Booksie's Blog

Eating Smoke by Chris Thrall

2012-01-24T06:34:00.001-05:00

Chris Thrall leaves the Royal Marines in his early twenties, sure that he is cut out for bigger things. He goes to Hong Kong to make his fortune in the security business, but soon finds it falling apart. He moves from job to job, his engaging personality making it easy to get jobs, but his restless nature making it difficult to keep one. He soon makes his way to the nightclub world, where he is employed as a doorman.

This way of life suits him, with nighttime working hours, lots of new faces and above all, the drugs. Chris has the knack of quickly making friends with almost anyone, and he spends his days in a whirl of socializing and doing drugs. He becomes addicted to crystal meth. Although he can see the effects of the drugs on his friends, decrying the depths they fall to, he seems oblivious to his own deterioration.

As time goes on, he finds it more and more difficult to keep a job, eat, sleep, or maintain a home. Wandering the streets, living off his friends, he becomes a typical meth addict, but with one terrifying difference. He gets on the wrong side of one of Hong Kong's fiercest gangs and must now figure out how to save his life, both physically and to wrench himself out of his drug addiction.

Readers will want to not like Chris. He blithely moves through life, never finding anything that goes deeper than an inch, taking drugs, moving from job to job, friend to friend. Yet, somehow, the reader is engaged with this man who seems so oblivious yet is so engaging, and soon finds that they are cheering for Thrall to be successful in his attempt to change from an addict with no future. This book is recommended for those interested in learning about the Hong Kong culture and those interested in tales of redemption.

Swamplandia! by Karen Russell

2012-01-24T06:25:00.000-05:00

Things are not going well in Swamplandia! Once a major tourist draw with hordes of visitors each day, the death of the show's main attraction has put a serious dent in the business. Even worse, the main attraction was also the mother of the Bigtree family that runs Swamplandia.

Karen Russell's novel is the story of how this family comes to grip with the loss of their mother and the possible ending of the only life they have known; that of the Bigtree family of Swamplandia!. There are three children. Ossie, the oldest sister who is sixteen, has never been that involved with the business, being a fey girl who drifts through life. She becomes entranced with spiritualism and soon convinces herself that she can talk to the dead and that dead boys are perfect boyfriends. Kiwi, the oldest and only son, has always wanted a 'normal' life on the mainland, and leaves the Swamplandia! island, determined to make it on his own and then figure out how to save the park. Ava Bigtree is thirteen and the novel's protagonist. She loves the business and her only dream is to grow up and take over for her mother.

Chief Bigtree, the father, is one of those optimistic people who is sure everything will work out even when he has no plan to make it happen. He leaves on a mysterious business trip shortly after Kiwi's departure, leaving the girls alone on the island. Ossie disappears into the swamp, chasing her ghostly love, and Ava soon goes into the swamp to rescue her. Will this family ever be reunited and made whole?

Readers will love the fresh voice and writing style of Karen Russell. Ava's spirit is so big it jumps off the page, and the ability to experience life from her young perspective is intriguing. The characters are memorable, and the reader gets to experience the Florida swamps in all their murky, humid, bug-infested, dangerous appeal. This book is recommended for all readers, and especially those interested in coming of age stories and those of families finding their way to make a live together.

T-SHIRT GIVEAWAY!!!!!

2012-01-21T14:31:00.001-05:00

Just in time for Valentine's Day, Booksie is pleased to announce the giveaway of a Booknerds Are Sexy t-shirt, thanks to the generousity of R.Lynn, who is promoting her new book, Vanity & Valor. R.Lynn is a multi-genre author from Victoria, BC, Canada. She lives there with her hubby and their two four-legged children. She has entered the literary scene with a bang, and recently became one of the first authors to receive a publishing sponsorship.

About The Book

His father’s dying wish was for him to give up racing chariots and focus on being the new Dominus. The problem with that was, all he ever wanted to do was race chariots. When his desires and duty clash he finds himself at the verge of losing everything. She was sold into slavery by her father and purchased by Rome’s champion charioteer. Forced to work in his trigarium with the horses, she learns that women hold little to no value and that a prized racehorse has more rights than she does. When faced with the choice to risk her life and deny her status… will she? Doing so could get both her and her Dominus killed.

Giveaway Rules

1, The giveaway starts Saturday, January 21st and ends Friday, January 27th, 2012.

2. There is one t-shirt, size Large, to be given away. The winner must live in the United States or Canada, sorry!

3. For one entry, leave your email in a comment.

4. For additional entries, be or become a follower of Booksie's Blog post the giveaway on Twitter or Facebook with a link in your comment.

5. Entries without valid email addresses will not be entered. The winner will be chosen by a random number generator.

That's all! Thanks and watch here for Booksie's reivew of Vanity And Valor in the coming weeks.

When She Woke by Hillary Jordan

2012-01-18T06:09:00.000-05:00

When she woke, she was red. This is the opening lines from Hilary Jordan's new novel, When She Woke. In this updated version of The Scarlet Letter, those who sin against God and the state wear their shame openly so that all know. Criminals are chemically treated so that their skin shouts their crime, whether yellow, green or red, the most serious.

Hannah's crime? She fell in love with a married man, had an affair, got pregnant and had an abortion. Even worse, she refused to name the man or the name of the doctor who performed the operation. Her sentence? A month in detention, on 24 hour video for all to see, then sixteen years of living with red skin so that her crime was the first thing everyone saw when they saw her. Living as a criminal who could be easily discriminated against, unsafe from those who searched for victims who could not fight back.

Hannah tries desparately to forge a new life for herself. She finds enemies such as a vigilante group who takes punishment of Chromes as their life mission. Friends such as other Chromes and those committed to end this practice and to save those condemed by it. Can she find her way through this new life she is forced to live to ever find happiness again?

Hillary Jordan has created a believable world and a pace that draws the reader along, anxious to discover what will happen next to Hannah. This thought-provoking work will be one that the reader finds hard to forget but instead will think of long after finishing.

How To Be A Best Friend Forever by John Townsend

2012-01-16T08:02:00.000-05:00

What is a friend and how can someone bring friends into their lives? That is the premise of Dr. John Townsend's book, How To Be A Best Friend Forever. His position is that friends are our second family, those who after we are nurtured in our birth families, help us to finish growing outside that protective environment. They bring needed diversity of opinion. Of course, to have a friend, one must be a friend and Townsend covers what makes a great friend and what one must do to have them.

Best friends should not be considered an exclusive title, he suggests, but rather an inclusive category such as best movies or best songs. An individual needs a variety of best friends, each of whom brings a different viewpoint that allows the rounding out of one's personality. Nor are best friends better than other friends rather they are those whom an individual feels the most connection with.

In order to be a good friend, several items are required. One must commit time and effort to building the relationship. The shared times are currency in a friendship bank that allow withdrawals when that is inevitable. Friends should make sustained efforts to carve out time for their friends and to be available when they are needed.

Another item that is required is the commitment to be vulnerable, to let the friend see you as you are, to know your strengths and weaknesses, your faults and your best characteristics. Without this vulnerability, there is not a best friend relationship but a strong acquaintanceship one. Finally, truth is an absolute necessity; the truth to reveal yourself honestly, and the truth to tell your friend what they may not want to hear but need to.

Dr. Townsend is a psychologist, speaker and leadership coach. He has a daily radio show and has authored several other bestselling books. His advice is succinct and written in an approachable manner. This book is recommended for those interested in bringing another resource into their lives, and those interested in nurturing and sustaining the friendships they already have.

Remarkable Creatures by Sean Carroll

2012-01-15T08:27:00.000-05:00

In Remarkable Creatures, Sean Carroll takes the reader on a lively tour of the discoveries in evolution, biology, genetics, archeology, geology and scientific dating that have revolutionized the thinking about how man appeared on earth and changed over the years. Carroll is a professor of molecular biology and genetics and an investigator with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute at the University of Wisconsin, and a member of the National Academy of Sciences.

The book is structured in three areas. The first talks of the beginnings of the theory of evolution with chapters on Darwin and on Alfred Wallace (Amazon explorations) and Henry Walter Bates. The second group of chapters discusses the role of fossils and the lengths and privations taken to obtain them, as well as the conclusions reached from them. The final group of chapters talks about the human evolution from the cradle of life in Africa to the Neanderthal chapter and the scientists such as Leakey who pioneered this work. It ends with the new role that molecular biology is playing with providing more exact dates when various life forms existed and the genetic relationships between various forms.

This book is recommended for curious readers who want to know more about how we know what we know. It is an overview of the area and highlights the various scientists who advanced knowledge, providing a look at the human side of their lives as well as the scientific discoveries they made. The privations and enthusiasm these individuals displayed as well as the total focus they had on their life work is an amazing characteristic that all shared. Carroll has done an excellent job in explaining the overall theories of life without drowning in the details, providing enough information for those who want to delve more deeply.

From The Memoirs Of A Non-Enemy Combatant by Alex Gilvarry

2012-01-14T10:21:00.000-05:00

Prepare to be charmed. From the moment, Boyet Hernandez hits New York City from his native Philippines in 2002, his exuberance and talent starts to propel him to the top of the fashion world. He comes with nothing but determination to make it in the only world he cares about. Several years later, he has his own line (B)oy, magazine spreads and an American girlfriend. He has it all, or so it seems, until the knock comes in the middle of the night and he is hustled off to a military prison. His crime? Fashion terrorist.

It seems that his main financial backer, a Canadian Muslim who believed in him and invested the money to get Boy his start, has been arrested as a smuggler with terrorist ties, and a stash of enough fertilizer to make many bombs. There is the Indian gangster who tries to blackmail Boy--pay up or he will turn Boy in as a known associate of the smuggler. His American girlfriend turns their love affair into an off-Broadway play about falling in love with a terrorist. Even his publicist is a mark against him. An Irishman whose family changed their name from McLaden to Laden to escape the prejudice against the Irish a century ago, Ben Laden has come full circle and this gay Irish man has lost most of his customers who don't want to be associated with someone whose name sounds so much like Bin Laden.

A travesty of justice, no doubt. Boy is left in a prison cell under isolation, his only human contact guards and interrogators. But then, but then. Under the torrent of Boy's words, his exuberant explanation for everything, a worm of doubt starts to build in the reader's minds. Is he as innocent as it seems, or is there a kernel of truth to be uncovered?

Alex Gilvarry has created a memorable character in Boy. His exploration of the immigrant mind and the New York fashion scene is fascinating. Readers will walk away from the experience of reading From The Memoirs Of A Non-Enemy Combatant with many questions about what is correct when a country is dealing with terrorism and to what lengths we are willing to go to protect ourselves. This book is recommended for readers interested in fresh writing, great characters and writing that makes them question their positions.

Men And Dogs by Katie Crouch

2012-01-08T14:38:00.000-05:00

The defining moment of Hannah's life was the disappearance of her father. Her father, a hero whose medical skills saved the life of a child in front of her. Her father, who disdained convention and made life interesting. Her father, who went out in a boat when Hannah was eleven and never returned.

Everyone agreed that he must have drowned, but without a body, Hannah refuses to believe this is true. She grows up and becomes successful, but still checks out older men on the street of every town she goes to, hoping against hope that she will see the face of her father. She refuses to believe that any other man won't also leave her so she spends her time leaving them first, or making them leave her by her bad behavior.

John, her husband, has just reached his limit with Hannah and her drinking and infidelity. Hannah goes home to Charleston to try to put her life back together. She spends her days talking with her brother Palmer, her mother and stepfather and her high school boyfriend. Can she solve the mystery of why her father left her behind?

Katie Crouch has written a compelling tale of how women's lives are shaped by their experiences with their fathers. Hannah cannot heal and have a successful relationship until she puts her first relationship into focus. Women readers will see themselves in Hannah's longing for her father, and men will discover how important they are in creating strong, independent women. This book is recommended for readers of modern fiction and who are interested in family relationships and how secrets can tie up lives for many years.

Midnight Fugue by Reginald Hill

2012-01-07T21:44:00.000-05:00

Superintendent Dalziel is back from his recuperation. Caught in a terrorist blast, he spent time in a coma and the local criminals as well as his men thought he was a goner. Now, he is ready to come back, but is he the same Dalziel that has held sway and created terror for so many years before the blast?

The day starts with a good-looking blonde asking for his help. Seven years ago, Gina Wolfe's husband disappeared without a trace. He was a police officer suspected of being corrupt when he disappeared. Now, someone is trying to make Gina think that he is still alive and ready to come back. She goes to Dalziel for help.

Dalziel is willing to help, but also has other matters to consider. His second in command, Pascoe, seems to have taken to being the man in charge a bit too easily and he shows signs of not wanting to give up the power now that Dalziel is ready to come back. Dalziel sees other worrying signs; a suspicion from his peers that he is not fully recovered, that perhaps it's time for the king to be dethroned. There are also others who seem interested in what happened to Alex Wolfe. There's the local hot-shot reporter. An up-and-coming politician seems involved somehow, or perhaps it's just his father, a local gangster now gone respectable. Can Dalziel find Wolfe or what has happened to him before another tragedy occurs?

Fans of the Dalziel-Pascoe series will be grateful for another chance to visit with this team of detectives. Reginald Hill has opened the door into the world of these Yorkshire detectives. Readers are comfortable visiting this world and eager to return whenever there is a new adventure to read. This book is recommended for readers who enjoy suspense and intricate plotting. Hill is a master at the top of his form and always a pleasure to read.

The Mother-Daughter Show by Natalie Wexler

2012-01-06T06:25:00.000-05:00

It's just after the holidays, so that means it's time for a honored tradition at Barton Friends School. Every year, the mothers of the senior girls put on a singing, dancing show honoring their daughters with fun songs and humorous skits to show their love. As those familiar with this environment might imagine, competition is fierce to put on the best show possible and outshine the shows that came before.

Natalie Wexler's The Mother Daughter Show tracks the creation of this year's extravaganza through the lives of three mothers. Barb is the perfect wife and mother. She is married to a high-powered attorney and spends her life serving on various committees at the school, always ready to give of her time and energy, and a shoo-in for the coveted service award this year. Susan has a career where she facilitates cooperation and team building so she is a natural match for the organizational job. She can organize any task and build consensus and it's just coincidence that consensus always seems to be built around her opinions. Amanda has spent her time being an old-fashioned mom, making a house, being there for her kids, but before marriage she had dreams of being a songwriter and performer. Obviously she should write the show.

While all is perfect on the surface, there are tensions underneath. Barb spends her time caught between her aging mother's needs and the dramas of her willful daughter, who has just announced that she wouldn't be going to college afterall, but instead moving out to live with her tattooed, disreputable rock musician boyfriend. Susan's family is starting to show signs of revolt against her perfectly organized homelife where every choice they make turns out to be what Susan wanted. Amanda now has to find a job with college looming for her daughter, and after a twenty-year hiatus, that isn't going to be easy.

Natalie Wexler has written a humorous, lively book with characters that every woman will recognize. She deftly lays out the conflicts that face all women; whether to work outside the home or stay home and make the family the prime focus; the fine line between being interested in the children's lives and overwhelming them; the struggle to keep love alive with husbands of many years, and the fierce tug of obligations between children and aging parents. Readers will sympathize and cheer for the characters, and find much to relate with in their own lives. This book is recommended for women readers, but all readers will enjoy it.

Booksie's Best of 2011

2012-01-01T08:27:00.000-05:00

It's always difficult to pick out the best books of an entire year. So much of enjoyment of a book depends on whether it is in the reader's preferred genre, their mood at the time, and the background they bring to the book, which influences how the book resonates with them. That being said, here are my favorites of 2011 in no particular order:

Nonfiction

1. Take Good Care Of The Garden And The Dogs, Heather Lende
2. Savage City, T.J. English
3. Grand Pursuit, Sylvia Nasar
4. Triumph Of The City, Edward Glaeser

Fiction

1. The Oracle Of Stamboul, Michael David Lukas
2. Inherent Vice, Thomas Pnychen
3. Jamrach's Menagerie, Carol Birch
4. The Woodcutter, Reginald Hill
5. The Swan Thieves, Elizabeth Kastova
6. The Summer Of The Bear, Bella Pollan
7. Ten Thousand Saints, Eleanor Henderson
8. Tiny Sunbirds, Far Away, Christine Watson
9. The Keeper Of Lost Causes, Jussi Adler-Olsen
10. Doc, Mary Doria Russell
11. A Small Hotel, Robert Olen Butler
12. A Man Of Parts, David Lodge
13. Luka And The Fire Of Life, Salmon Rushdie
14. The Tranformation Of Barthlomew Fortuno, Ellen Bryson
15. Stone's Fall, Iain Pear

My favorite book for 2011 was a debut fantasy by R.T. Kaelin. It is a rare delight to read a book and instantly realise that a new star is being born. I believe Kaelin will be a name in fantasy to rival Sanderson, Jordan, Donaldson and Martin. The Booksie Best Book of 2011 goes to:

Progeny by R. T. Kaelin

Brightwing by Sullivan Lee

2011-12-31T10:19:00.000-05:00

Edgar Battle is not having a good day. Following a prison bus break, he and his brother, Mallory are on the run. The problem is that Mallory is a sociopath and the body toll keeps rising. Now the biggest manhunt in Florida for many years has the brothers right in its headlights. They need to change cars and they need to do it now.

Coming up on a woman with a stranded car on a backroad, they quickly take her hostage. Nothing they haven't done before, but this time things don't go as planned. They have kidnapped Lucy Brightwing. Lucy is the sole survivor of the Tequesta Indian tribe. She is in the process of buying enough land to create her own reservation, but that kind of dream takes lots of money. Lucy is on her way home from a jewelry heist and has millions of dollars worth of jewels hidden in her car. She decides that the easiest thing to do is to take these two men to her home deep in the swamps where she will have the upper hand.

Lucy is right. The Battle brothers stomp around the swamp like a bull in a china shop, totally out of their element. Lucy quickly loses her fear of them and starts to teach Edgar how to survive using the old Indian techniques. In the meantime, the unthinkable happens. Captor and captive become lovers and both realise that they have found what they have been searching for their entire lives.

But life doesn't just let dreams come true, especially when lots of laws have been broken. Can Lucy and Edgar figure out a way to be together without worrying about the long arm of the law?

