. Can she break the promise she made to her friend...can she give up her 'pretty' life for that promise.
Loved this book! (Seemed like Delirium was pretty close to this?)
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
ICE COLD BY Tess Gerritsen
435 pages
What happens following the pathology conference in the Wyoming Mountains?
What happens following the pathology conference in the Wyoming Mountains?
WINTER Roses by Diana Palmer
180 pages
Best friends since grammer school, is older brother a curse or a blessing?
Best friends since grammer school, is older brother a curse or a blessing?
The Christmas Quilt by Thomas J. Davis
280 pages
Story of a family in the mountains of North Georgia. Not rich in money but wealthy in family and love.
Story of a family in the mountains of North Georgia. Not rich in money but wealthy in family and love.
Cinderella and the Cowboy by Judy Christenberry
178 pages
Young widow with two small children travels to a ranch to meet the father-in-law that she does not know.
Young widow with two small children travels to a ranch to meet the father-in-law that she does not know.
NurtureShock, by Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman
352 pages
"Why the most brutal person in a child's life is often a sibling, and how a single aspect of their preschool-aged play can determine their relationship as adults. When is it too soon - or too late - to teach a child about race? Children in diverse schools are less likely to have a cross-racial friendship, not more - so is school diversity backfiring? Millions of families are fighting to get their kids into private schools and advanced programs as early as possible. But schools are missing the best kids, 73% of the time - the new neuroscience explains why. Why are kids - even those from the best of homes - still aggressive and cruel? The answer is found in a rethinking of parental conflict, discipline, television's unexpected influence, and social dominance."
I loved it.
Gregor and the Overlanders by Suzanne Collins
311 pages
This is one of those books that I have seen on the book shelves at the library about 100 times, and I keep thinking I should try it. I mean, anything written by the author of the Hunger Games is gonna be great, right? I have no idea why I have passed it over so many times...and when I finally picked it up, I was absolutely hooked from about page five.
Gregor has to spend his summer home, instead of going to camp, in order to take care of his two-year-old sister, Boots. Mom is way over worked, and Dad disappeared two years ago. But despite the hard times, Gregor cannot always keep himself from thinking of all the great things he and his Dad will do once he gets back. And Mom and the kids KNOW he didn't just up and leave.
Gregor and his sister are down in the apartment basement doing laundry, when Boots chases her ball down by the air vents. When she crawls in after it, Gregor has to go in for her. But what they fall into is a whole new world. Literally. He must find a way to get back to the 'Overland'. But a strange human race, giant spiders, cockroaches, bats, and rats, all need him to stay to fufill the prophesy....one that might just lead him straight back to his dad.
An exciting adventure/fantasy, one that any thrill seeking middle schooler would love to fall into! I cannot wait to start on the second, Gregor and the Prophesy of Bane.
Monday, July 23, 2012
Happy Accidents, by Jane Lynch
320 pages
I love Jane Lynch. She's incredibly funny, and with her it's all about delivery. It was interesting to read about her life. It was also interesting to read about her life as an actress. She's really been in so many things that you don't remember!
The Lucifer Effect, by Philip Zimbardo
576 pages
I really enjoyed reading the chapters on the actual Stanford Prison Experiment, and couldn't put it down. But during the second half of the book it really dragged.
The Golden Lily by Richelle Mead
The Golden Lily by Richelle Mead418 pages
Sequel to Bloodlines
The Alchemist, Sydney is back with her task of keeping the lines between humans and vampires blurred. At all costs she must keep the human world unaware that vampires and dhampirs exist. But living with them is taking a toll on her. She believes them to be unnatural....until she starts to get too close to the ones she is to protect. Love these books...very easy light read with a great storyline, I was disappointed that I didn't already have the next to start on.
Thursday, July 19, 2012
The Girls of No Return by Erin Saldin
The Girls of No Return by Erin Saldin345 pages
Most of the time when I finish a book, I judge the overall experience by how much I wanted to sneak it in to work with me, or if I felt it necessary to be late coming back from lunch in order to finish it. This book stayed in my purse for two days so I could steal a couple of pages even in the weirdest places, like in line at Wal-Mart. Loved Lida's story, even as it spiraled out of control. In a wilderness camp for misfit girls, she must choose between a friendship with the fierce, scary, but true, Boone, or the fabulous, but fake Gia. And in the middle of all of the drama, she must face the truth that her mother is not in fact dead, and that she feels better when she cuts herself to release the pain. Very stirring book, you cannot walk away untouched by this one!
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Monday, July 16, 2012
The Apothecary by Maile Meloy
The Apothecary by Maile Meloy353 pages
Proof that reading is pretty futile when on sleeping medication. I read every single page, but couldn't tell you much what this book is about. A mixture of historical and fantasy reads, Janie and Benjamin must keep the pharmacopia out of the hands of enemy spies.
