A Readers Haven

The Knife of Never Letting Go

2009-11-25T10:46:00.001-08:00

I am trying to expand my horizons by reading outside the box and this YA was a defenite outside the box read. Chased by a madman preacher and his posse. Todd flees his settlement on a planet where war has killed off all the women and infected the men and animlas with a germ that broadcasts their thoughts aloud for all to hear. The noise is an opressive chaos of words, images and sounds and when Todd finds a hole in the noise he must keep the secret from the town and flees with his dog Manchee causing him to be persuded by the sheriff and his posse. Patrick Ness is a great writer and the novel is very suspenseful to the end and of course leaves you hanging so you must read the second book in the series. I suspended my disbelief and was transported in this great YA read.

I, Alex Cross

2009-11-19T12:24:00.001-08:00

Another quick read from Mr Patterson. Alex is celebrating his birthday when he gets a call that his niece's body has been found. Alex is determined to find the killer and soon figures out that his neice was a very high priced call girl and caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. The book is full of bodies and Alex finds that the killer is among the elite of Washington. All in all not a bad read. I just wish Mr Patterson would take sometime and really write a book. He is begging people to buy this one so it won't be the last Alex Cross book... hmm like he really needs the money?!? Why not just take your time Mr Patterson and write a really good thriller that takes more than two hours to read!?

Windfall by Penny Vincenzi

2009-11-19T12:16:00.000-08:00

What can I say but another so-so read. I really like Penny's writing style but, this one just kind of put me to sleep. Cassia Tallow inherits some money from her godmother. Since marrying and having 3 children Cassia has put her medical degree on hold but with the money she now decides to go back to work and do all the things her husband has forbade her over the years. After 624 pages of turmoil Cassia finally grows into herself and finds out where the money really came from. Just a little too slow of a read for me. Her trilogy is oh so much better.

Movies

2009-11-16T12:03:00.001-08:00

Another thing I want to try and do this winter is settle down and watch at least one or two dvd's every weekend. I am so behind on them and there are lots here at the library I am gonna try and get watched this winter. This weekend I watched Knowing with Nic Cage and The Proposal with Sandra Bullock. Sad to say both movies were just like my reading has been. Just so-so. The Knowing was actually kind of silly. It's no wonder Nic is in financail trouble with the last few movies he has chosen to make. Watched it in surround sound which made it a little better but still what I felt a very silly movie. The Proposal was kind of cute but had the potential to be so much funnier and I am not sure what happened. Had a great cast with Craig T Nelson, Mary Sternburgeon and Betty White but was just a kind of flat movie. Let's hope next weekends are much better!

Gonna try this again

2009-11-16T11:59:00.000-08:00

I really want to have a blog.. so why can't I seem to do it?!? Question of the year and I am gonna give it one more go. Lately it seems like everything I have read has been rather dull and boring or not even readable. This weekend I started Windfall by Penny Vincenzi and it's a chunkster. I am crossing my fingers that it will be a good read. I would like to at least start off again with a good review. Will let you all know in a couple days.

The Tsarina's Daughter

2008-10-21T10:54:00.001-07:00

I finally finished this book! Jeesh took me over two weeks and it should have only taken a couple days. This is the story of Tsar Nicholas daughter Tatiana. Instead of Anastasia being the one who escaped this time it is Tatiana. I enjoyed the book alot as I don't know much about the revolution of Russia other than the story of the killing of this family. Tatiana tells the story of her growing up and the fragility of both her mother's mental health and her brother's illness with hemophilia and how supposedly Rasputin helped to keep him alive. It was a very good read and a different take on what might have happened during this time in history.

2008-10-07T10:26:00.000-07:00

This is the 6th in the Abby Cooper series by Victoria Laurie. I really enjoyed this book and when I come back in my next life I want to be Abby Cooper. How cool would it be to have psychic abilities!! When Abby's boyfriend's cousin is kidnapped and they take off to Las Vegas to try and find him. After Dutch disappears Abby calls in her sister and girlfriend to come to Vegas and the search is on. A great cozy from the first page to the last. Highly recommend the whole Abby Cooper series.