Sullivan Lee has written a quirky crime novel with engaging characters. Against all odds, readers start to have sympathy for Lucy and Edgar, and by the end of the book are hoping they can find a way to live their dreams. Along the way, the reader learns about the Everglades ecosystem, and the techniques the Indians used to survive in this hostile environment. This book is recommended for suspense readers.

The Transformation Of Barthlomew Fortuno by Ellen Bryson

2011-12-30T07:31:00.000-05:00

The Transformation Of Barthlomew Fortuno takes the reader inside the lives of the men and women who made up P.T. Barnum's 'Curiosities'. Barthlomew is The Thinnest Man Alive; there is Martina the Fat Lady, Ricardo the Rubber Man, Emma and Alley the giants and many others. As the book opens, a new act has arrived; Iall, a gorgeous woman with flowing red hair and a flowing beard to match.

Barthlomew is instantly entranced. He is determined to win Iall's heart. But there are many obstacles in his way. Barnum is not interested in his acts falling in love, and furthermore, seems to be interested in Iall himself. Mrs. Barnum, who controls the pursestrings, is interested in moving Iall to a new location where her husband will not be tempted. Barthlomew must decide if he is willing to take on his employers, on whom he depends for his livelihood, in order to win his heart's desire.

This is a lovely book. There is enough historical detail to transport the reader back to New York City in the 1860's, and it all rings true. But the novel is about much more than just a nostalgic look backward. It forces the reader to think about the different types of control in each person's life. The acts are controlled by their physical characteristics and by the determination of others to make money from their differences. Some of the acts like Barthlomew and Martina have made themselves into curiosities by controlling themselves; in Barthlomew's case by controlling the small amount he eats and in Martina's by controlling the enormous amounts she consumes. There is the question about free will and how much an individual truly is in control of their own life. This book is recommended for all readers. Those who read it will ponder the questions raised long after the last page is finished. This is Bryson's debut novel, and readers will eagerly await her next one.

The Sense Of An Ending by Julian Barnes

2011-12-28T07:17:00.000-05:00

Tony Webster is an average man. We read of his life growing up, and his circle of friends. His most striking friend was Adrian, a brilliant student who the other boys never quite felt they knew. We read of his first love, Veronica, and how that worked out. We read how Tony felt when he and Veronica broke up and he later finds out that she and Adrian are now a couple.

The book then skips ahead forty years. Tony is now retired, having put in his years at an average job. He is divorced and still sees his ex-wife for lunches, no great hate or love there. He has one child he sees occasionally, and grandchildren he is more or less a stranger to. Average, average, average, Tony's whole life has been about getting by without making waves.

Then a surprise bequest causes Tony to reevaluate his entire life. He looks back at his schoolboy days, his college years and his marriage. One piece of information after another opens the floodgates of memory, and he remembers conversations and actions that he has long forgotten, but that now reframe his life in a different light. He tracks down old acquaintances and friends, until he uncovers a startling secret--one that makes him wonder what his life has been about and how his life has affected that of others.

The Sense Of An Ending won the 2011 Man Booker prize for literature. It is a gem of a book, short but thought-provoking. This is Julian Barnes at the top of his form, effortlessly shaking the snow-globe of memories to rearrange the outcome of events in myriad ways. He forces the reader to examine what place memories play in our lives, and to question how accurate our memories are. This thought-provoking novel is recommended for all readers interested in examining the human condition, and the ways we find to make it through life.

Blink Of An Eye by William S. Cohen

2011-12-23T07:51:00.000-05:00

The unthinkable, unspeakable has happened. A nuclear explosion has destroyed an American city. Thousands of American lives are lost. Entire blocks of the city are vaporized.

Who could have done such an act? Further, how will America respond to such an egregious act of terrorism? The shock and horror quickly turn to demands for revenge and war, even before responsibility for the act is known. Will the President declare war, and will he do it because it is the right thing to do, or because he is pushed into it politically by rival factions determined to steer the course of the country?

Iran is the first suspect and the one most people instinctively believe is behind the horror. Other nations start to line up on either the side of America retaliating against Iran or against such action. Israel has been poised to take action against Iran itself; where will it come down in the balance? Will the other countries with nuclear weapons stay on the sidelines or use whatever happens as entry for settling old feuds? Is Iran the true answer or is another country responsible and using Iran as a smokescreen? What about the domestic groups determined to steer the country towards their vision of how the future should unfold? Are any of these groups involved?

William S. Cohen has written a heartstopping novel of terror and intrigue. Cohen is a former Secretary of State, serving under President Clinton. His background and expertise gives the book the immediacy and weight of details known only to a select few; those who daily balance what is best for the country and how America must relate to the myriad needs and desires of other countries, both friends and foes. This book is recommended for readers who enjoy spy and suspense novels; it is indeed a must-read.

Customers Clients Patrons and Morons by Jim Schulte

2011-12-22T07:25:00.000-05:00

In Customers Clients, Patrons and Morons, Jim Schulte narrates his experiences over his working life. His resume includes working at a sheltered workshop and in various hardware shops. He covers the range of customer mishaps; misinformation, insistence that they are correct when they are clearly wrong, misusing products in such a way that the product is ruined. He covers out-of-control children who create chaos, and those customers who are dishonest or out and out unintelligent.

In the second half of this short book, Schulte then flips the tables and discusses his own experiences as a shopper with customer experience. He discusses both bad experiences and those where the service was superb.

Readers looking for a quick read that will bring a smile to their face will be pleased with this book. It details the shopping experience from all sides and may make the reader cringe in acknowledgement as they recognize some of their own characteristics.

Secrets Of A Christmas Box by Steven Hornby

2011-12-17T12:35:00.000-05:00

It's Christmas and the tree is up and decorated. But once the family goes to sleep, something magical happens. The ornaments all wake up and welcome each other after a year sleeping in the Christmas Box. They promenade around the tree, greeting old friends and welcoming new ones.

Larry the Snowman and his girlfriend, Debbie, a reindeer, are two of the mainstays in the ornament family. This year, a wooden toy soldier named Splint is a newcomer, talking to Larry and Debbie to determine the rules of this new world.

But Larry is worried. He can't find his brother anywhere. Not content to just accept that he hasn't made it this year, Larry is eager to do anything to find him. Being new and less tied to the Christmas tree traditions, Splint proposes that they leave the tree, find the Christmas Box and see if his brother got overlooked.

Thus begins a grand adventure. Children will thrill at the excitement and dangers the three overcome as they set off on their grand adventure. This book is recommended for families with children and can become another holiday tradition, as children may want to hear the story over and over. Hornby has created a unique world and one that those full of the magic of Christmas may eagerly inhabit.

Black And Orange by Benjamin Ethridge

2011-12-13T06:27:00.001-05:00

It is almost October 31st, the high holy day of the Church Of Morning and The Church Of Midnight. Separated for eons by the gateway between two worlds, this day is the sole chance each year to push the gateway open and reunite the churches into an one entity that can control all universes.

In order to force the gateway open and have it remain so, each year a Heart is chosen. The sacrifice of the Heart makes the gateway easier to open; October 31st is the day of the Hunt. But there are opposing forces that do not want to see the churches united in their evil purposes. The Nomads are charged with protecting the Heart each year. Nomads live off the grid, endlessly traveling to escape detection so that can perform their sacred duty each year.

There are also power plays within the churches. Bishops plot against bishops while Archbishops plot the overthrow of their peers on the other side. There are constantly shifting alliances, deception and subterfuge as each individual jockeys for power and position.

Benjamin Ethridge is a new name in horror, but Black and Orange indicates that he will be one of the masters. There is a fine line in horror, to be suspenseful and ratchet up the tension to a fever pitch while not going over the top. Etheridge balances on this line and never strays to one side or the other, creating a perfect pitch that leaves the reader breathless and eager to experience more. He also avoids the pitfall of making all the characters so obnoxious that the reader can't care much about what happens to any of them. Black and Orange is a great new entry into the world of horror, and highly recommended to readers who love this genre.

Luka And The Fire Of Life by Salman Rushdie

2011-12-11T07:04:00.001-05:00

Luka is a twelve year old boy who lives in India with his family. He has a big brother, Haroun, and his parents, Rashid and Soraya. He was a perfectly normal boy, except. Except that his big brother had gone on a magical adventure. Except that his father was a famous storyteller, known as the Shah of Blab. Except that Luka had been born when his parents were in their forties, and had the magical ability to make them younger instead of their real age. Except that Luka was left-handed, with all the magical and sinister facets that fact opened up. Except that Luka had the power of the curse. He had cursed the local circus which treated its animals horribly and had thus acquired his two best friends, Dog and Bear. Dog was a famous dancing bear, while Bear, the dog, could sing any song.

One day the unimaginable happened. Luka’s father, Rashid, fell ill. He went to sleep and wouldn’t wake up and as time went by, started to disappear a bit at a time. What could be done? The doctors held out no hope and everyone else seemed willing to give up. Luka could not accept that. Out for a walk, he met a strange man, a man who looked like his father named Nobodaddy, and he told Luka what could save Rashid. Luka would need to enter the world of magic and steal the Fire of Life. The Fire of Life could revive his father. The man agreed to go with Luka and be his guide through all the dangers such a trip would entail.

Thus the journey began. Luka, Dog, Bear and Nobodaddy had many adventures and encountered magical beings. Some were friends who helped on the mission, others were deadly enemies. There were the elephant-ducks, who remembered all things. The Respectorate of Rats was populated by politically correct rats, who were determined to jail Luka and his friends, but they were saved by the sudden appearance of The Insultana of Ott, a vibrant, exultant, insulting female ruler. There were magical beings galore, and all the ancient gods and goddesses of all cultures and countries were encountered, some to help, some trying their best to stop the band of travelers. Could Luka overcome the obstacles and capture the Fire of Life, the fire that no one in history had been able to steal, in time to save his father?

Salman Rushdie has created a magical place in which the reader can frolic for a time. The language is glorious, painting marvelous images and full of inventive word-play. This is Rushdie at his best yet more accessible so that even children can delight in his inventive mind. This book is recommended for all readers who remain young at heart, ready to be amazed and uplifted.

Haunted by Douglas Misquita

2011-12-09T06:21:00.000-05:00

FBI Special Agent Kirk Ingram has lived through a nightmare. On the verge of taking a desk job so that he could spend more time with his family, he instead is targeted and watches as his family is massacred in front of him. He is the only survivor and when he recuperates, he returns to work, more determined than ever to put an end to the criminal activity around him.

There are plenty of candidates for his expertise, but he is assigned to uncovering and stopping a vicious network of Balkan terrorists. This network is used by a cabal of deposed leaders from other countries and greedy industrialists. They have combined to capture the sole cache of a deadly nerve gas which they intend to use as leverage to extract billions from governments around the world. Ingram's assignment is to stop them before they can succeed.

Douglas Misquita has written a heartstopping action novel. The reader is swept up in the very visual language that Misquita uses. This language allows the reader to visualize the scenes he is describing as if they were watching a suspense movie; in fact, this book would be an excellent source for such a movie. This book is recommended for readers who love fast-paced books with tons of action.

The Innocent by Taylor Stevens

2011-12-05T06:23:00.001-05:00

Vanessa Michael Munroe is contacted by her best friend. He tells her of a girl who was snatched from her parents and hidden deep in a cult--the same cult that he grew up in. He knows well the abuses that children are subjected to, and as a friend of the mother, wants Munroe to bring the girl out. Heather has been in the cult for eight years, moved from place to place, given new names and almost impossible to trace. But now there is word that she is in South America and the time is right to try a rescue attempt.

Munroe is torn. This is the work she does, but the work is slowly killing her. Raised in an abusive environment herself, she has trained to be a killing machine, able to take out most individuals she encounters. She is a powerhouse of destruction and cunning, but each kill takes a bit of her soul. Still, she owes her friend with years of ties and agrees to take on the mission. Raising a team, the group gathers intelligence and plans their attack. Can they be successful, or will the cult manage to spirit Hannah away once again?

This is the second novel in Taylor Stevens Munroe series. Munroe is a complex character, at once determined to do right but doing right by doing wrong. The intricacies of planning a successful raid is fascinating, but the book's main focus is always, always on this amazing, powerful yet vulnerable woman. This book is recommended for suspense readers and will transport them away until the last page is turned. This is a powerhouse novel.

The Crossley ID Guide Eastern Birds by Richard Crossley

2011-12-03T07:42:00.000-05:00

If you are a birder or know someone interested in birds, this is a bird you must have for your collection. The author is a renowned birder and photographer and has combined these interests into a stunning book that will be the premiere reference guide for those who love birds.

The most striking feature of the book are the 640 scenes of birds in their native habitats. These scenes were created from over ten thousand photographs the author has taken and show the birds from near and far. There is a companion website, www.crossleybirds.com with expanded captions for the plates and species updates.

The book is organized into two major sections; water birds and land birds. Within the water birds there are chapters on swimming, flying and walking waterbirds. The land birds are organized into chapters on upland gamebirds, raptors, miscellaneous larger landbirds, aerial landbirds and songbirds.

Each scene is stunningly illustrated with large depictions of the birds in their native habitats. Each bird featured has a description of their plumage, common behaviors, a map showing the bird's range and their species rarity. This book will quickly become the favorite reference book for birders and an interesting resource to the person who doesn't know much about birds but would like to identify those they encounter daily. This book is highly recommended and is a unique resource.

A Watershed Year by Susan Schoenberger

2011-11-28T06:38:00.000-05:00

Lucy has been drifting through life and somehow she finds herself thirty-eight without a definite plan. She is a professor in religion, her specialty the lives of the saints, but she doesn't yet have tenure. She has not married or had children although she always saw herself as part of a big, happy family like the one she grew up in. She loves her friend Harlan, but has never told him.

Then everything changes. Harlan gets sick and dies. In the midst of her grief, Lucy starts getting emails from Harlan; he had arranged for them to be delivered monthly after his death. In them he tells Lucy he had loved her too and encourages her to move ahead with her life and go after the things she loves.

Lucy decides to adopt and she quickly discovers a four-year old Russian boy who needs her. She concentrates on doing all the myriad tasks that an overseas adoption entails, avoiding work and family commitments to focus on this one task. She is successful and Mat comes home with her. It is a major adjustment to acclimate him to his new home, and just as she is beginning to believe it will all work out, Mat's father shows up and wants him back. Will this be another inconclusive chapter in Lucy's life?

A Watershed Year is a thought-provoking novel that makes the reader think about what they really want from their life, and whether there is any reason not to go for broke to get it. Lucy is an appealing character and evokes sympathy as well as an internal urging for her to be successful in her quest to carve out an independent, happy life for herself. This book is recommended for all readers.

A Small Death In The Great Glen by A.D. Scott

2011-11-26T08:08:00.000-05:00

A young boy has been found murdered in a small town in the Scottish Highlands. At first it appeared to be a drowning accident, but further investigation showed that the boy had been sexually assaulted before dying. The murder shakes the town to its core, and brings out the secretiveness and mistrust of outsiders that characterizes small towns and its inhabitants.

But there are those who are determined to discover the truth and bring the perpetrators to justice. Chief among these is the new editor of the local newspaper, McAllister. Newly established at the paper, he is fighting to change it from a small local weekly to a newspaper worthy of the name. But he has scarce resources. There is Don McLeod, old-timer who knows everyone and all their secrets and who is determined to maintain the paper as it has always been. Rob is the cub reporter, full of vigor but untrained. Joanne Ross, is the part-time typist who is interested in moving into reporting and sees the newspaper as an escape from her abusive husband.

The case quickly seems to be over when a Polish immigrant is discovered and arrested. Many in the town sigh in relief that all has been righted, but the story is not done. Long-held secrets, going back years, will be brought to light before the full story is over.

A.D. Scott has created a stunning debut mystery series. The reader is instantly transported to Scotland, but this is not the Scotland of bonny lasses and dashing Highlanders ready for a rousing reel. This is the Scotland of long dreary winters, where tradition is held as iron-clad custom and woe befall those who dare to try to change things from the way they have always been. The truth emerges slowly but surely and the reader turns the last page yearning for a way to return to this area to learn more. This book is recommended for mystery lovers who also enjoy a strong sense of place.

Cloyne Court by Dodie Katague

2011-11-23T06:14:00.000-05:00

In October 1976, Dodie Katague is a freshman at Berkeley University in California. This is the age of the hippie, free love, drugs, sex and rock 'n roll. The problem is, Dodie is missing it all by living at home and commuting to school each day. On his birthday, he manages to talk his parents into allowing him to live on-campus. But where to live? It's too late in the semester to get into a dorm and he didn't pledge a fraternity. Then he hears about Cloyne Court, a student co-op building.

Cloyne Court is a rundown building that is inhabited and managed totally by students. The rent is cheap, with students doing various jobs to pay part of their rent. It is also co-ed. Co-ed as in male and female roommates--roomies if the relationship is platonic; bunkies if it is a romantic relationship. Showers are communal and nude sunbathing is a common occurrence. To a man who has led a sheltered life up to now, this is a whole new world, and one that he will have to figure out how to fit into.

Cloyne Court is an interesting memoir by Dodie Katague of his years at Berkeley and his residence at the co-op. He learns to get along with people of all persuasions, and also has his first serious love. Katague discovers sex and all the joys and complications it can bring. Baby boomers especially will love reading this memoir and reminiscing about their own college days. Younger generations will read it and get an eye-opening new insight into their parents and that stodgy old guy in the next cubicle. This book is recommended for memoir readers and those interested in the culture of the 1970's and early 80's.

Guinevere, The Legend In Autumn by Persia Woolley

2011-11-15T06:18:00.000-05:00

In this third book of her trilogy about Arthur, Guinevere and the Knights of the Round Table, Persia Woolley ends the telling of her story. It is above all the story of the triangle that King Arthur, his Champion Lancelot and his Queen, Guinevere, are tangled in. Both men love Guinevere, but they also love each other as brothers and would do nothing to hurt each other. Guinevere, in her turn, loves them both. Arthur is her wedded husband, who honors her, takes her counsel and has her rule at his side. He cannot, however, express his love easily in words, as his emotions have been trained to be hidden from others. Lancelot is her true love, but one she is forbidden to have, for fear of hurting Arthur and tearing apart the kingdom.