Mississippi Trial, 1955 by Chris Crowe
229 pages
Hiram is torn between his Grandfather and his Father. One man wants Hiram to grow up in the south, to know where whites and blacks fit into their 'roles' and the other wants him to grow up with respect for all races. But Hiram must decide his true feelings on his own as he finds himself a witness in a brutal crime that rocks the nation, north and south.
Bloodlines by Richelle Mead
Bloodlines by Richelle Mead421 pages
When book 2 was missing from the VA series, I picked this up to get my fix. This is a series based around the vampires and dhampirs, focusing on the alchemist who keep the lines between vampires and humans blurred. I loved this book just as much, but be warned that this gives away storylines in the VA series if you have not read it all the way through.
Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead
Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead343 pages
I loved this so much more than I thought I would. It was a light read with a wonderful storyline. Totally bummed that our library is missing #2, Frostbite
SILVER BELLS byu Luanne Rice
274 pages.
The story of a family of "tree farmers" from Nova Scotia who came to New York each winter to sell their trees to the wealthy Manhattenites. This book was chosen to be a Hallmark Hall of Fame Television Event.
The story of a family of "tree farmers" from Nova Scotia who came to New York each winter to sell their trees to the wealthy Manhattenites. This book was chosen to be a Hallmark Hall of Fame Television Event.
WICKED LIES by Lisa Jackson
529 pages.......................................Wicked Lies by Lisa Jackson is apparently a continuation of stories by Lisa Jackson and her sister Nancy Bush about a cult? or commune?.
This story ends like an Alfred Hitchcock movie. What happened?????
This story ends like an Alfred Hitchcock movie. What happened?????
Friday, July 13, 2012
The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing, by Melissa Bank
288 pages
I approached this book wrong, I think. I was expecting a run-of-the-mill linear storyline, when really what it is is short stories featuring the same character. So I think my initial dislike of the book was because of that. But I do think the first three short stories were better than the end ones.
Thursday, July 12, 2012
The Chaperone, by Laura Moriarty
384 pages
I absolutely loved it, could not put it down.
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Blood Feud, by Nancy Alther
304 pages
"America’s most notorious family feud began in 1865 with the murder of a Harmon McCoy, a Union soldier, by a Confederate Hatfield relative. But Southern grudges run long and deep. More than a decade later tempers flared over stolen hogs. This accusation triggered years of bloody violence and retribution that led to a tragic Romeo-and-Juliet interlude, a Supreme Court ruling, and Kentucky’s last public hanging. The final feud trial took place in 1898, but the rivalry didn’t end there."
It was kind of hard to keep track of everyone and everything that was going on, but it was a really interesting book.
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
In Defense of Food, by Michael Pollan
256 pages
"Michael Pollan's last book , The Omnivore's Dilemma, launched a national conversation about the American way of eating; now In Defense of Food shows us how to change it, one meal at a time. Pollan proposes a new answer to the question of what we should eat that comes down to seven simple but liberating words: "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants."
I should have read this before reading Food Rules but I learned some interesting tidbits nonetheless.
Monday, July 9, 2012
Saturday, July 7, 2012
Friday, July 6, 2012
Foundation, by Isaac Asimov
272 pages
Not usually what I read, but held my interest well enough.
Rebel Fire by Andrew Lane
Rebel Fire by Andrew Lane343 pages
Good read, but I didn't enjoy it near as much as I did the first one.
Wednesday, July 4, 2012
Shame of the Nation, by Jonathan Kozol
416 pages
"Over the past several years, Jonathan Kozol has visited nearly 60 public schools. Virtually everywhere, he finds that conditions have grown worse for inner-city children in the 15 years since federal courts began dismantling the landmark ruling in Brown v. Board of Education. First, a state of nearly absolute apartheid now prevails in thousands of our schools. The segregation of black children has reverted to a level that the nation has not seen since 1968. Few of the students in these schools know white children any longer. Second, a protomilitary form of discipline has now emerged, modeled on stick-and-carrot methods of behavioral control traditionally used in prisons but targeted exclusively at black and Hispanic children. And third, as high-stakes testing takes on pathological and punitive dimensions, liberal education in our inner-city schools has been increasingly replaced by culturally barren and robotic methods of instruction that would be rejected out of hand by schools that serve the mainstream of society."
Hard to stomach.
Insurgent by Veronica Roth
525 pages
Speechless and confused. Can't believe I have to wait for over a year for the next book!
Speechless and confused. Can't believe I have to wait for over a year for the next book!
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
Monday, July 2, 2012
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams
215 pages
The first book in the series. I'm really disappointed in myself that I didn't read it sooner. It's incredibly funny.
Savage Inequalities, by Jonathan Kozol
262 pages
A really interesting look at why some schools have so much, while others have nothing at all. Interviewing students and teachers in run down schools of East St. Louis and Camden, NJ, Kozol tries to get their POV as to why schools are the way they are. A good read even for non-teachers.
Sunday, July 1, 2012
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