Cold Rock River

2008-10-07T10:09:00.001-07:00

I read RoseFlower Creek awhile ago and fell in love with J.L. Miles. I couldn't wait to get my hands on Cold Rock River and it was even better.

It takes place in rural Georgia in 1963. A pregnant 17 yr old Adie Jenkins discovers the diary of 17 yr old Tempe Jordan, a slave girl, begun as the civil war was winding down. Adie is haunted by the death of her younger sister, Annie and Tempe is grief stricken over the selling of her 3 young children by sired by her master. Adie and Tempe's stories are both of family, race, love, loss and longing. You become so involved in both stories it is hard to put the book down. With many twists and turns it all comes to a very surprising ending. I really enjoyed this book and look forward to my next read by this author. I highly recommend Cold Rock River and Roseflower Creek.

The Heretic Queen

2008-10-02T13:07:00.000-07:00

I fell in love with Michelle Moran when I read her first book Nefertiti. Now with The Heretic Queen I love her even more.

The Heretic Queen is the story of Nefertari, niece of the heretic queen Nefertiti. Nefertari comes to the court of Pharoah Seti I after her family is killed. She becomes great friends with Ramesses I. When he becomes co- monarch and marries Iset, Nefertari realizes she loves Ramesses and wants to marry him too. Once they marry Nefertari is afraid that the Egyptian people will never accept a heretic descendant as their ruler. This is a love story full of romance, deceit, intrigue and suspense. Nefertari's and Ramesses love for each other is a true tale and Ms Moran brings it to life in her story. I only wish the book would have gone on for another 300 pages.

I can't wait for her next novel to become available and I highly recommend The Heretic Queen to any and all historical fiction fans.

2008-09-23T09:34:00.000-07:00

The Heretic's Daughter by Kathleen Kent is about a 10 yr old girl Sarah, growing up on a farm with her 3 brothers, younger sister Hannah and her parents Thomas and Martha. Like many mother and daughter relationships, Sarah and her mothers is fraught with tension and hostility. Sarah yearns for a more loving mother and when her brother is stricken with small pox Sarah and her sister are smuggled to her Aunt's house where she finds the love and attention she craves from her relatives. Soon however her father comes to take her back home and things go from bad to worse. People turn against their neighbors and accusations run rampant. Her mother is accused of being a witch and taken away. Soon Sarah and her brothers join her mother in jail awaiting their fate. Ms. Kent writes a compelling story of the atrocities that people went thru during this time in out history. Highly recommend The Heretic's Daugher.

2008-09-18T12:56:00.002-07:00

I am a big fan of historical fiction and Ms. Gregory. This book tells the story of Mary, Queen of Scots and the time she spent "imprisoned" as the guest of George Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury and his wife, Bess of Hardwick. The good part of the book was that I know little about Mary Queen of Scots and need to get to reading the book I have on her by Margaret George. She is an intriguing woman and I would like to know more about her. The bad thing about this book is that very little ever happens. There is little dialogue. It is told in different chapters from each of the above characters view points. Other than George falling in love with Mary little happens. She is moved around from place to place constantly being told she will be freed and that she will never be freed. Bess I think was a woman before her time. She ran the households and managed all the lands and knew to the penny how much money she and George made and how much money it cost to keep an imprisoned Queen happy. I really wish I would have liked the book more but it was just lacking. For true historical fans only.

2008-09-18T12:56:00.000-07:00

I started this yesterday afternoon and finished it last night One good thing about Patterson's books are they are very fast reads and I think they were written in much the same way . He and Howard sit down one afternoon and write a story. A very short story. They are almost implausible in their thinking. The sailboat in this book takes off from New Port Rhode Island and in practically no time at all they are in the Bahama's! It is all pretty much far fetched and is hardly worth the $27.99 asking price for hard back book. It would be good in paperback at $4.99 for a quick beach read or a 4-6 hour airplane ride. I wish Mr. Patterson would just take sometime and write a real book again. He must have more than enough money now and why he keeps putting out this drivel is beyond me. Read if you are a fan but only from the library or a used paperback.