But even more than the love story, this is a story steeped in historical fact that gives the reader insight into the times. The reader learns of daily life with its proscribed tasks for each member of the royal household, the petty intrigues of court, the quest for adventures that periodically takes the Knights away. The rise of Christianity and its gradual erosion of the pagan religions is explored. The strength of family is evident, but betrayal for position is also common.

The central theme is the trial of Guinevere for treason and adultery, her condemnation to death, and her rescue by Lancelot, aided by Arthur. Above all, each individual in this triangle is called by a love of country and the people, and will sacrifice whatever is needed to insure that the country survives as a strong entity. This book is recommended for readers of historical fiction. While it is the last in the trilogy, readers probably know enough of the story to enjoy this one as a stand-alone, but many will choose to then go back and read the first two to see how Woolley interprets the beginning of this magnificent saga.

The Woman In The Fifth by Douglas Kennedy

2011-11-08T06:18:00.000-05:00

Harry Ricks has hit rock bottom. Two months ago, he was a popular professor teaching film criticism with a daughter he delighted in. His marriage had grown remote, but all in all, he felt blessed. Then tragedy. He gets swept up in the adoration of a female student and sleeps with her. The resulting scandal costs him his job, his marriage and his relationship with his daughter. To add salt to the wound, he discovers his wife has had a long-standing affair with his boss, and they have made sure the scandal is as juicy and protracted as possible.

Wounded, Ricks flees to Paris. He isn't sure what he will do, but at least he will be in the city he loves. But, going to Paris as a well-to-do tourist and coming to Paris to live as an impoverished man is a far different proposition. He finds himself in the roughest area of town, surrounded by people at best indifferent to his needs and at worst, actively hostile. He finds a miserable job that is outside the official structure and settles into a mundane existence.

Then, everything changes. Someone tells him about a salon where educated people gather to talk and mingle; best of all, admittance is just the cost of an evening's meal. Ricks goes to the salon one Sunday evening and there he meets Margit Kadar. She is a beautiful woman who seems as attracted to Harry as he is to her. Older than him by a decade or more, she has an air of mystery and sophistication he can't resist. Soon Margit and Harry have started an affair. He goes to see her twice a week for three hours; those are the conditions she has laid down.

Just when Harry starts to believe that he might crawl out of his isolation and depression, things start to get even worse. One by one, those who make his life miserable start to have horrific things happen to them. Harry is amazed and soon he starts to get scared. Can he discover who is behind everything happening to him before it manages to subsume him and take him under?

Douglas Kennedy has written a novel that is compelling, suspenseful and exciting. Readers who start it won't want to do much else until they finish the story and discover Harry's fate. Kennedy has a talent for making the unbelievable seem plausible and the reader is pulled into Harry's world. This book is recommended for readers who enjoy suspenseful reads.

Camp Nine by Vivienne Schiffer

2011-11-05T08:14:00.000-04:00

Camp Nine is a coming of age novel set in World War II. The story is seen through the eyes of thirteen year old Chess Morton. Chess is the granddaughter of the local wealthy landowner, Walter Morton, who owns most of the land there in the Delta of Arkansas and influences everything. Far from being raised as a wealthy Southern lady, though, Chess lives in genteel poverty with her mother, Carolina Morton, known as Carrie. Carrie was raised as the only daughter of Italian immigrants, and considered just this side of unacceptable when Walter's son, Walt, fell in love with and married her. Walt, Chess' dad, died early, and Walter and Carrie settled into a pitched battle that would last their lives about their differing world views and their views on how to raise Chess.

It is the mid 1940's and something strange has happened in the Delta. Walter has sold a huge parcel of land to the government and the government has quickly constructed a city there, a city of worn boards and communal kitchens and dining halls. Who will live in this place? The answer arrives with the first trainload of Japanese families. These are the Japanese-American families who lived in California and were rounded up and interned during the war.

Sentiment in the town was quickly divided. Most of the residents, already living in a defined social structure between black and white inhabitants, are against the new residents of the Delta. Of course, these residents are not roaming the town; they are restricted to the land within the barbed wire fences guarded by American soldiers. Carrie, however, is thrilled to see and meet the families there. It reminds her of her time in California, when she attended college there and planned a life as an artist. She quickly volunteers her time as an art teacher and soon has established herself as part of the camp life. Chess accompanies her, and the two become close to many families, especially the Matsui family.

This book is recommended for historical fiction readers. It outlines the life led by the Japanese who were interned during World War I. It also covers the history of the Klan, the social structure of the South, the heroism of the Japanese-American soldiers who fought for their country even as their country treated their families as traitors and suspicious inhabitants. The is Schiffer's first novel, and readers will be ready to read her next one after finishing Camp Nine; ready for more of her deft touch recreating past events.

The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom

2011-11-02T06:07:00.001-04:00

Lavinia is born into poverty overseas. Her parents decide to immigrate to America as indentured servants along with Lavinia and her brother. On the trip over, the parents become ill and both die. When the ship reaches America, the captain sells the brother's contract, but Lavinia is only seven and won't fetch much. The captain decides to keep her contract himself and takes her to his plantation.

There Lavinia, who is white, is sent to the kitchen house to live among the slaves and learn their trades. This is fairly scandalous, but the Captain's family is not usual. Belle, who runs the kitchen house is the Captain's daughter from a liaison with a slave woman. The Captain's wife spends her days drugged up on laudanum, a form of morphine. She has been driven mad by the loss of her babies, a common occurrence in this time period.

Lavinia learns to love the slaves she grows up among. They are the only family she knows and she calls the mother and father of the house slaves Mama and Papa the same as her playmates do. When Lavinia is twelve, the mistress' sister comes on a family visit when the Captain dies. She is shocked at Lavinia's situation and when the family decides to take the mistress back with them to Williamsburg, they also take Lavinia. There she grows into a woman, beautiful and determined to return somehow to the plantation and the only family she has ever known.

Grissom has written a story of slavery from an interesting angle, that of an indentured white servant who grows up with a slave family. It allows her to show the plight of the slaves from a different viewpoint, along with the strong sense of family they hold, and the mechanisms they create in order to survive and thrive. This book is recommended for readers of historical fiction.

Blue Ocean Bob Discovers His Purpose by Brooks Olbrys

2011-10-30T17:15:00.001-04:00

In this children's book, Brooks Olbrys uses a young boy named Blue Ocean Bob to illustrate the power of positive thinking and how to be content with what you have already. The book is based on the teaching of Bob Proctor. Bob Proctor has spent 40 years teaching people how to use the power of their minds to achieve success.

Bob is determined to discover his life's purpose. He asks the creatures around him such as his best friend Alba, a bird. When he doesn't receive an answer, he decides to take off and find someone who can tell him. He queries a dolphin and when he doesn't get the answer there, goes further and consults, Doc. Doc is an ancient turtle who serves as the judge and arbitrator of the ocean animals. After talking to Doc, Bob decides that his purpose is to protect the animals of the ocean.

The book is written at about a four to eight year old level. It is illustrated by Aleksandra Beaucher in her debut as an illustrator. Her art is simple and powerful with bright colors and striking lines. This book is recommended for children and for parents looking for books that emphasize positive thinking.

Did Not Survive by Ann Littlewood

2011-10-29T07:35:00.000-04:00

Iris Oakley arrives at her job as a zookeeper to a horrific sight. Her boss, Ken Wallace, is in the elephant's enclosure, lying face down and still as the big animals roll him from side to side. Iris, whose husband was killed by the big cats only months before and who is on lighter duty due to being pregnant, calls the police.

At first it is thought that the elephants have killed him, which causes dismay among the zoo personnel. But soon an even uglier truth emerges. Wallace was not killed by the elephants, but struck over the head and left to die in their habitat. There is a killer loose in the zoo.

Iris is determined to help the police find the killer. There are lots of suspects. There are the zoo protesters, who hate the very idea of the zoo. There is the new zoo veterinarian who seems to have secrets in her past. New zookeepers have come to work recently and they don't seem to be fitting in well with the existing staff. Then there are the other issues. Animals are disappearing and zoo staff are having strange things happen to them; events that could be precursors to another murder. Can Iris discover what is going on before someone else loses their life?

Did Not Survive is recommended for mystery lovers. Iris is an engaging protagonist, spunky in her determination to overcome the fate life has served up to her, leaving her pregnant and widowed at an early age. The plot is intricate enough to please puzzle solvers, with enough action to keep the pace of the book brisk. Readers will be eager to try additional titles by Littlewood after finishing this one.

Talking To Serial Killers by Christopher Berry-Dee

2011-10-27T18:31:00.000-04:00

Henry Lucas. Arthur Shawcross. Carol Bundy. Ronald DeFeo Jr. Aileen Wuornos. Harvey Carignan. John Scripps. Michael Ross. Kenneth McDuff, Douglas Clark. For those who follow the true crime genre, this list of names sends a chill down their spines as they realise the list is one of infamous serial killers from the recent past.

Christopher Berry-Dee is a criminologist, and the editor of New Criminologist magazine. This book is a compilation of his interviews, both in person and letters or audio, with various serial killers. The reader is given a synopsis of each criminal's crimes and a view into their early background. The details of the crimes are interspersed with the actual quotes from the killers about the various crimes. There are excuses, protestations of innocence. Berry-Dee records it all, but lets the reader know that these men and women were convicted and put on Death Rows around the country for valid reasons.

This book is recommended for true crime buffs. They will read about some killers who are new to them, as well as having the psyche of more famous killers explored.

Kara, Lost by Susan Niz

2011-10-26T07:29:00.000-04:00

Susan Niz's Kara, Lost starts with Kara climbing out the window of her bedroom to run away. Raised in a dysfunctional family, her parents have decided that she is either on drugs or has mental issues and are trying to force her to take medication she doesn't want to take. Being sixteen, she can see no option except to run away and try to survive on her own.

Once on the streets, Kara discovers that life is even harder there than at home. She expects to be able to live with her sister, but her sister's boyfriend is not interested in sharing their apartment. She moves from situation to situation, counselors, acquaintances, always moving on when they can't provide what she needs. At one point, she is injured in an accident, hospitalized and her parents come to retrieve her, only to put her into a home for troubled teens. She learns to question the motives of those willing to help her.

But there are positive moves. Kara finds a job and over the weeks, befriends the owners of the restaurant where she is a prized employee. She is able to rent an apartment and furnish it with small items she is able to purchase. Finally, she finds a way to start to finish her high school education so that she can move on to a successful adult life.

Susan Niz has written a haunting story of what life is like for runaways and throwaway teens on their own. She chronicles the pitfalls and the difficulties that have to be negotiated, exploring all the usual vehicles of help and showing why they often do not work. This book is recommended for parents, teens, and those interested in helping this population.

Conquistadora by Esmeralda Santiago

2011-10-22T07:32:00.000-04:00

It is the mid 1820s, and Ana Cubillas is the daughter of wealthy Spanish parents. She is assured a life of luxury in Spain, but her interest is caught by the memoirs of one of her ancestors. He traveled to Puerto Rico with Ponce de Leon, and his account of the journey and the country he found there fires Ana's imagination. As a woman, she has little opportunity to explore her obsession. That is, until she meets the Argoso twins, Ramon and Inocente. She fuels their sense of adventure and convince them that they should go manage their family's sugar plantation in Puerto Rico. Ana marries Ramon and the three travel to their new home.

Thus starts Esmeralda Santiago's new novel, Conquistadora. The novel follows Ana's life for the next forty years. It is a sprawling historical that explores daily plantation life, slavery and the relationship between the slaves and their owners, politics, economics, military adventures, epidemics and medicine as well as human love relationships. The reader learns about all these topics, but it is the story of Ana that drives the book just as her indomitable will drives her and all those around her to conquer the land and create a legacy for those who follow.

Life was often short and brutish on the plantation, and death was never more than a moment's inattention away. Children are born and if the parents are lucky, they survive to carry on the work of the family. Civilization is built on rigid social structures, but one of the draws of the colony is the ability to escape the class one was born into and to rise to wealth through hard work and luck.

Santiago has written a compelling novel that educates while entertaining the reader. She has written extensively about her Puerto Rican background and is a contributor to NPR's Morning Edition and All Things Considered. Her book, Almost A Woman was adapted into a film to PBS's Masterpiece Theatre. This book is recommended for fans of historical fiction.

My God, What Have We Done? by Susan Weiss

2011-10-16T16:29:00.000-04:00

Pauline and Clifford, newlyweds, spend their honeymoon at a strange choice. They are drawn to the Los Alamos nuclear testing ground and museum. Pauline is drawn to Robert Oppenheimer, the man who shepherded the development of the nuclear bomb, and the men who toiled for years to create it.

In My God, What Have We Done?, Susan Weiss alternates between the lives of Clifford and Pauline and the men at Los Alamos, contrasting their lives. The scientists are drawn together from all over the United States, chosen for their brilliance. They work together to build the ultimate weapon, able to make the project happen even though they had divergent backgrounds and agendas.

Weiss also follows the early marriage of Clifford and Pauline. They settle in Boston, where Clifford is a teacher. Pauline has worked as a homeless advocate until their marriage. She looks for a job, then discovers that she is pregnant. They have their first child, a son, and when he is old enough that she starts looking again, discovers that she is pregnant again, this time with a daughter. Pauline continues as a stay-at-home mom and soon falls victim to the loneliness and disconnect that this role can have.

This book is recommended for readers who enjoy stories outlining familial relationships and how they work or do not work. The men at Los Alamos came together with a grand purpose, fought through strife and loneliness to accomplish a purpose and created a weapon that, when it exploded, changed the world. Weiss shows the similarity to a marriage. Two divergent personalities come together for a grand purpose; that of making a new life and family. There are issues and differences to work through. The family either melds into a strong unit capable of taking on all stresses or explodes, throwing the members hither and yon. Readers will take away this analogy and be able to apply it to their own lives. This is a strong book with an inspiring message.

If I Tell by Janet Gurtler

2011-10-09T13:11:00.000-04:00

Jasmine has enough to deal with. It's hard enough to be raised by your grandparents because your mother got pregnant at sixteen and wasn't ready to raise a baby. It's even harder when those parents were different races, leaving you the only multi-race girl in high school. Add in being the girl always left out, a role that Jaz had starred in after a bullying incident in fourth grade that almost resulted in her death.

Now her mom is happy, with a new man and about to give Jaz a new baby brother or sister. Except. Except that Jaz saw the new man kissing another woman at a party. If she tells her mother, her mother will be crushed and she is already having a difficult pregnancy. If she doesn't tell, Jaz will be consumed with guilt and resentment.

Jaz has a few tension releasers. She is a talented musician and can always count on playing her guitar and songwriting to release pain and work through situations. She has one good friend at school. Then there is Jackson. Jackson, another one the high school gossips about. He is rumored to have dealt drugs and spent time in Juvie, but it is also one of the hottest guys in school. Jackson seems to want to be Jaz's friend, but can she trust him, and will it just be a friendship?

Janet Gurtler has written a young adult novel that explores the intricacies of growing up different, being isolated and finding your way when you're not the All-American girl. She explores Jaz's various relationships with sensitivity and guides Jaz and the reader through the labyrinth of emotions common to teenagers making their way in the world. This book is recommended for young adult readers and those interested in the world teenagers face each day.

Murder In The Senior Manor by Kathryn Braund

2011-10-09T13:02:00.000-04:00

Louise Knight lives in the Senior Manor and is content to do so. That is, until she goes to do her laundry and discovers the body of another resident, Maddie Young. Maddie, eighty-six, has been murdered. Louise raises the alarm and is distraught to realise that she is the police's prime suspect.

Desperate to clear her name and find justice for Maddie, Louise and some of her friends decide to work on the case themselves. They discover that Maddie might not have been the sweet, hapless lady they all thought. Instead, some of her actions may well have made her enemies. Can Louise and her crew of senior detectives discover the truth before one of them falls prey to the murderer?

Kathryn Braund has written a delightful mystery. It falls into the cozy part of the detective story genre. The reader learns about senior living arrangements and the friendships that emerge in this kind of residence along with discovering the clues that solve the murder. This book is recommended for mystery lovers.

Grand Pursuit by Sylvia Nasar

2011-10-03T06:42:00.000-04:00

In Sylvia Nasar's Grand Pursuit, she outlines the theories of economics that have controlled the world. The book covers the period from the time of Dickens, one of the first men to lament the lives of the poor, to the present day. Along with the various theories that have held sway at different times, she introduces the reader to the surrounding historical events and the lives of the economists whose thoughts impact everyone around them.

The book is separated into three parts. The first part covers the rise of the Socialist theories that sought to understand the plight of the poor and determine methods to improve the life of the everyday man. Individuals covered include Charles Dickens, Engels and Marx, Beatrice Webb and Sidney Fisher.

The second part covers the period leading up to WW I and continues through the end of WW II. This period also covers The Great Depression. The reader is introduced to economists such as Schumpeter, Hayek and the early days of Keynes. Fisher and Webb were still working at this time but new theories were advanced by men such as Robinson and Milton Friedman. The economists struggled to understand the causes of the Depression, the best method to assuage the cracks in the economy, and the best way for the world to recover from a world war.

The final part covers the period from the end of WW II to the present. This was the heyday of Keynes, and his disciples were at the forefront of the recovery and the decision not to impoverish the European nations who went into such debt for the war. Economists from this time period who were just emerging include Samuelson, another woman, Joan Robinson, and an Indian economist, Sen. This was the time of the rise of Communism in Russia and China, and Nasar is unsparing in her depiction of the millions killed or starved, and the failure of many economists such as Robinson to see the truth, blinded by their own beliefs and unwillingness to face the truth.

This book is recommended for all readers who wish they understood economics better so that they can make better decisions. Nasar has a real talent for taking complex ideas and writing about them in such a way that the reader is not intimidated by the subject matter. There is exactly the right mix of theory and biography and the book never lags. Grand Pursuit is a major accomplishment in its depiction of this difficult topic and its narrative of a century and a half of history told from an economic standpoint.

Love In A Dish by M.F.K. Fisher

2011-10-01T07:03:00.002-04:00

One of the preeminent food writers of the 1930’s to the 1990’s, M.F.K. Fisher redefined how those who loved fine cuisine talked and wrote about it. She wrote twenty-six books, most of them in the food appreciation genre. She was a lifetime achievement award recipient from the James Beard Foundation and the American Institute of Wine and Food.