The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson

2008-09-16T11:05:00.000-07:00

I just finished this last night and still can't stop thinking about the book. It's about a nameless porn star who is severely burned in a car accident. While recovering he meets Marianne who is a sculptor and suffers from some mental problems. Marianne states that they were lovers in medieval Germany and starts telling him of their love story and several others that take place in Japan, Iceland, Italy and England. Very strange love stories which I found very intriguing and disturbing. Once Marianne discovers from god that she has 27 sculptures left to complete and then she will die the story just seemed to turn for me. I still read on but something about the story changed. Would I recommend The Gargoyle? Hmm I am not sure. I found it an intriguing read but.. It's very different but, I do look forward to see if the author writes another.

2008-09-11T13:49:00.000-07:00

I received this ARC from Harper Collins First Look. It is the story of french painter Berthe Morisot who is devoted to her life as a painter until she meets Edouard Manet. He asks to paint Berthe and she falls in love with him. Society and her mother want Berthe to settle down and marry but Berthe must follow her own heart. Manet must have been quite the lady's man as this is the second book I have read about him and a paramour. Berthe must decided how much she is willing to give of herself to Manet. A good quick historical read.

The Quality of Life Report

2008-09-10T09:22:00.000-07:00

I have over 500 books at home to read and had just gotten about 6 from B&T that I want to read and what do I do but, see this on PBS and it has a huge waiting list so I go and order it from inter library loan. I thought it was a true story and had to read about 1/3 of it before I figured out it was fiction... call me slow. I enjoyed most of the book. It takes place in South Dakota which would take alot for a person to move to the middle of nowhere midwest. Lucinda was a hoot until she got a steady boyfriend and then I think she kind of lost herself adn I know this can happen but I kind of lost the thrill of the story. I am glad in the end that she came to her senses and stayed and hopefully life got much better for her after that.

The GuernseyLiterary and Potato Peel Pie Society

2008-09-08T12:14:00.000-07:00

How can I ever say the many ways that I just loved this book!! It was just an awesome read from page one to page 274 and I so wish it would have gone on at least another 274 pages. The writing was wonderful, the story grabbed you from page one and I wish Juliet Ashton was a dear friend of mine. So many wonderful words about reading and book stores. I marked my copy up terribly but this is one that I do plan to keep on my shelf and give to everyone I know to read. One of my favorite passages "That's what I love about reading: one tiny thing will interest you in a book, and that tiny thing will lead you into another book, and another bit there will lead you onto a third book. It's geometrically progressive-- all with no end in sight, and for no other reason than sheer enjoyment." This is exactly why I read. One book leads to another and another and I relish the sheer enjoyment I get from reading everyday. The book tells the story of Guernsey, the British Island that was occupied by the Nazis during WWII. How this small island was effected by the war and the occupation and how some survived just by picking up a book and reading. A wonderful story that I just can't recommend highly enough.

2008-08-27T10:35:00.000-07:00

I got an ARC of this book from Library Thing. I am a big historical fiction fan and was thrilled to recieve this one. I really enjoyed the story line about how make up was used during Queen Elizabeth I reign. This makeup contained lead and then they used rouge made up of mercury sulphide to hide smallpox scars and the advance of age. I found it intriguing that woman would go to such extremes and the way the body was ravaged by the use of this makeup. The story is about a young woman who is married to an earl who has only one favor to ask of his wife. That is to help him win favor with the Queen. Marget's introduction to the court is disastorous and she trys to do everything to gain her husband's love and the Queen's favor. I liked the book. Just didn't love it. I found it hard to care for Marget or her husband. Need to read more about Queen Elizabeth I to see if she was really as judgemental about beauty as this book makes her out to be. I like the way Ms Mitchell wrote the book. It was very easy to read with much dialogue but just never seemed to totally grab me. For true historical fiction fans only.

2008-08-27T09:52:00.000-07:00

I read this book in one day and wish I had it to read all over again. This is the story of a hospital ship in WWII that is torpedoed and sunk by the Japanese. Nine survivors make it to a deserted island in the south pacific and this is the story of how they overcome the odds and adversities of trying to stay alive with a traitor amongst them, till help arrives and before the Japanese come to take over the island. A truly wonderful and engrossing read from Mr. Shors and I can't wait for his next book. I also highly recommend his first novel Beneath A Marble Sky. Another excellent read.

The Mercedes Coffin

2008-08-18T10:10:00.000-07:00

Lt Peter Decker is asked to solve a 15 yr old murder cold case after another body is found murdered much like the first. A student of the first body has now made big bucks and will give the police department a seven figure charitable donation to open and solve the first murder. Decker forms a task force to solve both murders and the race is on. The only thing I missed in this book is more of the family. Rina played hardly no part at all but it was nice to see that Decker's daughter's have grown up and can now help their father in his endeavor to bring a murderor to justice. The book keeps you guessing and all in all a good mystery read.

Things I Want My Daughters to Know

2008-08-12T10:19:00.000-07:00

This book opens with a letter from Barbara Forbes telling her family what kind of funeral she wants. She has left behind a second husband and four daughters. She has also left each of them a letter of their own and the book is told from varying daughter's perspectives and how different each of their relationships with their mothers was. It was an enjoyable read. Having lost my own mother I could relate to how all the daughters felt once Barbara was gone and trying to overcome the feeling of loss. It was nice that everyone in the book had a happy ending for once.

I Still Have It

2008-08-12T10:02:00.001-07:00

This was a nice short weekend read. I have always like Ms Rudner's sense of humor and she still has it. I had a very hard time accepting 50 and it was nice to read some humor about women and ageing. I enjoyed reading about her father and her dog Bonkers. The best line of the book to me was "I love being married. It's so great to find that one special person you want to annoy for the rest of your life." For a quick, short, amusing read this one fits the bill perfectly

2008-08-12T09:49:00.000-07:00

I have had this on my shelf at home what seems like forever. I had heard such great things about it I wanted to save it for a reading slump. I have had such a hard time lately finding something to just take me away.. Sad to say Birdsong just didn't do it for me. A young english man falls in love with the wife of a man he has come to learn the textile business from. The book takes place from 1910 to 1918. Much of it is from the battlefields of World War I. I just never felt any feelings for either Stephen or Isabelle who leaves her husband and goes off with Stephen. Mr Faulks does a wonderful job describing the horrors of war but, I just never really grew to care about any of the characters and the book just felt a little disjointed to me. Only an average read...

Damage Control

2008-08-04T09:04:00.000-07:00

I started the latest installment in the Joanna Brady series early sunday morning and by early sunday evening I was nearing the end. Damage Control starts out with a bang and doesn't let up till the very last page. Joanna is busy with her new baby, husband, daughter Jenny and several murders and or suicides to keep her busy. Everything is not as simple as it seems and only seems to go from bad to worse but once again Joanna is able to solve the crimes and take control of her own personal life and others to make the book complete. A great summer read.

Stand the Storm

2008-07-31T10:26:00.000-07:00

Stand the Storm is the latest book by Breena Clarke. It is an historical fiction book about Sewing Annie and her son Gabriel. Born as slaves to Jonathan Ridley they both are able to live and work in Georgetown prior to the civil war. They even manage to buy their freedom but, at what a price? Slavery was a mark upon a persons soul that could never be erased. Annie and her son try hard to make new lives for themselves and over come the painful legacy of slavery. There are many memorable secondary characters in Stand the Storm. Some black and some white who help to make this story what it is. A truly engrossing read about the power of talent and the desire to change history.

Don't Make Me Choose Between You and My Shoes

2008-07-22T08:57:00.000-07:00

The title of this book caught my eye and I couldn't pass up reading it. It's a cute cozy about 2 beauty shop/private eye partners that are invited to the National Association of Private Investigators in New York City. An all expenses paid trip in the Big Apple! What more could two women from Salt Lick, Texas ask for. In New York they meet up with Celina, a small town librarian also from Texas who has been robbed and Cher, a working girl with a heart of gold. Debbie Sue and Edwina take them both under their wing and before you know it they are involved in a murder investigation that just could end up with both of their demises. It was cute, funny and a little out there , but all in all a good summer read.

Mistress of the Sun

2008-07-17T11:24:00.001-07:00

I was a big fan of Ms Gulland's Josephine B. trilogy and looked forward to reading her latest Mistress of the Sun. This book is the story of Louise de la Valliere mistress to Louis XIV, France's Sun King. Louise loses her father at a young age and spends her childhood in a convent run by her aunt. When her mother remarries Louise secures a position at court and meets up with Louis where he soon wins her heart. I really enjoyed this tale of Louise and the french history it entailed. With a little mystery and intrigue to keep one guessing this was a very good read.