In Love In A Dish, readers are given a series of her short essays about food and cooking. She talks about her time in Provence and her rudimentary kitchens and simple fare there which inspired her to make wonderful meals from whatever was available. Another piece discusses the relationship between food and love; how feeding your lover defines the caring and importance one attaches to another. There are pieces that discuss her culinary education as she grew up. Her father introduced her to the delights of seafood and good wine; while her grandmother was a disciplinarian who insisted on strict standards at the table as well as other areas of life. There are entire essays about specific food; the oyster and how it should be eaten (cooked or raw?), the potato and all the myriad methods of cooking it and how to choose and enjoy wine.

This book is recommended for readers who enjoy food and cooking and reading about them. Outside of the field of interest, the writing itself is delicious; her prose clear and lyrical. The book, like most anthologies, is best read a bit at a time when one has a quiet moment to appreciate the writing. Readers who finish Love In A Dish will be moved to find other M.F.K. volumes to read more about this author’s entrancing love affair with food.

Telling Lies by Cathi Stoler

2011-09-26T06:18:00.000-04:00

Laurel Imperiole, a magazine editor from New York, is vacationing in Italy with her new boyfriend, Detective Aaron Gerrard. As they are leaving the art museum she bumps into a businessman. As she and the man go their separate ways, she is bothered by a strange feeling that something is not right. Then it hits her. This businessman is her good friend's husband, Jeff Sargasso. But that can't be right; Jeff died in the Towers during the 9-11 attacks.

Still, she is convinced she is right. Jeff had gone to the towers that morning to make an art deal that would rock the world. A Japanese tycoon was interested in selling a painting for one hundred and fifty million. To insure the sale went smoothly, the buyers had to put up fifteen million dollars. That was Jeff's part; to insure the transfer of the fifteen million once everything was on schedule. Instead, he was killed and the fifteen million dollars went into limbo along with his body; he was identified as one of the more than a thousand individuals whose bodies could not be recovered.

Laurel believes that instead Jeff has taken the money and reinvented himself as an Italian art dealer. She recruits her good friend Helen to help her discover the truth; Helen is a private investigator. Detective Gerrard starts an investigation from the police side of things, and soon the FBI is also involved. Then there are the Israeli undercover agents that seem to have an interest also. Who will discover the truth first?

Kathi Stoler's debut novel shows promise of an entertaining new voice in female detective stories. The characters are crisp and intriguing, and the plot twists come fast and furious. The audience is transported to Italy and New York, learning about the byzantine world of high-end art transactions. This book is recommended for mystery readers.

A Man Of Parts by David Lodge

2011-09-22T06:22:00.000-04:00

David Lodge's latest novel is a sympathetic portrayal of the life of H.G. Wells, the novelist who gave us such books as War Of The Worlds, The Invisible Man, and The Time Machine. Desirious of a world more equal and supporting of all men, Wells used his novels to show his vision of a utopian existence where men and women were equal and science made life better for all.

But Wells did not start out as a cornerstone of society. He was born into a poor family, his father a shop keeper and cricket player while his mother was in service as a housekeeper for a wealthy family. For many years, his parents lived apart as she had to be available at all hours in the manor she worked in. Wells grew up "downstairs", education being his saving grace. He fought for an education and his brilliant mind was recognized, winning him scholarships that allowed him to move into the wealthy class.

Wells was a contradiction. Socialist by nature, he made no bones about enjoying his wealth. A feminist by nature, he indulged himself with numurous affairs and dalliances. He was married twice and had several long-term relationships. Several of these were with women barely out of their teens when he was middle-aged and beyond. His private life always threatened to disrupt his public life. While his novels were not considered literary triumphs, he was a very successful writer, influential in the way that a successful novelist can be in shaping public opinion.

This book is a departure for Lodge, and it is a success. His tone is light, and he moves quickly but throughly through Well's life, showing his work and love interests as well as his desire to affect lives around him. His friends, novelists such as Shaw and Henry James, are also highlighted, giving the reader a complete feel for this strata of society in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Wells survived through WW II. Lodge's novel is a fitting tribute and an interesting exploration of a complicated man's life. This book is recommended for all readers who have heard of Wells but don't know much about him and his life.

A Small Hotel by Robert Olen Butler

2011-09-18T07:18:00.000-04:00

In A Small Hotel, Robert Olen Butler traces one night in a marriage; the night it was to have been dissolved. Kelly Hayes was to go to the courthouse to sign the final divorce papers. Instead she flees to New Orleans and signs into the hotel where she and her husband Michael met twenty years ago. Michael Hayes has tried to move on and is at a weekend away with his new love, a woman twenty years his junior.

As the night progresses, the couple's marriage and where it has strained and fallen apart is explored. The words that might have been said but were left unspoken, the assumptions that were made in error, all the small items that lead to separation and disillusionment. The novel moves back and forth between Kelly and Michael, often showing an event from each one's viewpoint, and the reader can see the miles of space between their interpretation of what occurred.

Readers will be touched by the careful exploration Butler performs as well as his lyrical, haunting writing. His insight into what women want from men, what men want from women and how each is shaped by their past familial relationships will make the reader reevaluate their own relationships. This book is recommended for all readers interested in understanding the human condition and how we relate to each other.

Call Me Princess by Sara Blaedel

2011-09-17T11:00:00.000-04:00

A serial rapist is stalking the women of Copenhagen. Detective Louise Rick is assigned to the case of the first known victim. The rapist finds his victims online and spends several weeks emailing them, creating an illusion that they know him. He is charming on the first date, protective of the woman and hesitant to move too quickly. When the woman finally invites him to her home, he makes his move, binding her before brutally raping her and leaving her for others to find.

The police know that it is unlikely that someone with such a developed plan of attack is a first-timer and they start to look for more victims. It doesn't take long to find them. There are also indications that even with the story becoming public, the rapist is continuing his hunt for new victims.

Sara Blaedel has written an interesting police procedural. Readers are taken behind the scenes of the investigation, where they see all the details and red tape that characterize a major case. Blaedel has also created a fully-imagined character in Detective Louise Rick. The reader not only has a first-hand look at her working methods and her reactions to various events in the case, but a chance to see how her working life and daily life intertwine. This is Blaedel's first book to be available in the United States, and readers will be clamouring for others as they discover this major talent from Denmark.

Love At Absolute Zero by Christopher Meeks

2011-09-16T05:42:00.000-04:00

Gunnar Gunderson has spent his life in the lab. He is a rising star in physics, working on what happens to matter if it reaches absolute zero. At work he is a star, getting tenure at age 32. In life, he realises that he is near the bottom, no love interest, no chance of a wife and family unless he changes his way.

Always the scientist, Gunnar decides to approach the problem of finding a wife scientifically. He starts making lists of desirable traits and hypotheses of what women are looking for in a mate. This should be easy if he just applies the scientific method, right? Just to make things more interesting, due to work pressures he determines that he needs to find his soulmate in the time he has available while his lab is being moved--three days.

Readers will enjoy reading about Gunnar and his quest. He is an endearing sort, focused in his work but bumbling like an amateur through life. The question of whether he can make his love life work as well as his academic one will keep readers turning the pages to the end. This book is recommended for readers interested in true love, or at least how men may approach it.

The Last Seal by Richard Denning

2011-09-14T06:15:00.000-04:00

Benjamin Silver has decided to cut classes. Adrift after the death of his parents, he is having a difficult time fitting in at this new London boarding school. But his decision to cut classes today will have far-reaching consequences. He will be called on to activate the powers he has inherited from his ancestors; powers he has no idea he possesses.

In 1380, a demon named Dantelion almost broke free. His only desire is to break the world and become its master. He was instead trapped in the netherworld by a warlock, Cornelius Silver. Silver sealed the entrance to that world with six seals and a final one that required someone with enormous magic to unseal. Those seals have held for almost three hundred years, but are now under attack.

Arrayed against those who would free Dantelion are an unlikely crew. Ben Silver is a schoolboy. He meets an unlikely ally who lives her life as a thief, making her way on her own in London though she is as young as Ben. They team up with a bookseller who is the head of the group that through the ages has worked to keep London safe from the demon. A fourth member is a doctor whose father was recently killed in the fight between those who seek to imprison the demon and those who want to release him for their own gain.

Can this unlikely team defeat the forces aligned against them? Their enemies have wealth and high places in the government. They are unlikely heroes, yet the fate of the world rests on their shoulders.

Richard Denning has created a historical fantasy sure to attract readers interested in this genre. The plot successfully twists and turns, ratcheting up the suspense on each page. He also uses historical events such as the plague years and the Great Fire of London to ground the story and make it more realistic. Denning is a British author but will gain new fans in America with this book. The Last Seal is recommended for fantasy lovers of all ages, from young adult to adult readers.

Where You Left Me by Jennifer Gardner Trulson

2011-09-07T06:22:00.000-04:00

On September 11th, 2001, Jennifer Gardner had it all. A marriage with a man she adored and who treasured her, two lovely children, an apartment on Central Park in New York City and a house in the Hamptons, and no money problems. By the end of the day, her world had collapsed. Her husband, Doug, worked in the Twin Towers and was at work when the planes hit that day. He never made it out.

Where You Left Me is the memoir of the Gardner's life after the 9-11 tragedy. Jennifer's world had irretrievably changed, and she could not find her footing. Friends and family rallied around and she had a therapist. But everywhere she looked she found something that reminded her of all that had been lost. She grieved not only for the present, but for all the future that Doug had been cheated of. No first youth basketball games, no Bar Mitzvah, no weddings where he gave away his daughter. She endured the curiosity of acquaintances, and chance remarks that cut her to the quick. Somehow the days passed until a year had rolled by.

As time went on, she started to cautiously make her way back to the world. One of the biggest helps was meeting a man who had no connection to the tragedy. Derek Trulson had just moved to New York City from Seattle. His entire life and background was utterly different from what Jennifer was used to, and his zest for life and insistence that adventures still awaited her slowly but surely brought her back from the chaos she was living in.

As the ten-year anniversary of the 9-11 tragedy approaches, readers will be given the opportunity to read many books about it. Where You Left Me is a heartfelt memoir that explores the effect the events that day had on one family, and demonstrates how resilient the human spirit is after tragedy. This book is recommended for those interested in American history and for memoir readers.

Doc by Mary Doria Russell

2011-09-05T08:28:00.000-04:00

Most people have heard of Doc Holliday, the gambling sharpshooter. Far fewer have heard of Doctor John Henry Holliday, the skilled dentist and Southern aristocrat who was forced out west by his health. Mary Doria Russell introduces readers to both and the combined man who was more than any of the legends that rose about him in her novel, Doc.

Holliday was born in the South and learned much of what he knew from his mother. He adored her and she introduced him to classical music and the classic authors he loved so much. Tragically, she died early from what was called consumption in those days and tuberculosis in ours. Even more tragically, she was probably the source from which Holliday also contracted TB.

Holliday, after her death, had moved in with relatives. His uncle, a prominent physician, convinced Holliday to study dentistry, which he considered a superior skill. Holliday planned to open a practice with his cousin, but the early signs of TB put a stop to that. Living in the hot, humid South would be a death sentence, so he moved out West. Unfortunately, the economy there did not support dentistry, and Doc soon began to take advantage of his other skills. He could ride a horse as if born in the saddle, draw a gun so fast it seemed to just appear in his hand, and use his intellect and skill to support himself at the poker and faro tables.

Russell introduces the reader to the real Doc Holliday. She also writes of those who surrounded Doc; his lover, Kate, the Earp brothers Wyatt, James and Morgan, Bat Masterson and a host of others. Doc was defined by his illness, which took his life by inches. He became an alcoholic who drank all day to quiet his cough. Some regarded him as a criminal, but underneath, he remained the man he grew up as with a strong ethical sense and a determination to live life on his terms.

This book is recommended for all readers, especially those who love historical fiction. The reader is transported to the Old West with its legends and shown the true stories around which the legends grew up. Russell treats her characters kindly, showing their reasoning as well as their human frailties. The reader will turn the last page more knowledgeable about this part of American history and the men who carved out civilization out West.

The Keeper Of Lost Causes by Jussi Adler-Olsen

2011-08-31T06:14:00.000-04:00

Detective Carl Morck is back at work in Denmark after the crime that took one partner's life, left another paralyzed and Carl in the hospital for an extended time. Instead of being welcomed back with open arms, the police department is unsure what to do with him. Yes, he was one of the best detectives, but the crime has left him even more surly and uncooperative than before.

Then a brilliant plan is hatched. The Danish legislature has just appropriated money to solve old crimes. Morck is given a promotion and put in charge of the Q Unit; set up to investigate cold cases. It sounds more important than it is; Carl is sent to a dingy basement office and given one staff member, an immigrant who is hired as a cleaner and administrative assistant rather than an investigator. No one expects much of Carl including himself.

But the traits that made him a great detective could not be quenched. The cases piled up on his desk start to make him curious and finally he picks one up to start on. Five years before, a female legislator, Merete Lynggaard, disappeared from a ferry. It was assumed she fell overboard and drowned, but the more Carl looks into the case, the more it starts to look like something else happened. Can Carl find out the secrets surrounding the Lynggaard case?

Jussi Adler-Olsen is one of the preeminent Danish crime writers. The Keeper Of Lost Causes is the first in his Q series, and readers will fall in love with his writing and with Carl and his assistant. The book won the Glass key Award issued by the Crime Writers of Scandinavia and well as the Golden Laurels award, the most prestigious Danish literary award. Fans of Henning Mankell, Stieg Larsson and Peter Hoeg will be excited to add Jussi Adler-Olsen to their reading lists. This book is recommended for mystery fans.

In Malice, Quite Close by Brandi Lynn Ryder

2011-08-30T06:31:00.000-04:00

Tristan Mourault decides he must have Karen Miller the first time he sees her on the street in San Franscisco. The problem is that Karen is fifteen. But, Tristan befriends her, and when he discovers that her home life is problematic, convinces her to run away with him. They fake her murder, and leave for New York, where Karen poses as Tristan's daughter, Gisele. In reality, they are lovers.

Fast forward fifteen years. Tristan and Gisele have moved back to California, to an artist's colony high in the mountains. Over the years, Gisele married Luke, not for love, but to be a father to daughter, Nicola. That daughter is now twelve, and starting to wonder about her family life. Luke has moved on to other women due to Gisele's indifference, and the latest is Amanda Miller, Karen's sister who was scarred for life by her sister's murder.

Coincidence? Not really. Tristan and Gisele are surrounded by artists and art collectors, who have their own agendas and some of whom seem determined to rip apart the facade that has been in place for fifteen years. Things come to a head when a series of arresting paintings of Gisele are discovered, nudes that are stunning and revealing in a way that will focus attention on the family and knock down the walls they have hidden behind so many years.

Brandi Lynn Ryder has created a compelling book, full of memorable characters and a plotline that has the reader turning the pages to determine what will happen to them all. The setting is interesting with insight into the art world and the collectors and artists that make it up. This book is recommended for suspense readers.

Tiny Sunbirds, Far Away by Christie Watson

2011-08-24T21:33:00.000-04:00

Blessing and Ezikiel are lucky children. They are one of the few Nigerian families to live comfortably due to their parents’ professional jobs. They live in a comfortable apartment and go to an excellent private school. Ezikiel plans to become a doctor and they both study hard. They are isolated from the poverty and strife most Nigerian families face each day.

All that changes when their parents’ marriage breaks up. They are forced to leave their apartment, school and city and move out to the rural area with their mother, who has to move back in with her parents in order to survive. It is a huge culture shock for Blessing and Ezikiel. Instead of special foods meant to alleviate Ezikiel’s allergies and asthma, they eat a country fare, much simpler and full of foods they have never eaten. There is no electricity, no air-conditioning, no plumbing or running water. There is no money for new clothes and books. The only school is a primitive one where the children are beaten regularly. Ezikiel is determined to make the best of it all, but Blessing is lost and confused.

Their relatives, who they did not know before, are now the most important people in their lives. Their grandparents had not spoken for years to their mother, as they did not approve of her marriage. The grandfather is a proud Muslim man, an oil engineer by training who has never been able to work at a job that uses his training. The grandmother is the midwife for the area and delivers the babies. Soon after they arrive, the grandfather takes a second wife, Celestine, who is a loud, brash woman who is naïve and ignorant but who quickly starts having babies. These strangers are now people it is important to form relationships with. Blessing becomes a midwife’s assistant and helps her grandmother deliver babies, the one positive in this strange new life. She loves the job and the way she is able to help form new families.

The mother has to work long hours and rarely sees the children. She is now a waitress and works for the white men employed by the oil company. The oil company is the force behind everything. It takes the oil and energy resources, but the people of Nigeria get none of the benefit. The government gets payments but none is used to improve rural life. There are energy spills and environmental disasters which foul the water and air and make growing crops difficult. Few of the Nigerian men are employed as the workers are all white men who are brought in from overseas and who live segregated lives in gated communities guarded by security forces.

Things get worse when the mother falls in love with one of the oil workers. At first, the children believe it is just a monetary arrangement, as he provides money to make their lives easier. But it also brings strife. Ezikiel quits school and becomes estranged from his family, making friends with the gangs that call themselves freedom fighters. As it becomes apparent that the man and their mother are in love, Ezikiel’s behavior becomes more belligerent as he refuses to admit another man into his family.

Christie Watson has written a stunning debut novel. The characters are bold and full of life, and the coming of age dilemmas the children face are exquisitely portrayed. The part the oil company plays in everyday family life and the Nigerian country with its strife and poverty is explained convincingly. This book is recommended for readers of family sagas and for those interested in how families can overcome difficulties to remain close.

The Reversal by Michael Connelly

2011-08-24T06:19:00.000-04:00

Twenty-four years ago Jason Jessup killed a twelve-year-old girl. He has been in prison since then, but now due to DNA testing of a stain on the girl's dress, his conviction has been reversed. But LA County is not ready to release him; they firmly believe he committed the crime.They decide to retry Jessup, a move that hold the potential for big political payoff or blame.