Time is A River

2008-07-08T13:12:00.001-07:00

I have always enjoyed Mary Alice Monroe's books and was so happy to get her latest Time is A River. Mia Landan is a breast cancer survivor. She decides to take up fly fishing and after returning home from her first fly fishing retreat finds her husband in bed with another woman. Mia runs back to her teacher Belle who offers her the use of her family cabin in the mountains of Ashville North Carolina for the summer. The cabin belonged to Belle's grandmother Kate who Belle never knew and was the subject of a scandal while she lived in the cabin. Mia finds Kate's journals and starts to unravel the mystery of Kate who was a legendary fly fisher and how she came about being accused of murdering her lover. I liked the setting of the book. Who wouldn't want to stay in a cabin in the mountains of North Carolina right next to a river. Mia finds herself and also helps Belle to find out who she is and the grandmother she never knew.

I have enjoyed Ms Monroe's previous books a little more. Swimming Lessons, The Beach House and Sweet Grass but, think that may be because they take place on the coast. All in all Time Is A River was a good read.

2008-07-08T12:54:00.000-07:00

This is the story of three generations of the Paint Family as they struggle to make a life on the western plains. Enroute from Mississippis to the Dakota Territory at the height of the Civil War Ebenezar Paint meets twice widowed Cora and marries her. They have twin sons Eli and Ezra. By 15 the boys are orphans and the story tells how they struggle to make a part of the wild west their own. The story has an unforgettable cast of characters who do there best to make it in an ever changing frontier. Letters and diaries from the authors own family form a basis for the story and I really enjoyed the book. It was an especially easy read for me as the author did not over do it in my opinion with frivilous wording. The story just seemed to flow and I highly recommend it for any historical fiction fans.

Blogging

2008-07-08T12:51:00.000-07:00

I have been so bad about this blog and really want to try and get back into writing short reviews of what I am reading. I love reading other people's blogs and see no reason why I can't give it another go and see if I do better at it this time....

Queen of Broken Hearts

2007-03-28T11:51:00.000-07:00

I really enjoyed The Sunday Wife and The Same Sweet Girls by Cassandra King and was really looking forward to reading her newest Queen of Broken Hearts. I started this last night and just could never really get into or care about any of the characters in the book. I really enjoy reading books that take place in the south cause it is one of the few places I have never really been and they always sound like such wonderful places. The setting of this book is in Alabama and it's really the only interesting thing in the whole book. Clare the main character is a marriage therapist and to me she really had so many problems of her own I don't see how she could really be a help to anyone else. What I really enjoyed about the book was Clare's ex-mother inlaw who lives in her home made bird sanctuary where she cares for wounded birds. It is on a delta I think and it sounded like a truly awesome place to live. Thats all I liked about the book and I really hope her next one is better.

2007-03-23T09:57:00.000-07:00

Once again I stayed up till 1:30 am to finish a book. I started this yesterday and just couldn't put it down. This is the 9th in the Scumble River series by Denise Swanson and I thought this one was really good. Skye's best friend Trixie Frayne convinces her to take a complimentary weekend at the new Scumble River Spa. Trouble begins immediately for the friends when they arrive at the spa and are met by protesters who think women should not indulge in frivolous beauty treatments and the owner of the spa wants Skye to find out who is digging up the grounds looking for a cache of jewels supposedly hidden on the spa grounds years ago. Then of course one of the spa's guests winds up dead in a mud bath. No one will be leaving the spa until Skye can figure out who done it. I really like the heroine Skye Denison. She is a little over weight and loves to eat. She is a school psychologist who also works part-time with the local police department. She dumped her old boyfriend Simon who is the local undertaker. I never really liked him and has now taken up with Wally Boyd the local police chief who seems like a good match for Skye. This is a cute cozy mystery series that has it's laugh out loud moments and unlike some series that seem to get worse with age this one continues to grow on me. A great cozy mystery read.

2007-03-23T09:11:00.000-07:00

Into Temptation is by Penny Vincenzi and the the 3rd book in a series about the Lytton Family. Celia Lytton is still in control of the publishing business which has branched out to the U.S. This book transports one back to bygone eras that in Vincenzi's writing sound oh so rich and glamerous. There is still dissent amongst the family members and it is their stories that keep this book going. One can't help but wait with some trepidation to see what will happen next. At 672 pages it is a big book but once I came to the last page I couldn't help but wish that it had gone on for another 200 pages. It still left many unanswered questions but I don't regret one minute that I spent with this series. Ms Vincenzi seems to have a talent for writing big books. All the ones that I have read have never let me done and felt like they dragged at all. They are big books that read quickly and always leave you wanting more. This in my HO is the sign of a great writer.

2007-03-13T14:16:00.000-07:00

19 Minutes is about a boy who has been bullied his whole life. By his own brother and by the kids in school. It only takes him 19 minutes to change his life, his parents life and all the kids who go to his school. The book involves many characters and at first you wonder how they all will come together. It works because what any of us may do today might involve people we have no idea it would effect and it could also stem from something that happened long ago. Picoult takes a very controversial subject and makes it into a chilling tale of how we become who and what we are.

Whale Talk

2007-03-13T13:56:00.000-07:00

The main character in this book is T.J. Jones. He is black, white and Japanese. His given name is The Tao and he was abandoned by his mother when she got heavily into crack and crank. He is adopted by a loving ex-hippie couple and with the help of a great therapist he is able to overcome his rage over being abandoned by his mother.
He is a senior in highschool and still can get upset by injustice so when a big deal high school football star picks on a brain damaged student, Chris, for wearing his dead brother's letter jacket T.J. hatches a scheme for revenge. He assembles a swim team in a school with no pool made up of the most outrageous outsiders and misfits that he can find in his school. He makes the coach promise them letter jackets if they can all qualify. They all ban together and actually get good enough not to embarrass themselves at meets. The best part of all is the time they all spend together on the bus to get to the meets and to actually share the hurts that have made them who they are. Meanwhile T.J.'s father is fighting some demons of his own from his past and decides to take in another foster child and finds himself at odds with the child's abusive step-father.
This book drew a heated discussion in Iowa lately due to the subject..language.. just what I am not sure , but heard recently that the Pastor who had started the ruckus was backing down. This was a very good book about bullying and what all goes on in schools nowadays. The language is a little rough but sadly this is the way most kids talk now a days. T.J. is a boy fast becoming a man who does all that he can to keep the peace and be himself. Lessons could be learned from reading this book and I hope tons of YA's give it a try.

2007-03-05T15:07:00.000-08:00

Philadelphia heiress Nora Blackbird has agreed to wed Mick Abruzzo, son of New Jersey's most notorious mobster. Then Nora and her sister's ominous news-Sweet Penny Devine has disappeared and her family wants her declared dead immediately. Could someone have plotted her final Act? It's up to Nora to figure it out and once again she does in this the 6th in the Blackbird sister's mysteries. This was a cute cozy with Nora once again figuring out the who dun it.

A Crazy Little Thing Called Death

2007-03-05T14:55:00.000-08:00

Started and finished this one on sunday. I actually liked it better than some of his stand alones that I have read in the past. The former first lady has died and the most powerful people in the world gather in New York for her funeral. They are all taken prisoner in the church where they are gathered for the funeral. Detective Michael Bennett is called in to work with the kidnappers to get them released safe and sound. Michael's wife is dying of cancer and he is trying to get ready for the holidays and help his 10 adopted children get ready to lose their mother. A little implausible that he has 10 adopted children but I just went with the story and thought it was pretty good. Am not a big fan of Patterson. He publishes much too often and it seems at times they are just thrown together in a night. This one I would give a Ct rating.

Latest reads...