To shield the DA's office, he recruits a strange choice as Special Prosecutor. Micky Haller is one of the premier defense attorneys in the area. The DA asks him to take over the case, and explains why the DA's office believes the DNA results make no difference to the truth of the case; that Jessup snuffed out the life of an innocent girl twenty-four years before and needs to stay in prison to protect others.

Haller decides to take on the case, both as a curiosity and because, as a father of a daughter the same age as the victim, he believes in what the prosecution is attempting to do. To make up his team, he recruits his ex-wife, an assistant DA, and his half-brother, Harry Bosch. Bosch is an LA police detective, assigned to homicide for years and one of the very best. Together the team works to accomplish the impossible--reversing the reversal.

Fans of Michael Connolly will be delighted to see two of his most memorable characters, Haller and Bosch, brought together in a case. The reader gets an inside look at how prosecutions happen, and the police work behind them that support the evidence. The plot is fast-paced, and the reader cares about the characters. This book is recommended for mystery lovers.

Stories for Nighttime And Some For The Day by Ben Loory

2011-08-22T05:50:00.000-04:00

The stories in Ben Loory's Stories for Nighttime And Some For The Day are reminiscent of bedtime stories. But, not stories told by loving parents tucking in their child for the night. Instead, these are stories told by the offbeat uncle, the one who when the kids tell their parents what he has said, are told, "Oh that's just your uncle; he likes to make up adventures." Then the parents huddle together in another room and make vows that this is the last time ever the uncle will be given the job of bedtime story teller to THEIR kids.

The stories are short, often just a page or two. The words are also short and the stories seem deceptively simple at first. Then at the end there is a twist that sets a hook in the reader's mind, insuring that they will return to the story again and again trying to figure out exactly where they were fooled.

This book is recommended for readers who enjoy short stories. The stories are reminiscent of O'Henry in the twist at the end, but are not as complex as his. These are simple tales, simple enough that they can easily creep into the mind and take up residence.

Tout Sweet by Karen Wheeler

2011-08-16T06:32:00.000-04:00

Karen Wheeler had it all. She was a fashion writer and spent her days at glamorous design parties, the top restaurants and in association with the top names in fashion. She had more handbags and shoes than most small villages could muster with all the households combined. She spent her days in a whirl of shopping, parties, and the best that the fashion world could offer.

But something was missing. She was tiring of the hustle and bustle and the emptiness of a life without someone to share it with. The man of her dreams had abruptly left, and she couldn't seem to move on. Karen started to take classes to fill her weekends and at one, met a man who was creating a French bed and breakfast place. He invited her to France to see what he was doing, and she accepted. While there, in idle conversation, the fact that a house in the village was available came up and before she knew it, she had viewed it and bought it in one day!

Tout Sweet is the story of the first year of Karen's life in her new surroundings, and the change from a luxury flat in London to a house in rural France that had been neglected. When she moved in, there was no running water, no modern bathroom, no kitchen facilities or even a kitchen floor! The reader goes through the renovation with Karen, lovingly creating a house that was warm and inviting.

It is also the story of how she learned to slow her life and love it in the present instead of always waiting for the future. Most of the village inhabitants were older, retirees from England along with the native French. Karen made good friends here, friends that she had time to involve in her life. She learned to enjoy the simple pleasures of long country walks, fresh baked croissants in the morning, and sitting in her courtyard at the end of a long day enjoying a glass of wine. Along the way, there were several men who were interested in her and the reader gets the story of how each of these relationships progressed.

This book is recommended for those who enjoy travel writing and those who enjoy reading about how it is possible to change one's life. Wheeler's writing style is light and breezy and the reader closes the last page sure that their life would be enriched if they could count her among their friends. An enjoyable read, Tout Sweet is a life lesson on how to transform a life that doesn't satisfy into one that makes each day a new adventure.

That Day In September by Artie Van Why

2011-08-16T06:17:00.000-04:00

Artie Van Why came to New York City to pursue an acting career. A decade later, he instead was working at a career as a word processor at a New York City law firm, which happened to be located in the World Trade Center.

Artie was there on September 11th, 2001 when the planes hit and America woke up to a new reality. His memoir takes the reader through the terror and pain of that day as he saw the people jump, helped those he could and finally staggered home. Van Why takes the reader through the following weeks and months of confusion and pain, the reality of how many were lost, and the guilt of wondering why some survived and some did not.

This book is recommended for all readers who still need to process their feelings about September 11th. This birds eye view of what occurred that day and how it changed us all forever helps to provide a perspective from which the reader can hopefully start to make sense of such a horrendous act.

Ten Thousand Saints by Eleanor Henderson

2011-08-10T13:44:00.000-04:00

Ten Thousand Saints revolves around the life of Jude, a sixteen year old coming of age in the late 1980's. Jude was adopted at birth by parents who proudly called themselves hippies. Now, as he tries to determine who he is, they have split; his mother a glassblower in Vermont and his father a drug dealer in New York City. Jude doesn't do well at school; he doesn't have many friends, and he's not sure why his life isn't working out. His one true friend is Teddy, who is also from a broken home.

On New Year's Eve of 1987, several events happen. Jude's father's girlfriend's daughter, Eliza, comes to town for a few hours to meet Jude and his sister, a suggestion by Les, the father. Jude and Teddy take Eliza to a party where Teddy and Eliza end up together and Jude ends up being beat up by the local football hero and the local drug dealer. Finally, as the year ends, Jude and Teddy get high and Teddy dies.

As the battle between Jude and the local toughs intensifies, his parents decide that he should move to New York for a while to live with Les. Once there, Jude meets up with Johnny, Teddy's big brother who moved to the city several years ago. Johnny introduces Jude to Straight Edge, a militant group that worships music and bans drugs, alcohol, sex and eating meat. Jude falls in with this group, joining Johnny's band and then eventually starting one of his own.

The book follows Jude's life for a year as he moves from group to group, cleaving to friends then breaking apart, always searching for what will make sense of his life. The adults in his world don't seem to have made any more sense of their lives than he has, and Jude must determine what will work for him to move forward.

This book is recommended for all readers interested in determining life paths. For many, it will be nostalgic of the time period, while others may read and wonder how all of this occurred. The book covers other topics; unplanned pregnancies, the birth of gay liberation and the AIDS epidemic, the band scene, the gentrification of New York City and the sense that life happens whether or not one is ready for it. This is a debut novel by Eleanor Henderson and readers will be waiting eagerly for her next book, ready to see what new topics she will tackle.

Just After Sunset by Stephen King

2011-08-07T10:37:00.001-04:00

The thirteen stories in Stephen King’s Just After Sunset confirm him as the master of the thriller and horror genres for this generation. These are not necessarily short stories; King likes enough room to maneuver around as he unveils his story. The reader is reminded once again what makes Stephen King a master; taking everyday situations and characters each of us encounter in our own lives and twisting them just enough awry to make the horror that ensues believable.

The stories range across a variety of situations. There is the man who takes up stationary bike riding to lose weight; nothing can go wrong there, can it? The psychiatrist who “catches” his patient’s sick obsessions. A high school graduation party that will be remembered not for the occasion but for what went wrong that day with the world. A man haunted by survivor’s guilt when he uncharacteristically skipped work and the date happened to be September 11th and his workplace an office in the Twin Towers. From these situations, King weaves stories that will remain in the reader’s mind long after the book is closed.

This book is recommended for horror and thriller lovers. King’s genius is his believability; the conversations his characters have are conversations you could overhear in any diner or gathering place in America. The situations start out as everyday occurrences until there is a kink in time, something that twists the everyday sideways into horror; a glimpse into another world that seems impossible to exist; a glance into the hidden horrors in a friend or neighbor’s mind. King has stated that he writes his short stories about situations that scare him; if so, his mind must be a very frightening place. Readers will be pleasurably entertained and ready for the next round of King’s stories when they finish this one.

Running From Secrets by Stephanie Void

2011-08-06T14:56:00.000-04:00

Bethany is confused. Her family has just moved to town, fleeing a family tragedy. She has no friends and roams the forest beside their house, searching for something, anything, to make her life feel right again. Bethany starts to write a journal, all about another land call New Velerthland. She spends hours constructing the land and its inhabitants.

Imagine her surprise when she is drawn through time and space to this land. She wakes up in New Velerthland, knowing that there is evil loose in the land and that only she can save it. Queen Numuriu has been possessed by demon spirits and has turned against the land and especially her childhood friend and cousin, Chime. Bethany joins forces with Chime to try to defeat the evil before it can bring down the land and everything in it.
They must defeat evil wizards, sirens and ancient spells to break the hold that magic has on New Velerthland and its inhabitants.

Stephanie Void has written an interesting YA fantasy novel with supernatural elements, love stories and the conflict between evil and right. The book is told in first person, and moves between Bethany's new home and the home she has created in New Velerthland. Young adult readers will be interested to read to the end to discover what happens to Chime, Bethany and Queen Numuria, and will be ready to read more about the land in later books.

Passeggiata by G. G. Husak

2011-08-05T06:11:00.000-04:00

“Passeggiata” in Italian means a kind of walk, a stroll arm-in-arm. That is exactly what G. G. Husak does for the reader; takes them on a stroll through various parts of Italy. She and her husband have made an annual tradition of visiting Italy, and in this book, she takes the reader with them on various adventures. The reader learns the tips that make Italian travel more pleasurable, as well as various pitfalls that can mar a journey. Small items such as which side of the road a bus stops on can make a huge difference if you are on the wrong side and it is the last or only bus of the day.

The Husaks visited all the major cities; Rome, Naples, Venice, Milan and Florence. They also traveled to the smaller cities that many travelers have not heard of and the less traveled places such as the walled cities built on top of hills and the Italian Rivera. Along the way, Husak points out the differences in the food, the art and the local customs.

One of the main points of the book is the couple’s realization that it is imperative to put aside the rushed scheduled life they lead in the United States and adopt a more leisurely way of handling the day and the stops along the way. If a bus doesn’t come on time, it will come a bit later. Hotels may be smaller than American ones, but have their own charms. Tourists can eat cheaply and well by avoiding the more heavily patronized restaurants and looking for smaller, family-oriented ones.

This book is recommended for those readers who either plan to visit Italy, or just love to read about other cultures and ways of life. There are numerous tips that the traveler can take advantage of, and the armchair traveler can revel in the stories of art, food and the Italian way of life.

One Flight Up by Susan Fales-Hill

2011-08-02T06:27:00.001-04:00

One Flight Up follows four friends as they hit their late thirties and start to question their choices in love. India is a divorce lawyer who is very successful in her career but has never married. Her heart was broken when she caught her fiance cheating on her weeks before the wedding. She has finally started a new relationship with a safe, caring man when her dynamic ex-fiance comes back into the picture, determined to win her back. Will she choose stability or excitement?

Abby married young and has three children. She gave up her dreams of being a professor to work in and then run the family art gallery so that her husband can continue his dreams of being a sculptor. None of her friends like him, regarding him as controlling, but Abby knows nothing else. She expects her marriage will bump along forever until she picks up a phone message for him that tells her he is cheating. Now a young teacher is interested in her. What will she do?

Monique has it all. A successful ob-gyn, she is married to a very rich and successful businessman. They live in a mansion and have two gorgeous children. The only problem? Her husband ignores her and hasn't slept with her in months. Will the new guy at work solve her longings?

Esme is a fireball, who explodes into every social situation, taking what she wants with no apologies. Raised in a wealthy family and the kind of good looks that have men drooling, she has it all, but she's totally bored with her life as a suburban housewife. She's ready to have some flings just for fun, sure that her husband will never know or leave her. Is she right?

Susan Fales-Hill has created an interesting mix of characters and situations. She lays out the constant battle women face between career and love, between safety and excitement, and how different women solve the dilemma. The reader is swept along in the story, anxiously waiting to see how each women ends up. This book is recommended for women readers.

Bringing Adam Home by Les Standiford

2011-07-31T07:41:00.000-04:00

The kidnapping and murder of seven-year-old Adam Walsh was one of the most notorious crimes of the last fifty years. Adam had gone shopping at Sears with his mother, Reve, and was fifty feet from her in the store. She was looking at lamps; he was looking at and playing with the video game display with other boys. When they got rowdy, the Sears security guard, a seventeen year old girl, sent all the boys outside. All went home with their parents, but Adam, disappeared that day. His head was discovered floating in a canal two weeks later; his body never found.

Bringing Adam Home details the investigation of his murder for the long twenty-seven years that the murder went unsolved. Although there was a viable suspect who confessed early and often, the overwhelmed police force of Hollywood, Florida, refused to believe him guilty. The man was in jail for other murders and the police in charge felt that he was making up his confessions. Over the years, the police left leads uninvestigated, forced facts into wrong theories, and even actively blocked other investigators from helping solve the murder.

The parents, John and Reve Walsh, went on to dedicate their lives to fighting the crime of missing children. John Walsh became the public face of one of TV's blockbuster shows; America's Most Wanted. The show highlighted unsolved cases and asked the public's help in finding suspects. It was considered one of the first reality shows. In addition, the Walshs went to Congress several times as proponents for various laws to protect missing children. From this emerged the national crime database for missing children. The case also changed parental views of the world. Many readers remember childhoods where it wasn't unusual for kids to leave the house in the morning and come home again at supper. It is almost unimaginable today to consider leaving a child unsupervised in that way. Parents shuddered at the Adam Walsh case and kept their children a bit closer from that point on.

The book is well-researched, and readers are taken inside a complex kidnapping-murder investigation. One of the main contributors of the book was Detective Joe Matthews, the detective who in his retirement solved the case once and for all by going back through the case files and creating such a strong case that there could be no doubt who the killer was. Matthews was the main investigator on America's Most Wanted after his retirement, and a personal friend of the family. Solving Adam's case was his personal goal and obsession, his gift to the grieving family. This book is recommended for readers of true crime, and for all parents. Evil is out there and it will in a moment take your family and tear it apart.

Rules Of Civility by Amor Towles

2011-07-29T07:13:00.000-04:00

The year is 1938 and three young people are thrown together on New Year's Eve in a jazz bar. Eve Ross and Katy Kontent are young women who have come to Manhattan to make their way in the world. Eve is from a rich family in Indiana while Katy is the daughter of Russian immigrants and grew up in Brighton Beach. They met in a boardinghouse and soon become fast friends, recognizing a fellow feeling of joy and determination to take life on their own terms.

Tinker Gray is the man the girls meet. Obviously from wealth, his every move betrays perfect manners and a sense of belonging wherever he is. They become a trio and the book follows them throughout the year, as they form alliances, come together and move apart, and go through the changes common to the young as they make their way and choose their life paths.

Eve and Tinker are together for a while, leaving Katy behind, then the pieces are shaken up and new alliances form. Along the way, the reader meets other people; the rich widow who takes what she wants with no regard for the opinions of others; the ultra-rich who assume the world is theirs for the taking and are distinguished by their manners; the hard-driving boss determined to make a go even if it kills his workers, the artists who portray the lives around them; the working class individuals striving to improve their lot.

Amor Towles has written a fascinating look at the moneyed class in the era coming out of the Depression and between the two great wars. His characters are finely drawn, especially Katy, who is the mirror through which the reader experiences this world. This book is recommended for lovers of historical fiction, and those interested in a great story that transports the reader to another place and time.

Releasing Gillian's Wolves by Tara Woolpy

2011-07-25T07:48:00.000-04:00

Nearing fifty, Gillian Sachs feels that she doesn't know what she wants. She has been trapped in a loveless marriage for years due to her husband's multiple affairs. She hasn't left him, though, since he is a Senator and the breakup would be front-page news and she doesn't know any other life. She paints but has never exhibited since she wasn't sure if it would be her talent getting a show or the novelty of a political wife being an artist.

In the middle of Jack's latest reelection run, it becomes more than Gillian can bear as she watches him start an affair with a campaign intern younger than their own daughter. Gillian agrees to stay until after the election, but moves out to a cabin on their property. Most of the money in the marriage is hers, so that isn't an issue.

After the election, Gillian slowly starts to rebuild her life. She reunites with her daughter, their estrangement a casualty of her daughter's refusal to have anything to do with her father. Gillian goes to Amsterdam to visit friends, and while there starts painting again. She also meets Luke, a well-known sculptor who starts to make her feel alive again.

As she starts to heal, everything back home falls apart. Jack is involved in scandal and this time the FBI are also involved. Gillian is called back home by the various law enforcement agencies doing the investigation. Will she find the strength to break away or will Gillian be pulled back into Jack's sordid world?

Tara Woolpy has created a strong, sympathetic character in Gillian. She embodies the longing many have as they reach their middle years to find what really matters in life to them, and to take whatever chances are needed to live their lives happily. This book is recommended to readers who are also searching for that magical something that makes lives interesting and vital.

With Just One Click by Amanda Strong

2011-07-23T20:06:00.000-04:00

Amanda Strong explores what happens when three women decide to join the online world of Facebook. Chloe is a career woman, successful at her reviewer job but not at relationships. After she joins Facebook, an old love looks her up and sends her a Friend invitation. Will stirring up old ashes reignite a new love?

Morgan is a stay-at-home wife who uses Facebook as a social outlet, finding validation of her life choices and advice from her friends on her life as a busy young mother. One fly emerges in the Facebook ointment; her relationship with her husband becomes strained as she gets jealous over the women who chat with him; especially a former girlfriend from high school.

Brynn has it all; two teenage children and a successful husband; a big house and no money worries. But she is feeling left out and lonely and strikes up a friendship on Facebook that has to potential to tear her family apart.

Amanda Strong has cleverly used the microscope of this increasingly familiar social networking site to examine the way women support each other, find love and dissension, and filter their lives through the way others view them. She examines the positive and negative sides of the site, leaving the reader with the realization that Facebook just shines a light into whatever is going on in people's lives; it can neither make nor break their relationships. This book is recommended for romance readers and for those interested in the effect of technology on modern lives.

Arcadia Snips And The Steamworks Consortium by Robert Rodgers

2011-07-18T17:53:00.000-04:00

Mad math and science are afoot in the 19th century in the city of Aberwick. There are tales of mad scientists who caused the fire that never ends and flying machines and machines that can not only do calculations but talk machine to machine without human intervention. All these inventions are centered around the Steamworks Consortium, and the populace is unsure if the Consortium is a force for good or evil.