2007-02-26T14:14:00.000-08:00

Last week and this weekend I managed to get 3 books read!! Wohoo... lol Wish I had the time and could read 2-3 in a day. Wouldn't that be something. Anyway the first that I finished was A Town Like Alice by Nevil Shute. I was sure that I had read this before but I guess not. I fell in love with Nevil after reading On The Beach and A Town Like Alice did not disappoint. Takes place in Malaya where Jean Paget works in 1941 when america enters the war and Japan arrives north of Malay. Jean tries to escape back to England but is captured along with 79 other women and children by the Japanese. Her tale of how the japanese make these women and children march over 1200 miles to find a place for them during the occupation. During this death march Jean meets a soldier and he seems to come to a bad end. After the war Jean goes back to England and learns that she has inheritated money from an Uncle she barely knew. Long story short she learns the soldier from Malaya did not die and he is looking for her while she is looking for him. She goes to Australia where they finally meet up and Jean uses her money to build up the town of Willstown. This was a great story of courage and never giving up. How any of these women survived the death march is amazing in itself and how self reliant Jean was in her dreams and making them come true. A great read!
Up next was a cozy mystery called Death by Syrah by Michelle Scott. This is the 3rd in this series. I like them cause they talk of wine and food. Two of my favorite things! The heroine works at a vineyard in the napa valley and is bothered by too many men wanting her affections. Of course there is a murder and Jean saves the day and hopefully picks the right man at the end but one won't know till the next book comes out! A cute and cozy read.
Yesterday I managed to finish The Cotton Queen by Pamela Morsi. I had started it earlier and put it down to read Alice so decided to finish it. It was pretty good. About a mother and her daughter who live in the south. Usual story daughter doesn't want to be anything like mother but in the end we always I think end up like our mothers in one way or another. It's the usual story of love and strength, a woman finding a way back to herself and her family. Will pass this on to someone from PBS.

The Double Bind

2007-02-20T09:44:00.000-08:00

I finished this last night and all I could say at the end of the book was wow!! I wish I could have read the book in one sitting and then turned around and read it again. It's a very compelling read about Laurel Estabrook. She is a young social worker involved with the homeless and trying to get them off the streets and into housing. She is haunted by her own demons of her past from when she was biking on a mountain road and survived being attacked but two men. She meets Bobbie Crocker who is homeless and mentally ill who has a box of photographs he won't let anyone see. Bobbie dies and Laurel becomes the keeper of his pictures in order to try and tell his story. How did a man who took pictures of famous people during the 50's and 60's wind up homeless? The pictures become an obsession to Laurel to find out exactly who Bobbie Crocker was. She goes on a mission to find the truth and becomes so involved in the search that she is oblivious to everything else in her life other than finding the truth about Bobbie Crocker. I gurantee that the end of this book will just blow you away. I had to read it twice and am still not sure I understand the whole thing but don't want to give anything away.

ranting

2007-02-17T11:29:00.000-08:00

Being a librarian in a small town of less than 1300 certainly does have it's moments. We combined with the high-school fall of 2003 so it's nice to be able to serve both the public and the young un's in the school. How I wish I could make all of them into verocious readers, but sadly I realize this is never gonna happen. I have a public patron who I swear her main goal in life is to simply drive me crazy. The rules are that you can check out 2 video's or DVD's at a time. Every single time she comes to the desk she has at least 4 and gives me this sad eyed look just this once? Please.. the other day she was in after school with her kids and had to have a heart to heart with the one daughter sitting around the fireplace. Would have been just fine had she not been at least two sheets to the wind and wanted to be sure the whole library knew she was trying to console her daughter over being bullied... jeesh.. then friday.. after waiting patiently for 5 to come she comes dragging in at 4:55 and procedes to spend 15 mins picking out her 4 dvd's.... Oh and the really bad news is the poor thing told me wednesday that she has a brain anuerysm and wanted to read a book on them.... I didn't know that one could walk around with an active brain anuerysm..... Thank god it's almost 2 on saturday afternoon and I am out of here till monday at 11!

reading

2007-02-17T11:23:00.000-08:00

I read The Secret History of the Pink Carnation by Lauren Willig this week. I must confess that I mostly skimmed it. I so wanted to like it ,but this being the third time that I have tried to read it I gave up and just sped thru it. With two more in the series am not sure I will ever read the next two. This really surprises me as I am a total historical fiction fan , but for some reason this one just did not hit the mark.
I started The Double Bind by Chris Bohjalian yesterday and so far it is very good. Can't wait to get back to it tonight.