The most maligned name in the annals of mad scientists/mathematicians are the Daffodil family. The grandparents were mad, and the grandmother lives in an asylum still. Their son and his wife were credited/blamed with losing an hour of time with all the tragedies that entailed. The current generation, William Daffodil, works at the Steamworks and tries to remain under the radar and live down his family's reputation.

But something is afoot. There are stirrings of a plot, a plot that will be worse than anything that has gone before. The forces of evil are arrayed against the forces of good. These include Daffodil, an intrepid feminist named Miss Primrose, a madman who runs a detective agency and Arcadia Snips. Born into a mad scientist family, Arcadia ran away at an early age to make her way on the streets. She is a vagabond, a thief, and perhaps the savior of all mankind.

Robert Rodgers has created a rollicking steampunk tale of high adventure. Steampunk is defined in Wikipedia as "a sub-genre of science fiction, alternate history, and speculative fiction that came into prominence during the 1980s and early 1990s. Steampunk involves a setting where steam power is still widely used—usually the Victorian era Britain—that incorporates elements of either science fiction or fantasy. Works of steampunk often feature anachronistic technology or futuristic innovations as Victorians may have envisioned them; based on a Victorian perspective on fashion, culture, architectural style, art, etc. This technology may include such fictional machines as those found in the works of H. G. Wells and Jules Verne."

Those readers who have wondered what steampunk literature is all about will be interested to explore it in such an accessible work. Fans of high adventure will be delighted with all the action, while those interested in finding new and admirable characters will fall in love with Arcadia Snips, an unlikely heroine who is unforgettable.

Summer Of The Bear by Bella Pollen

2011-07-16T07:34:00.000-04:00

Nicky and Letty have it all. Young, in love with a great marriage and three beautiful children, they are posted in Bonn with Nicky's diplomatic career and rumored to be in the running for the Ambassador's job in Rome. Then tragedy strikes. Nicky falls from a roof on the Embassy and is killed. Letty, her world destroyed, takes the children back to the island in the Outer Hebrides where they spend every summer to try to put their world back together and figure out how to go on without Nicky.

Nothing seems to be working. Georgie, the oldest girl, tries to fill in mothering her younger siblings as Letty is barely coping. But Georgie is ready for University and starting to discover men. Alba, the middle child, has developed a cruel streak that she takes out on everyone, especially her little brother, Jamie. Jamie, the only boy and eight years old, is more lost than the others. No one has told him his father is dead; just that he is "lost". Jamie obsesses about finding him and about a circus bear that has escaped and is loose somewhere on the island. He is an unsophisticated, innocent child who just wants to make everything right again.

Bella Pollen has created a magical book about families coming together and building their lives on the treasure they have in each other. The book is told through alternating views of each character, allowing the reader to slowly piece together the puzzle of what happened in Bonn and how to move on in their lives. The people and culture of the little-known Outer Hebrides Islands is lovingly portrayed. This book is recommended for all readers.

The Savage City by T.J. English

2011-07-12T14:09:00.000-04:00

The Savage City is the exploration by T.J. English of the forces driving the dynamics of New York City in the sixties and early seventies. This was the time of hippies, peace and love, protests against Vietnam. It was the peak of the Civil Rights movement with Martin Luther King, Jr. as the Afro-American spokesman. There was also an underside; racial discrimination, the rise of the black liberation groups such as the Black Panthers and the Black Liberation Army to combat racisim, and the police that often were more interested in the graft they got than any kind of even-handed dispirsement of justice.

On the day Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his "I have a dream" speech at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., two white girls were murdered in their apartment. Emily Hoffert and Janice Wylie were exemplars of rich young women working on careers and their deaths were shouted from the front pages of newspapers for weeks on end.

English uses this case as the filter through which he follows the lives of three men:

1. George Whitmore was a young, unsophisticated black man who had the bad luck to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. He was swept up by the police in another borough and before he managed to win his freedom ten years later, had been charged with the Wylie-Hoffert murders and those of two other women. His treatment by the police was one of the key cases that led to the establishment of the Miranda warning.

2. Bill Phillips was a New York City policeman and part of the "blue wall". He spent as much time finding ways to make money on his beat as he did solving crimes and was part of the corruption in the police force that became evident.

3. Dhoruba Bin Wahad, a black man hardened by his time in prison, was an influential member of the NYC Black Panther party. His views on the white police and power structure led him to a series of crimes that controlled his life.

T.J. English has done a masterful job of research these divergent lives and bringing them together into a cohesive whole to explain the environment of these times and the factors that influenced everyday life. This book is recommended to those interested in reading how social mores influence our lives, as well as those who lived through these turbulent times.

The Swan Thieves by Elizabeth Kostova

2011-07-06T19:54:00.000-04:00

The newspapers are full of a shocking story. The artist, Robert Oliver, one of art's modern up-and-rising figures, is arrested in a museum where he has attacked a painting; the painting that is the image of Leda and the swan. He gives no explanation, in fact, he refuses to talk at all.

Andrew Marlow is the psychiatrist in charge of the mental hospital where Oliver is confined. He takes Oliver's case himself as Marlowe is also a painter and thinks it may help unravel the mystery surrounding Oliver. For Oliver is mute, and refuses to talk to anyone. As the weeks go by, Dr. Marlow becomes more and more intrigued by Oliver. Desperate to understand Oliver, he begins to research his life.

Marlow takes a trip to the mountains of North Carolina where he spends time with Oliver's ex-wife. She tells of their lives together, first in New York and then later at the college in NC where Oliver is put on staff. The ex-wife talks about the early signs of Oliver's mental illness, but also about her growing suspicion that there is another woman.

Marlow also finds this woman and learns more of Oliver's life. Oliver paints one woman over and over and Marlow finds clues about her and the importance to Oliver's life, but there is no definite knowledge to be found. He makes trips to Mexico and later to France where he finally discovers the secret to unlock the bars of the mental prison Olivier is caught in.

Elizabeth Kostova has written a complex, intriguing tale. The plot unfolds slowly and the reader learns about the characters a bit at a time, like a stripteaser slowly revealing her charms. Along with the plot, the reader is exposed to the art world and how painters relate to the world around them. This book is recommended for readers of modern literature and those interested in love stories that change lives.

Bad Boy by Peter Robinson

2011-07-04T17:28:00.000-04:00

Fans of Peter Robinson's series featuring Inspector Alan Banks will be interested to know he has written another.

Banks has gone on a vacation to the United States. In his absence, horrors take place. Bank's daughter, Tracy, gets involved with a local charmer. Jaff is the son of the local bookie and a gorgeous Bollywood Indian actress. He dabbles at the fringes of mob activity; a little money laundering, a little drug dealing. He is charming and good-looking and the boyfriend of Tracy's best friend, Erin. When Erin gets into police trouble by taking Jaff's gun, Tracy goes to warn him and ends up going off with him.

What seems like a lark at first and a chance to get to know Jaff better turns into a nightmare as she does just that, gets to know him better. For Jaff is a true bad boy; narcissistic, ready to harm anyone who gets between him and anything he desires. Tracy goes from a willing participant to a hostage as the situation gets more and more serious. Inspector Banks returns home to find a crisis with his daughter in danger. Can he resolve things and save her life?

Peter Robinson and his Inspector Banks series are well-known and respected. He has been a finalist for the Los Angles Times Book Prize, a "Best Book of the Year" recipient by Publisher's Weekly, a "Notable Book" winner by the New York Times and a "Page Turner Of The Week" winner by People magazine. Robinson has won numerous prizes including the Edgar Award, the Anthony Award and the Grand Prix de litterature Policiere. This book, although the latest in a series, stands alone, as it was the first of Robinson's books that I'd read. This book is recommended for mystery lovers who enjoy police procedurals and an inside look at how police forces really work.

Birdie's Book by Jan Bozarth

2011-07-04T07:29:00.000-04:00

Birdie is excited and scared. She is off to visit her grandmother, who she doesn't remember at all. Her mother and grandmother have been estranged for years. Birdie doesn't know why as her mother refuses to discuss it. But her father thinks Birdie should know her family so he has sent her to visit while her mom is traveling on business.

Birdie has one overriding interest, plants. She knows them all, their characteristics, how to grow them, their Latin names. Imagine her joy when she discovers her grandmother lives on a large piece of land with hundreds of varieties of plants, and a greenhouse. She makes her living selling various plants. Her land has large gardens, with mazes and some of the largest trees Birdie has ever seen. While exploring, she discovers the tree that is the heart of the land, but also discovers that it is dying.

This discovery leads her grandmother to tell her of her family history. They are the guardians of the plants, but the plants are slowly dying. The trouble started when the Singing Stone was broken in half. That night, Birdie has a dream that takes her to another land, Aventurine.

She is confused about why she is there, but meets friends along the way. There is Kerka, another girl who is there to help Birdie in her mission. The girls meet river maidens (known as mermaids elsewhere) and fairies. Each reveals another piece of Birdie's mission and how she can achieve it. She must heal the land, and to do so, she must heal the Singing Stone and the heartland tree. Can Birdie heal the land, and her family at the same time?

This is the first book in Jan Bozarth's Fairy Grandmother Academy series. Elementary and middle-school girls will be entranced with this story. There is a related website with games, places to write dreams, meet friends, etc. At this point, four books have been written in the series. This book is recommended for young readers, and for parents and grandparents looking for books to buy for their daughters or granddaughters that are exciting and provide a good message about what we are sent to do in the world.

Phone Kitten by Marika Christian

2011-07-02T18:09:00.000-04:00

Emily Winters has a problem. Well, several problems, but they really aren't her fault and anyhow, she can explain it all. Emily has always hid her light under a basket, it's safer to be ignored. But after being fired from her newspaper job unfairly, she starts to take control of her life. She's losing weight, working out, going back to school and has even met the man of her dreams. Is it fair that things don't work out for like she planned?

Since she lost her job, she had to have money, right? Being a phone sex talker isn't a job you write home to mother about, but it's money and you never have to see your clients. It couldn't possibly be her fault if one of her customers gets himself killed and she just happened to be in the restaurant he was dining at his last night, could it? What can a girl do? Why, obviously, she should take up detecting and solve the murder herself!

Marika Christian has written a light, frothy detective story with an engaging heroine, a believable cast of characters, and laugh out loud situations. Emily is a can-do kind of gal, never at a loss for an idea of what to do next and brave enough (or naive enough) to follow through on her plans. Readers will laugh out loud and immediately look for more of Marika Christian's work when the last page is read. This book is recommended for mystery and chick-lit readers.

The Believers by Zoe Heller

2011-06-27T06:25:00.000-04:00

Joel and Audrey Livinoff have been lions in the radical and socialist circles of New York, always at the forefront of every political demonstration, determined to champion the rights of the downtrodden. Now Joel has been stricken; the victim of a stroke suffered in court. He survives, but is left in a vegetative state for months.

Zoe Heller’s The Believers follows the Livinoff family during this time of turmoil. Audrey has been married to Joel for forty years. She is still fiercely committed to the principles they have spent their lives defending, passionate about ideas but much less so about her family. Like many caught up in the fight for mankind, she doesn’t actually like individuals very much at all, finding everyone deficient and not committed enough. She castigates those around her for failing to live up to her ideals.

The three Livinoff children are working through their own struggles as adults. Rosa, the child most like her parents, has returned from four years in Cuba where she lived in a dirt hut, strangely disoriented and unsure what she believes in. Surprisingly, this daughter of fiercely atheistic parents is drawn to discover what Judaism is about, to find out if it’s tenets are what she can believe and commit to.

Karla is a social worker, married to Mike and constantly sure that she doesn’t measure up as a woman, a child to her parents, a sufficient wife to her husband. Unable to have children, she and Mike are trying to adopt. Along with this struggle, Karla struggles to make peace between the fiercely fighting members of her own family.

Lenny, the Livinoff’s adopted son, is a recuperating drug addict, who has never made his way in the adult world, and who seems always on the verge of another relapse. Strangely, the independent Audrey is most closely attached to Lenny, and refuses to hear anything negative about him or about her enabling of his dependence.

Then there is the scandal that emerges during Joel’s long hospitalization. The secret makes each of the Livinoff question what their family stood for, and what the truth of their relationships are. Audrey is unsure if her marriage has been nothing but a farce, while the children wonder if their parents are responsible for their adult difficulties.

Zoe Heller has written an incisive book that examines the morass of family relationships and how tangled they are and what effect they have on the participants’ life choices. Readers will examine their own lives in the shadow of the truths that are become evident as the Livinoff family and its conflicts are laid bare. This book is recommended for readers interested in family dramas and how these first relationships have lasting effects on adult lives.

Take Good Care Of The Garden And The Dogs by Heather Lende

2011-06-26T08:23:00.000-04:00

Heather Lende writes a weekly newspaper column for the small town of Haines, Alaska. She also writes the obituaries for the townspeople. Take Good Care of the Garden and The Dogs is a series of essays illuminating her life in Alaska as well as the lives of her neighbors and friends. The reader is transported to this different way of life, and emerges understanding what draws people to this remote location.

The essays talk about various items, often touching on tragedy. There is a chapter about Lende's bicycle accident. She was run over by a truck and her pelvis was crushed, nearly killing her. Since Haines has no hospital, seriously ill or injured people have to be airlifted to the States. She spent three weeks away from home and then months recuperating at home. She writes honestly about her feelings, how she felt towards the man who drove the truck that injured her (being a small town, she already knew him) and her gratitude for her recovery as well as the guilt of seeing others who did not survive illness and accidents.

Essays talk about local tribal customs of the native people who make up much of the town, of such disparate items such as bear hunting, peace marches, making raspberry jam, cooking, religious ceremonies, sailing, choirs, and exercise. Throughout every essay runs the thread of the pioneering, study spirit that characterizes the population of Haines, Alaska and the surrounding land.

Readers will be instantly charmed by these narratives. In addition, there is much food for thought and how the reader would process various items. A common reaction to the book is mine; as soon as I turned the last page, I went out and bought the author's other work as I couldn't stand to have my time with this town ended. This book is recommended for all readers.

Revelations by Laurel Dewey

2011-06-20T06:44:00.000-04:00

Jane Perry is yanked from her work world as a Detective in Denver by her boss. He tells her that she will be accompanying him to the small town of Midas. A fifteen-year-old boy, Jake, has been kidnapped and the police chief has requested their assistance. The chief is an old buddy of her boss, and he has promised their help.

When they arrive, Jane quickly finds that all is not as you would expect. The chief is openly hostile to her, and argues with each discovery she makes. The parents don't seem to be as upset as one would expect, and even seem to be working against the police by refusing to allow Jake's picture to be put in the paper and by pulling the reward money. They are close-mouthed and fight against any information being released about their family and it's secrets.

They are in the right place to guard secrets. Midas is full of those with secrets and everyone is fine with that. Those whose secrets are known are scorned. The top suspect in the kidnapping case is Jordan Copeland. Copeland spent more than thirty years in prison for killing a young boy, and his land abuts the bridge that was the last known location Jake visited, so he immediately falls under suspicion. When Jane meets him, he stuns her by forming a connection with her and telling her that the case will never be solved until all the secrets are out. Can Jane discover the truth before it is too late?

Readers of Laurel Dewey's other Jane Perry books, Protector and Redemption will be glad to read this newest episode of her work. Jane's personality and secrets are further revealed in this book, and the secrets that make up the framework of the book are steadily uncovered without straining credulity. This book is recommended for mystery lovers.

The Last Letter by Kathleen Shoop

2011-06-17T11:20:00.001-04:00

The Last Letter opens as Katherine Arthur opens her home reluctantly to her dying mother and her sister, Yale. Katherine has been estranged from her mother for years, bitter about how their family fell apart after attempting to homestead on the plains in the late 1800's. But, with her mother dying, Katherine discovers letters between her mother and father, and between each of them and their neighbors that opens a door of understanding for her. She looks back at that time with the eyes of an adult rather than those of a child.

The Arthur family comes to the plains in disgrace. Wealthy businessmen, the Arthurs were successful bankers until it became evident that they had used the money to finance their lifestyle. Bitter at the scandal her father caused and the loss of all their money, Jeanie Arthur moves from a mansion to a dugout on the plains; she, her husband Frank, and their four children crammed into a hole in the prairie.

Jeanie attempts to make the best of things, but the plains are harsh and unforgiving. There are bugs and snakes, burning heat, sudden weather changes such as tornadoes and blizzards, and what seem like Biblical plagues of grasshoppers. Life is brutal and a daily struggle to survive. The Arthurs would not survive without their neighbors, and the friendship of the other women is all that holds up Jeanie in this difficult challenge. But tragedy strikes, and the family leaves the plains and splits up. Can Jeanie and Katherine be reconciled?

Kathleen Shoop makes the lives of the pioneer women come alive. The dirt and disease and hard work that is a part of daily life are outlined in a way that is uncommon, transporting the reader to that time and place. She also recreates the interdependency between neighboring families and how strong those friendships were. This book is recommended for historical fiction readers, as well as readers interested in family dynamics.

The Woodcutter by Reginald Hill

2011-06-16T16:22:00.000-04:00

Sir Wilfred Hadda, known as Wolf to his friends, leads a charmed life. He has risen from a poor childhood where his father was a woodcutter on a lord's estate, to wealth and power. He has married his childhood sweetheart, daughter of the lord who ran the estate where his parents lived and worked. He is a baron of industry.

All that changes one morning when he awakes to find the police at his door. They believe that he is guilty of child pornography. Desperate to clear his name, he runs from the police, straight into traffic, where he is hit. He awakes from a coma months later, minus an eye, most of one hand, and crippled. His trial for child pornography and financial fraud is quick and he is convicted. His wife divorces him and marries his lawyer. All his friends now despise and revile him.

Hadda is committed to a psychiatric hospital where hard cases like his and various serial killers are kept. He is a model prisoner, totally disconnected from his surroundings. That changes when he is assigned to the new doctor at the hospital, Alva Ozigbo. She helps him delve into his past, and when she is satisfied that he has faced his crimes, she helps get him released on parole.

Hadda goes back home to his parent's small house, which is one of the few things that he still owns. He goes about his life, walking the woods and talking with no one. But those involved in getting him imprisoned start to have incidents occur to them. Is Wolf taking his revenge for his conviction? Was it a fair conviction or was he railroaded?