Almost Paradise

2007-02-13T10:54:00.000-08:00

Almost Paradise by Susan Isaacs. Started and finished this one in record time. At 499 pages will be my second chunkster for the month of February. It's the story of a beautiful man and a beautiful woman and of the generations before that came together to eventually bring this couple together. All the characters seem to come alive in their stories. It's the Cableigh's story from the cold water flat in Hell's Kitchen to the rolling verdant Connecticut farm to the 5th Avenue duplex, from their vastly different backgrounds to a life together that transcends what either alone could acheive. It tells of the ties that bind us all together, and of the missed opportunities that tear us apart. I was actually not that disappointed that there was no happy ending. It ended the way it should have.

When Darkness Falls

2007-02-13T10:32:00.000-08:00

I finished this sunday and it was a great read. Very suspenseful and kept me on the edge of my seat. I have only read one other Grippando and want to get to all of them sooner or later. This one takes place in Miami and Jack Swyteck is asked to defend a homeless man who manages to make his $10,000 bail. This is only the beginning of the story and what happens between Jack and the homeless man who prefers to be called Falcon. This story delves into the mystery of The Disappeared, the 30,000 plus Argenineans who because of their opposistion to the military regime vanished between 1975 and 1983. The book is very suspenseful and a thrill ride from beginning to end.

The Crimson Portrait

2007-02-08T14:12:00.000-08:00

I finished The Crimson Portrait by Jody Shields last night. I had a really hard time getting into her book The Fig Eater and was hoping this one would be so much better. I was wrong. It had great promise. It's about a woman in London in 1915 who's husband is killed in the war. For some promise she opens her house as a military hospital for the most irreparably injured in the war. The widow finds solace in a wounded soldier whose face, concealed by bandages, she cannot see. She wants to remake her lover into her dead husband. Sounds good but the book just never really goes anywhere. There is just not for me enough depth to the story and not enough build up of the characters. I didn't particularly care for any of them and the story was just down right confusing. Reminded me a lot of The English Patient.
Tonight I am gonna give When Darkness Falls by James Grippando a try.

2007-02-07T11:38:00.000-08:00

I started this yesterday and stayed up till 1 to finish it. I really didn't feel it was worth more than a day's read. I am a big historical fiction fan but have rarely been able to get into a combined mystery-historical fiction read. This one was no different. It seemed to take forever to get to the mystery part of the book. The hero finds his wife in bed with another and takes off for the west to look for his lost love and to try and to do something about the way the Indians are being treated during the relocation. Another pitiful act by man against man in the way the Indians were treated. I really need to find a dysfunctional family book to read... The hero finds his lost love and when she is accused of murdering her first husband he takes the blame and she is off to find the real killer. An ok read for one night but I will not be racing off to find the second in the series.

Finished

2007-02-06T10:47:00.000-08:00

I finished Black Cross last night. Stayed up till 2 to get it done. I liked it ok, but just ok. I don't think I am really a fan of espionage. It didn't draw me in totally. Some of the book I have to confess that I just sped over. It was good and exciting and was glad about the way it ended. All tied up into a nice ending. Everyone keeps raving about his latest True Evil , but am not sure I will ever get around to it.
I have my chunkster challenge out of the way for the month, but still need to get my TBR book off my shelf at home. Need to pick one and get it started. Enough procrastinating with these books.
I am in the mood for a mystery today so will try Solomon Spring by Michelle Black which will count towards another group that I am supposed to read a book with the last name of the author being B. However it was supposed to be done last month for this group. Sadly all I managed was the A author. I have some catching up to do.

reading

2007-02-05T15:06:00.000-08:00

I have decided to join the masses who have blogs. Why I have no idea other then maybe it will help me to post some simple thoughts and feelings I have on the many books I read. I am reading Black Cross right now by Greg Iles. It takes place during the end of WWII and even tho I have read many books on the holocaust I am finding this one hard to read when the chapters go to a concentration camp and one has to read of all the inhumanity to man that went on at this time. It says in the book that the US was not allowed to bomb any concentration camps or the germans would not honor the Geneva Convention in regards to any prisoners of war. To me this is just simply ludicrus. I had no idea that one could decide how they were going to honor the Geneva Convention. So many lives lost for no good reason other then one man's idea of how he felt it should be. And that he was allowed to get away with his madness for so long. I hope to finish this one up in the next day or two as I have several books that I want to get read this month.