Reginald Hill cannot write a bad mystery. Most readers know him from his wildly successful Pascoe and Dalziel series. His books are full of believable characters and the plot moves along rapidly. Readers will be compelled to like Wolf against their will and end the book by cheering for him. This book is recommended for mystery readers.

The Stormchasers by Jenna Blum

2011-06-15T07:28:00.000-04:00

Karena Jorge is a successful reporter; most people would love to have her life. But she is thirty-eight and has no outside life; no husband, no lover, no children. Her father is in a nursing home and she doesn't have a relationship with her stepmother, dubbed The Widow. Strangest of all, she hasn't seen her brother in twenty years. Her brother, the person she was closest to her entire childhood and teenage years, her twin.

Then a phone call changes her life. A hospital calls to inform her that her brother was admitted. Charles has been living under the radar since his family had him admitted to a mental hospital when he was eighteen after a suicide attempt. He is bipolar; his obsession tornadoes. He lives as a stormchaser, moving from town to town to witness their fury. Off-seasons he works a series of cash jobs to finance his obsession.

Karena is determined to find him this time and have him back in her life. She joins a stormchaser tour group as a reporter and follows them on a journey to find storms. These aren't Karena's first storms; being Charles's sister meant that she had experienced others. But she was terrified then and the experience hasn't changed for her with one exception. She is drawn to one of the tour leaders, Kevin.

Jenna Blum has written a compelling story of what it means to be a sibling; what we owe to our family and how much we should be willing to sacrifice for them. The reader learns much about the people who are stormchasers and what draws them to focus on such a dangerous activity. Readers also explore the meaning of being bipolar and what effect it has on those around one with the disorder. This book is recommended for all readers.

Ferral's Deathmarch Army

2011-06-12T07:26:00.000-04:00

In Prince Kristian's Honor, Tod Langley gave readers the opening book of an exciting new fantasy series, the Erinia Saga. Ferral's Deathmarch Army is the second book in the series and lives up to the promise of the first book.

As the book opens, Kristian's army has been defeated and he and only two comrades have survived the battle. His fiance, Allisia has been captured by the evil sorcerer-king, Ferrell, who swears to make her his own, but only after torturing her to force her to comply. Kristian flees to regroup, but what is left to do? Who can supply the men and arms to help him?

Ferrell has raised an army the like of which has never been seen. His evil powers have allowed him to reanimate the dead and his army is composed of dead men, women, and children. The dead feel no pain. They need no supplies. They never stop fighting; if hit, they rise again. There is no sophistication in their fighting; it is all brute force, but brute force wins when it is overwhelming in numbers and determination to never stop.

As Kristin and Mikhal flee to regroup, they are joined by several individuals representing two warring tribes. Although the tribes are sworn enemies, having fought ruthlessly for a thousand years, there are those in each tribe that recognize that Ferral is their common enemy and if he is not defeated, no one will exist in any land. Kristin is also joined by Cairn, a mysterious swordsman who travels the land, taking revenge for the deaths of his family and love. Can this ragtag group hope to defeat the powerful Ferral before he destroys anything?

Fantasy readers will be well-advised to read this second book in the Erinia Saga. Kristin has matured since the first book, and there are interesting back stories and threads that Langley skillfully weaves together to move his story forward. The pacing is excellent, and the reader finds themselves quickly reimmersed in the saga. This book is recommended for fantasy readers.

Prince Kristian's Honor by Tod Langley

2011-06-12T06:26:00.000-04:00

Prince Kristian, soon to be ruler of Erand, has been sent on a mission. Rumors have been circulating that Erand's ancient enemy, Belarn, is preparing to go to war and try to conquer the kingdom. Kristian has been sent to Duellr, where he is to propose to the princess Allisia, and cement a relationship between the two countries so that they can oppose Belarn.

Kristian is a young, spoiled man, unloved by his country due to his superior attitude and determination to have to his own way regardless of the merit of his plans. He is furious at having to propose to please his father, the King, and be used as a pawn in the country's future plans. When he actually meets Allisia, though, he is instantly charmed and pleased at her beauty. He proposes and is disconcerted to realise that she is no happier about the marriage than he is. But as they talk, they begin to form a relationship, and Kristian starts to realise that he has a long way to go in terms of likeability and interactions with others.

Then tragedy strikes. In Belarn, the mad prince, Ferral, has used his unholy knowledge of the dark arts to kill his father and take the throne. He undergoes a ceremony that brings a demon-woman to life, and sends her to Duellr. The demon appears in court, kills the Duellrian king in front of Allisia and Kristian and then kidnaps Allisia, taking her back to Belarn where she is under Ferral's control.

Pandemonium erupts in Duellr. Kristian realises that it is time for him to grow up and take leadership, whether he is ready or not. He rallies his guard and the Duellrian army, and they start to Belarn to defeat Ferral and rescue Allisia, leaving word for his country to raise an army and come to their support.

Still headstrong and unpracticed in military matters and leadership, the war does not go well. Kristian makes decisions against the advice of his military staff, and along with the evil magic of Ferral, these decisions lead to a massacre of the troops. Reeling from the disaster, Kristian and two of his military staff flee, the only survivors. Can Kiristian grow up and take control as he is destined to do? Will he be able to rescue Allisia from Ferrel's control before she is killed?

A new voice in fantasy, Tod Langley has created an exciting new world. Krisitian is not the typical hero. He is vain and stubborn, detested by the men he needs to lead. The other characters are skillfully drawn, and the plot is engrossing. Prince Kristian's Honor is labled Book One of The Erinia Saga. Readers will be well advised to wait for the rest of the series to see if Kristian can become the ruler and man that he needs to be. This book is recommended for fantasy lovers.

Jamrach's Menagerie by Carol Birch

2011-06-02T06:32:00.000-04:00

Jaffy Brown meets Mr. Jamrach as a young street urchin in London. Mr. Jamrach is a wild-animal importer, supplying zoos and private collectors. A tiger escapes and Jaffy, entranced, walks up to him and strokes his nose, no fear evident. Mr. Jamrach recognizes that Jaffy has an affinity for caring for animals and hires him to help in his establishment. Jaffy loves his new job and soon has a best friend, Tim. Tim is another boy in the yard and alternately the best friend and a cruel enemy to Jaffy. Tim has a twin sister, Ishbel, and Jaffy is friends with her also, and feels the start of adult feelings towards her.

As Jaffy grows, he and Tim want more adventure. They find it when word reaches one of Mr. Jamrach's collectors that a real dragon has been spotted. He funds an expedition on a whaling ship to hunt the dragon and capture it to become the centerpiece of the collector's private zoo. Full of excitement, Jaffy jumps at the chance.

Life as a sailor and on a whaling boat is new to Jaffy, but he soon settles in. The work is hard, but he has known nothing more. Birch gives great insight into what a whale hunt was like in those days, the breaching of the whale, men taking to the sea in small boats to defeat these gigantic creatures who could kill them with a swish of their tails, the brutal killing and work of extracting the oil.

After weeks of whale hunting, the boat approaches the remote island where the dragon has been spotted. The Jamrach expedition sallies forth and manages to capture the mystical beast. Loading it back on the ship, they cast off to make their fortune back in London. But the beast brings bad luck and the boat sinks, leaving a few survivors to try to make their way back to their former lives.

Carol Birch's book has been longlisted for the Orange Prize for Fiction for 2011, and it is evident why it was selected. Her forte is description, and she effortlessly transports the reader to another time and place. The reader feels what it must have been like to grow up poor in London, to fight the large beasts of the ocean, and to be shipwrecked. She explores the nature of friendship, and what men will do to survive. The reader cannot put the book down, drawn to find out what happens to Jaffy and his comrades. This book is recommended for all readers.

Big In China by Alan Paul

2011-06-01T16:20:00.000-04:00

When Alan Paul's wife Rebecca lands the position of bureau chief in China for The Wall Street Journal, Paul did not hesitate to move to support his wife's career. The family packed up their three young children and headed off for a three-year adventure. They landed into the life the expatriate community; gated compounds, private schools and scads of servants to help with the cooking, cleaning, child care and other day to day chores.

Paul saw two reactions to the ex-pat life. One group devoted their energies to recreating their former Western lives in every detail, training their Chinese cooks to produce Beef Wellington and shrimp and grits. Paul chose the other route. He and Becky wanted to experience their time abroad enmeshing themselves in the foreign culture they were surrounded with. They chose to eat native food, take excursions far from the tourist spots and learn the language.

Paul also discovered an added bonus. With so many traditional mooring cut loose, he and others found an amazing freedom. People were free to try careers and follow hobbies they had not had the time to pursue before. For Paul, that meant music.

Paul had come from a musical family; his father a doctor who played in a jazz band all his life. Paul himself had worked as a columnist for years for Guitar World and interviewed many of the top names in music over the years. But he had not pursued a musical career himself, figuring he could never be as talented or successful as those who surrounded him. In China, he found himself meeting some Chinese musicians and along with another ex-pat friend, formed a band. Originally started for fun, the band, Woodie Alan, became successful beyond his wildest dreams and blending Eastern and Western music.

Big In China is a fascinating travel book. The reader learns about Chinese culture through several individuals who are profiled in depth. Alan's love of adventure and his family and friends, as well as his ability to seize opportunities and live life fully are evident. This book is recommended for readers interested in travel writing or music.

The Card by Jim Devitt

2011-06-01T16:08:00.000-04:00

Van Stone is a lucky high-school student. He has just landed his dream job as a batboy for his beloved Oakland A's baseball team. As he gets ready for his first day at work, his dad, who is a research scientist and often away, makes amends by giving him a baseball card. It is not the card of one of baseball's superstars but of a player who had a pedestrian career. Van doesn't care, he loves his dad and treasures his gift.

Everything changes for Van overnight. His dad is killed in a car accident. Now Van is the man of the family and responsible for taking care of his mom. Strange things begin happening. Van starts to notice men in dark suits following him and his friends.

The suspense ramps up when Van gets a demand. To keep his mom and friends safe, he must give up the card his dad gave him. Why would anyone want that card? The pace accelerates as Van attempts to evade his pursuers and keep those he loves safe. Is there anyone he can trust to help?

Jim Devitt has written an interesting mystery. The readers learns about the inner workings of a baseball clubhouse and also something of the biotechnology industry along with the mystery. This book is recommended for mystery lovers but will also appeal to sports fans.

The Case For Falling In Love by Mari Ruti

2011-05-27T09:13:00.000-04:00

Mari Ruti is an associate professor of critical theory at the University of Toronto where she teaches contemporary theory, psychoanalysis, gender studies and popular culture. She brings this educational background to the study of why and how we fall in love and what works and what doesn't for women.

Ruti insists that the common advise women are given; to downplay their strengths and to consciously play games to make a make feel more powerful are instead counterproductive. It is unlikely that a relationship based on fantasy will be long-lived or provide what the people involved need. She goes further and says that women should consider each relationship on its own merits and understand that all may not be long-lived. Even a failed relationship can provide benefits.

Ruti provides eleven relationship touchstones. They are:

1. Stop trying so hard. You can't force or trick someone into loving you.
2. Stop being so cautious. The benefits of love come only when one is open to them.
3. Stop analyzing your every move. This goes back to the need to not play games.
4. Stop expecting your guy to act like a caveman. Men are not genetically programmed to act this way, although some relationship mavens insist this is so. Men can be truly emotionally involved in giving and supportive relationships.
5. Stop apologizing for being strong. If a man can't handle a woman's strength and competence, the relationship is probably not going to work.
6. Stop being afraid to have needs and vulnerabilities. If a relationship doesn't give you what you need, you need to end it.
7. Stop running after guys who don't want you. You won't be able to change them.
8. Stop looking for a guy without issues. He doesn't exist any more than a female exists without issues.
9. Stop manipulating the guy you love.
10. Stop regretting every false step you took. It is a rare person that doesn't encounter some failed love relationships. It is part of what makes us human and realistic about what love can provide in our lives.
11. Stop looking at loss as a pure loss. Even a failed relationship helps you grow.

This book is recommended for women who want to find real relationships, not ones based on artifice and games. It helps deconstruct the myths that exist about relationships and why they work or don't. It frees women to be themselves and expect their men to appreciate their true selves. Mari Ruti has created a useful guide and an unorthodox way of looking at what it takes to have a successful love life and those who read this book will walk away with lots of new ideas to think through and apply in their own lives.

So Close The Hand Of Death by J.T. Ellison

2011-05-26T06:24:00.000-04:00

Homicide Lieutenant Taylor Jackson should be happy. She is engaged to the love of her life, Baldwin, and they are getting ready to marry. But the life of a homicide detective is rarely peaceful, and Taylor's is no exception. Her life turns upside down when a serial killer decides that she is his next target and that he will stop at nothing to achieve his goal.

The killer, nicknamed The Pretender, attacks on two fronts. He has a cadre of assistants who have fanned out across the country and are killing in homage of famous past serial killers such as Zodiac, Son of Sam and The Boston Strangler. While the police are putting those puzzle pieces together, he acts on the main front. He and his team start to attack those close to Taylor, her friends and co-workers, inching ever closer to the main goal, putting an end to Taylor's life.

This is the sixth book in the Taylor Jackson series. Those who have read the others won't be disappointed in this fast-paced, gruesome tale. Those who have not read any of the other books in the series can easily pick this one up and read it as a stand-alone, although that plan comes with a warning. Once a reader discovers the Taylor Jackson series, they will want to go back immediately and buy the five prior books to feed their new addiction.

The Sandalwood Tree by Elle Newmark

2011-05-23T06:33:00.000-04:00

Evie and Martin have come to India in 1947, bringing their young son and their hopes for a renewed marriage. Madly in love when they married, Martin has come home from WW II a changed man. He is now gloomy and suspicious, and seems more remote each day. Martin is awarded a Fulbright scholarship to go to India to study the effects of the Partition, the breaking of the country into Hindu and Muslim separate countries. Evie is determined to go with him and try to rediscover the love she is sure they still have.

Once there, things are no better. India is so foreign to all they have known; the people, the smells, the food, everything is different. Far from bringing them together, they become even more separated with Martin disappearing each day to work long hours. The political situation deteriorates when the date for Partition is moved from two years in the future to two months, escalating the tensions that accompany such a drastic change in the country and the lives of those who live there.

Evie, at loose ends, discovers a packet of letters from a former inhabitant. The letters are between Adela Wingfield and Felicity Chadwick, two young women who wrote them in 1855-1857. Felicity had been born in India; her parents in the British ruling class.  At seven she was sent to board with an English family to be educated and introduced to society. Adela is the daughter of that family. Raised as sisters, they form a bond that cannot be broken; making a pact to live in joy rather than be confined by the rules of society. Felicity returns to India to escape a marriage she does not want, and Adela joins her there after a scandal threatens to break around her.

Evie becomes consumed with Felicity and Adela's story, and is determined to find out more about the lives of these women. Her attempts lead her to engage more fully with India and its people. As the political situation worsens, Martin's actions become more remote until finally his wartime secrets are revealed.  Can these two find a way back to each other in the midst of strife and confusion?

Elle Newmark is a master of the historical fiction genre. She writes novels with believable characters, whose hopes and dreams the average reader can relate to.  The reader is transported to another time and effortlessly learns about different times, cultures, and mores. This book is recommended for historical fiction readers and those interested in life conflicts.

Progeny by R.T. Kaelin

2011-05-21T07:24:00.000-04:00

Rarely, readers are honored to discover a book that is so entrancing, so fascinating, that they are carried away to another land. Progeny is such a book, and those who read it will be changed by the experience.

Nikalys and his sister, Kenders leave their small farm to go swimming for the afternoon. Little do they know their trip will change their lives forever. Returning after their swim, they are horrified to observe a Sun Elf using magic to destroy their village and everyone they have known, including their parents and brother, Jak. They flee, unsure what to do or why their village has been targeted.

Fearful, they are unwilling to trust anyone, but find themselves in the company of a giant man who somehow wins their trust. This man, Broedi reveals much to them as they travel. He reminds them of the story underlying their society, that of the White Lions who came together to save humanity when the God of Chaos decided to destroy the world. The ancient stories that tell of the White Lions also foretell of new heroes that will emerge when the world needs them--the Progeny. Nikalys and Kenders are shocked to find that Broedi is one of the White Lions and a Shapeshifter, but totally disoriented when they come to realise that they are the Progeny of the legends.

For Chaos is again making an attempt to destroy all that is known. As they determine to fight the forces of evil, their group is joined by others. Wonderfully, they discover that Jak has somehow escaped the carnage that destroyed the village and is able to join them. A Halfling with magic powers becomes one of the band. A company of soldiers that is sent by the Sun Elf to find and destroy them instead become part of the group. They save a family out on the remote plains, and the surviving members of that family also start to travel with them. Together, this small band must attempt to fight the overwhelming forces of evil that are determined to destroy everything they hold dear.

Robert Jordan. George R. R. Martin. Stephen Donaldon. Brandon Sanderson. These are the masters of fantasy and readers of Progeny will be able to discover a new voice that is destined to match those authors. R.T. Kaelin has created a complex world that his original and creative storytelling manages to make realistic and believable. The characters are fresh and engaging. While the story of good versus evil and a band who comes together to fight overwhelming odds is a staple of the fantasy genre, Kaelin manages to make it seem new again. He draws the reader along marveling at the story that unfolds and willing to go wherever he leads. The book is very highly recommended for all readers, and especially for fantasy fans. When the last page is read, readers are left satisfied, fulfilled and impatient for the next book in the series.

Promised Valley Rebellion by Ron Fritsch

2011-05-16T21:05:00.000-04:00

In this novel, Ron Fritsch recreates what he imagines a prehistoric society to have been like. The characters in this society are farmers and lead an agrarian live, raising crops and dependant on the season's cycles. Life is simple except for the hill dwellers.

The hill dwellers are envious of the valley farmers, and periodically mount forays in which they attempt to conquer the more affluent society. The farmers, in turn, consider the hill people to be little more than animals.

While life seems bucolic, the society is strictly set up by caste. The king and his family are absolute rulers. He has friends among the farmers he rules, especially those who fought at his side during the wars against the hill people, but friendship only goes so far. Although his son is friends with their children, there is a strict dividing line. When he falls in love with a farmer's daughter, their love and marriage is forbidden. This eventually leads to a rebellion against the strictures that confine these people.

This book is recommended for readers who loved books such as Clan Of The Cave Bear. The same imaginative recreation of life that cannot be realistically known is seen in Promised Valley Rebellion. Fritsch explores how societies organize themselves and how they use rules and laws to order life. There are an interesting array of characters, and readers will be engrossed with his vision.

Finding Frances by Janice Van Dyck

2011-05-14T08:23:00.000-04:00

Frances has led her life; raising three children and providing a partnership with her husband, Bill. Now in her seventies, she finds herself in deteriorating health with COPD and heart issues. Frances has always been determined to end her life on her own terms. She nursed her father through a long painful death and does not want to either go through that or put her family through the experience of watching her die inch by inch.

The children, long scattered, come home when Frances is hospitalized. She is determined to have no surgery or treatments. William is the eldest son and the middle child. He was to have been the doctor, but stopped his medical training short of that goal due to his disagreements with Western medicine. Sugar, the oldest child, has remained physically close to her parents, and sees her mother's condition realistically. Randy, the youngest, is an environmental lawyer who has checked out from the family emotionally years ago. Frances' husband, Bill, is determined to do whatever it takes to keep Frances with him for as long as he can.

Frances agrees to have treatment when she finds out that her insurance will pay for treatment but not for hospice care if she does nothing and takes a while to die. She gets through the initial treatment and she and her family must make decisions about life and death going forward from that point. Who should be the final decider? Should it be the individual involved? Should spouses and children have a say? How involved in research and questioning the medical establishment should the family be? Van Dyck wraps her novel around these questions.

This book is recommended for readers who are facing this question, or know that they will in the future, and for anyone interested in ethical dilemmas and how best to solve them. The characters are written to portray all the sides of the issue, and the reader is led through their decision processes, hesitations and questions. This is a common issue and one that can heal or tear a family apart. Van Dyck has written a courageous book that can help readers make the painful decisions necessary.

Lydia by Tim Sandlin

2011-05-10T06:45:00.000-04:00

How to explain this book, Tim Sandlin's latest novel in his GroVont series. There's Sam, living his life in Wyoming running a home for unwed mothers with his second wife. His first wife Maurey lives right down the road where she runs a horse farm. His daughter, Shannon has lived her life moving from man to man and now wants more and has returned to Wyoming to search for her life's meaning. Roger is the organization's handyman; he was raised by Maurey and her husband after a friend showed up and left him there as a young boy of five. Roger didn't talk for two years and still doesn't know his history. There is Oly, the oldest man in town, about to turn one hundred. Then there is Lydia. Lydia is Sam's mother but you wouldn't really call her a maternal figure. She is a force of nature, a woman who doesn't care what you think of her as long as you do what she wants and don't ignore her. Lydia has just returned to town after a ten year stint in federal prison. The government doesn't take kindly to women who send poisoned chew toys to the President's dog.

All these lives tangle together and lead towards a fateful journey. Lydia believes she knows the truth about Roger's past and talks him into driving her to California to look for what happened to him so many years ago. Since her parole involves her getting the oral history of Oly's life, she brings him along. In California they will encounter Leroy, a felon who kidnapped Roger back when he was five to hurt his mother, and who is now on the loose and wants nothing more than to finish the job by killing him.

Sandlin writes a rollicking tale, full of coincidences that somehow work. The tale swoops and soars, twisting back on itself periodically to drop another piece into the puzzle of how these lives are intertwined. Sandlin's writing is rambling and in the genre of Tom Robbins or T.R. Pearson; reminiscent of an Americanized Salman Rushdie, a gushing torrent of words that is unstoppable in its force and that entertains as it sweeps the reader along. This book is recommended for readers interested in an entertaining story that shows the importance of being true to those we love.

Walking With Sophie by Adam Webb

2011-05-07T20:37:00.000-04:00

It is Sophie's birthday and she plans to visit all her favorite places. She starts at the ocean where she loves to gather seashells and watch the waves. Her mother told her that every time a wave crashes on the shore, a mermaid is born (what a lovely thought!).

Next is the forest. She loves the smells and sights there, and the fact that her father lets her ride on his shoulders, making her feel like a giant. She next visits the bakery where she spends time with her grandmother, tasting all the sweet treats. Finally, she finds her favorite place of all, her home with her family safe and sound there.

This book is sure to be a favorite. The illustrations are stunning and the story is one that children will love to hear over and over. At the end of the book, there is a surprise that will continue to amaze. This book is recommended for the young and the young at heart.

Sons And Princes by James LePore

2011-05-05T06:26:00.000-04:00

Chris Massi is in a bad patch. He has spent his life trying to avoid his father's world. His father was a stone cold Mafia assassin; the local Don's hitman. Chris tried to go the other way. He grew up, married, had children and had a promising career as a U.S. Attorney. But, forces from the past keep haunting him.

The marriage didn't last, and Chris has been on his own. He is worried about his teenage son, who seems to glory in the family's Mafia connections. Chris's ex-wife is the daughter of the current Don, and this Don is looking for an heir to take over the operation. His brother is a junkie, who scams and cons his way through life, skirting on the edges of the Family. Chris has just been disbarred. An old friend turned enemy has vowed to bring Chris down. This man, Dolan, is a federal prosecutor. He was Chris' best friend growing up until Joe Black Massi, Chris's father, gunned down Dolan's father. He charged Chris on trumped up charges of stock fraud and when Chris was acquitted, managed to push through ethical charges against him that got him disbarred.

As bad as things are, they are about to get worse. Chris gets caught up in a Mafia power struggle and his life is in danger from the men he knew all his life. In addition, Dolan has decided that he will take out Chris; either legally through a trumped-up murder charge or by physically killing him. Can Chris make his way through this maze of intrigue, betrayal and violence?

This book is recommended for readers who like noir crime stories. It portrays the world of the Mafia, and the street life that surrounds the family's operations. The conflict that sons feel toward strong fathers, loving and hating them simultaneously is explored. There is plenty of action. Fans of Mafia stories will not be disappointed; this one delivers.

Iconic Poetry by Sara Lauritzen

2011-05-01T14:50:00.000-04:00

In this book, Sara Laurtizen write poems about the items that make up our world. There are poems about Starbucks coffee, about macaroni and cheese, about Godiva chocolates. There are also poems about the technology that makes our world work; Ebay, Amazon, Twitter, Facebook. There are poems about watches, famous buildings, and luggage. There is even a poem about her favorite football player.

These poems are light and breezy. Each is an interesting way to spend a few minutes and to reflect on the things that surround us and that we can take for granted. This book is recommended for all readers.

Inherent Vice by Thomas Pynchon

2011-04-30T08:03:00.000-04:00

Did you miss the whole '60's scene? The hippie, wanna-be-free feeling of beachfront California? Fear not. Readers can revisit this environment in Thomas Pynchon's book, Inherent Vice. Pynchon fans will recognize his style here; a rambling story that meanders from cultural icon to cultural icon, taking the reader along to whatever destination Pynchon has in mind, entertaining them along the way.

Inherent Vice is the story of Doc Sportello, a private investigator who spends as little time working as he can get by on. He is visited by his ex-girlfriend, Shasta, who wants Doc to find her new boyfriend who seems to have disappeared. In the process of unraveling this mystery, Doc leads the reader through the discovery of the Internet, beach/surf music, a diabolical Eastern drug cartel, various right-wing thugs working for governmental or police agencies, Las Vegas before it was turned into Disneyland West, tons of marijuana smoking, lots of sex, and plenty of dubious characters. The whole chaotic journey devolves into a satisfactory conclusion where all the puzzles are solved and the good guys prevail.

This book is recommended for all readers. Pynchon is an American treasure, one of the authors whose work will be read far into the future. His keen eye notes the details that make up a culture while his style entertains. Pynchon fans will be pleased with this book, and those who haven't yet discovered this author will be pleasantly surprised.

Heart Of Deception by M. L. Malcolm

2011-04-29T06:33:00.000-04:00

Leo Hoffman has led an unconventional life. Born in Hungary, he fled to Shanghai with his adored wife after WWI. When Shanghai fell and his wife was killed, he was able to get his daughter Maddy out and on her way to America. Leo ended up in Cairo where his ability to speak multiple languages and willingness to be considered a shady character made him the perfect spy as WWII heated up. On Leo's side, he was willing to take on this dangerous role for the reward offered; citizenship papers in the United States and a reunion with Maddy.

But the best-laid plans often go awry in war and the shadowy world of espionage. Leo is captured by the Germans and sent to a work camp. Years later, when he makes it to America, Maddy is a teenager, bitter that he had disappeared from her life and unwilling to let him back in. He goes back to the world he knows and disappears once again, his whereabouts known only to his superiors at the CIA.

Maddy grows up, but into trouble. She is torn between two men, one a boring conventional doctor whose family refuses to accept her as his wife, the other an exciting but dominating man she alternatively craves and fears. She flees to the safety of a marriage to the doctor, but when it falls apart, she finds herself drawn back into the circle of the dangerous man she wanted to avoid. As things grow steadily more dangerous, can Leo come back and be there for Maddy in her time of greatest need?

M.L. Malcolm has written a novel that will appeal to many readers. It has romance, intrigue and suspense. She artfully weaves real people, many in the early stages of the spy game, into the novel to lend it authenticity. This book is recommended for readers who enjoy reading about life choices, where they lead, and the gift of second chances.

Memoirs Of A Widowed Mistress by Megan van Eyck

2011-04-26T06:24:00.000-04:00

On a trip to Hawaii, Megan van Eyck sat next to a man who she felt an instant attraction to. Although she was married, she fantasized about meeting with him. After her return when he called she immediately agreed to meet him, and quickly fell into an affair. He was on his third marriage with grown children. Van Eyck had two small children and a husband she felt was inattentive.

So started a five and a half year affair. They met daily when he was in town, having hours of sex in her bedroom or in his. She traveled on exotic trips with him, telling her husband her girlfriends had free air travel miles and wanted her to go with them. Since she did not work outside the home, she was able to conceal her affair from her husband.

Megan came from an abusive background. Her father alternately showered her with affection and then ignored her, chasing other women. She learned from him and his women that women's only value is their looks and their ability to fulfill men's desires. Her mother had mental issues, and after a divorce from her father, fell into an existence with little food in the house, filth everywhere and total emotional abandonment of her daughter. Megan came out of this background with an emotional makeup that constantly led her to choose men who could not or would not love her.

Megan's affair went on for five years, ended only by the death of Carlos, her lover. As he went through a final illness, she was banished from his life as his wife was with him. She did not get to have a final goodbye with him, and the experience showed her how little she had settled for. After Carlos' death, her husband found out about the affair by finding the memoir on her computer.

This book is recommended for readers interested in the mindset of those willing to have extramarital relationships. Many will be turned off by Megan and her duplicitous ways, her willingness to betray her husband and children in an attempt to find a man who loved her. Others will question her portrayal of her husband, who she admits was a great father and who supported the family by himself. The reaction of her sons when they grow up and read this graphic account of their mother's sex life will upset some readers. Others will admire her frankness and willingness to tell everything about her life. The author remains married and with her family.

The Chimp Who Loved Me by Annie Greer

2011-04-24T15:45:00.000-04:00

Geared towards animal lovers and readers looking for a humorous read, The Chimp Who Loved Me is Annie Greer's memoir about her veterinary practice with her husband Kent, another veterinarian.

Based in Florida, the couple treats household pets, but also work with large farm animals and even exotic animals. The book is broken into three sections. The first section talks about the exotic animals such as chimps, giraffes, wolves, tigers and camels that the couple has either worked on or fostered. Annie talks about the fact that the biggest issue with wild animals is the human belief that loving an animal changes its wild nature. Most humans who are hurt by these animals have decided to believe that the animal has been tamed, but this is far from the truth. The recent case where a chimp almost killed a woman is one example.

The second part of the book is about the Greer's time as owners of a petting zoo and their current time as farmers with cows, pigs, sheep, goats and poultry. Greer's love of animals shines in this section, with stories about their pet pig and a pet turkey that are heart-warming. It also discusses the thrill of going to very rural areas in order to purchase livestock and some of the scares they have had on such expeditions.

The last part of the book relates some of the stories of strange pet owners they have encountered over the years. Some of these stories will make the readers hair stand on end! This book is recommended for animal lovers. Greer has an amusing, light-hearted tone throughout, but her passion and love for animals shines through the humour.

Case Closed? by Susan Hughes

2011-04-22T13:03:00.000-04:00

In Case Closed? Nine Mysteries Unlocked by Modern Science, author Susan Hughes uses ancient and more recent historical mysteries to introduce children to the marvels of science. The book is geared to children in middle school and up.

Each case is formatted the same way. The mystery is introduced, the historical background is given, and then the way the researchers used science to discover answers is given. Additional cases in the same category are explained. Finally, whether or not a discussion on whether or not the case is solved is presented.

Cases include people such as the Pharoah Hatshepsut, the Russian princess Anastasia, Amelia Earheart, Sir John Franklin (a polar explorer) and George Mallory, a mountainclimber. Other cases discuss a city, Ubar, that disappeared, and an entire North American Indian culture, the Anasazi, who left thriving cities around 1300 and disappeared from history. Finally, there are cases of journeys such as a trip across the Pacific on a bamboo raft, and submarines and airplanes that disappeared mid-journey.

This book is recommended for young readers interested in science, or for parents who are looking for books to interest teen readers. The mysteries are presented engagingly, and the science is explained in such a way that it can be easily followed. Readers learn of medical advances, imaging from space, plant analysis, forensic anthropology, DNA analysis and many more scientific fields. The book is an interesting gateway to careers in many areas of science.

Separate Kingdoms by Valarie Laken

2011-04-20T06:28:00.000-04:00

A woman waiting in the hospital as her father lies dying. A man who is trying to help his wife regain her life after a horrible car accident that has taken her leg. Refugees trying to fit into the culture of another country. A man left behind in his parents' house as the neighborhood dissolves into poverty and decay. These are the protagonists in Valerie Laken's stories found in Separate Kingdoms. Each faces a challenge that separates them from others; each struggles to find a way to span the void and reestablish contact with those around them.

Laken was born in Illinois and has lived and worked in Russia, Poland and the Czech Republic. Her work has appeared in journals such as Ploughshares, the Missouri Review, the Antioch Review and the Chicago Tribune. She has also written a novel, Dream House. She has won a Pushcart Prize, the Missouri Review Editors' Prize and two Hopwood Awards. Laken teaches at the Universary of Wisconsin.

Readers interested in short stories will be struck by the stark beauty of Laken's stories. Her characters face challenges, some of them bodily, some of them isolation, but regardless of their bleak situations, a tendril of hope insists on growing and searching for connection and a better tomorrow. This book is recommended for readers of modern fiction and those searching for an answer to how others face the everyday challenges life throws at most of us sooner or later.

Elizabeth And The Prince Of Spain by Margaret Irwin

2011-04-19T06:43:00.000-04:00

Elizabeth And The Prince Of Spain opens with the marriage of Prince Philip of Spain to Elizabeth's sister, Mary. Mary is the daughter of Henry VIII's first wife, Katherine of Aragon, and she has no sisterly love for the offspring of his next wife, Anne Boleyn. The marriage is one of political convenience for Spain; Mary is more than a decade older than Philip. While he is polite, he has no real interest in Mary. Mary, on the other hand, after a lifetime of no love interest, falls devotedly and jealously in love with Philip.

This love is both the greatest danger and the safety net for Elizabeth. Left to her own devices, Mary would put Elizabeth back in the Tower and take her life. Instead, to please Philip, she restrains herself, and even brings Elizabeth to court. This is a double-edged sword. While she pleases Philip, she now watches his every move intently, afraid that he will fall under Elizabeth's spell.

Elizabeth also faces the double-edged sword. She must please Philip enough to retain him as her protector and keep him interested in her, but at the same time, she must keep him at arm's length. An affair with Philip would end her life as it would be the one crime Mary would never forgive.

Margaret Irwin has written a trilogy about Elizabeth and this one is the third in the series. It easily stands alone, however, as there is little suspense in the story of the Tudors for most readers. Irwin's forte is characterization; her characters act in ways that are believable to the reader while retaining enough mystery to intrigue them. This book is recommended for readers of historical fiction.

A Race To Splendor by Ciji Ware

2011-04-15T06:28:00.000-04:00

The year is 1906. Amelia Bradshaw has just returned to her beloved San Francisco from Paris, where she is one of the first women to become an architect. But her return is hardly a happy one. Her beloved grandfather has died. Even though he left her the family fortune built with one of San Francisco's most prominent hotels, disaster is waiting.

Her father gambles away the family hotel in a drunken all night gambling spree. Although the will states that it is Amelia and not he who holds legal title, and although California has recently passed laws giving women the right to control their own property, laws must be interpreted in courts by judges. Amelia is unlucky enough to draw a judge adamantly opposed to the new freedoms given to women and he awards the hotel to her father's poker opponent.

Left destitute, Amelia joins the first female architectural firm, headed by one of her college friends and mentors. But worse is waiting. Within a month, the great earthquake of San Francisco occurs. The city is almost destroyed. Amelia survives and now must do her part to make her way in the world and to help rebuild the city she loves, and the hotel she has lost to a charming scoundrel.

Ciji Ware is acknowledged as one of the best historical fiction authors, and she does not disappoint in A Race to Splendor. Meticulously researched, she transports the reader to turn of the century San Francisco and makes them feel the devastation and the pioneering spirit that rebuilt the city. The characters are sympathetic and the romance between Amelia and her rival is believable. The world seems to be in another cycle of devastating earthquakes the last few years, and Ware makes the reader feel the devastation in a new light, not only the few minutes of terror, but the aftermath of months of privation and the strength needed to rebuild. This book is recommended for readers interested in historical fiction and the start of women professional lives.

Booksie Comes Clean!

2011-04-07T20:05:00.000-04:00

I'm very excited about this interview at Gatekeepers:

http://www.gatekeeperspost.com/uncategorized/an-interview-with-book-blogger-sandie/

It explains how I pick a book for review, what I've read lately I loved and other topics. Thanks to the folks at Gatekeepers!