Bonnie McGee left a life as a teacher to circumnavigate the world on a yacht with her husband. Voices On The Wind is the story of that voyage. The book starts with the famous poem by Robert Frost, “The Road Not Taken”. McGee’s yacht shared the same name, Road Not Taken, and provided the means for the couple to embark on a voyage that few of us have the courage and daring to attempt.

The book is a series of stories about the various places and people encountered along the way on the voyage. The reader is transported to far-away places rich in animal life and beauty, and discovers along with author the cultural visions of the people in those places. McGee narrates the values and beliefs of these tribal people of Africa and Australia and South America and the Tahitian islands. The overriding value of all these people is that of sustaining family relationships, and the work ethic of the West is viewed with surprise and suspicion. When, they ask, does a man spend time with his family and friends? The need for money and material possessions is greeted with astonishment. Most of these tribal people share their possessions with those around them, and take from the environment only what they need to survive for that day or week. Storing up treasures is foreign to them.

Another interesting theme of the book is the sailing language and concepts the reader encounters. One of the longest stories in the book tells of how the couple survived Hurricanes Irma and Jason while wintering in Australia. To hear the tale of what is required to survive such a harrowing natural event is eye-opening. The reader learns how dangerous it is to enter harbors, and how sailing through storms is a test of courage that few of us will ever have to endure.


This is an oversized book, and the reason is the gorgeous photographs that illustrate every page. There are shots of scenery from islands to jungles to bustling coastal towns. Animals such as elephants and sea life and an intrepid sea-faring dog are portrayed. There are scores of images taken from the yacht, showing the glorious maritime scenes that the couple was able to see daily. Many of the pictures show the various people met. There are scenes of tribal women performing traditional dances, of tribesmen paddling long canoes, of men performing the fishing work that sustains life. Above all, there are photographs of the many children. All are curious, interested to see how life is lived elsewhere, and smiling smiles of joy and welcome.

This book is recommended for readers who enjoy travel books as well as for those interested in hearing about reaching out and grabbing the dream of another life. Those who indulge will come away inspired and refreshed. This is a gorgeous book and one that is highly recommended.

Bad Mother by Ayelet Waldman

In Bad Mother, Ayelet Waldman talks about how all mothers are made to feel like they are performing poorly as mothers, regardless of their choices.  Waldman is married to the novelist, Michael Chabon, and together they have four children.  She gives the reader an intimate view of the choices she has made as a mother, and the negative feedback she has gotten for some of her choices.

The book is written in eighteen chapters, each discussing common parenting issues.  The stay-at-home mom vs. the working mom is covered, and how each is criticized for what they choose for their family.  The marriage partnership and how work is divided is a chapter.  Chapters I found especially relevant was one about how they elected to abort a child identified with birth defects, and one that talked about how to discuss sex and the parents' sexual history with one's children.  I also liked the chapter about the mother-in-law/daughter-in-law relationship which gave me new ways to look at this common issue through a new filter.  The chapter about helping children with their social relationships and not dragging your own angst into the issue was timely, and I loved the chapter about hating homework.

This book is recommended for all readers.  Those who are parents will recognize themselves, or at least the issues that most parents face, while those who have remained childless will gain a better understanding of what family life is like. 

Impossible Motherhood by Irene Vilar

Impossible Motherhood is the memoir of a woman who had fifteen abortions in fifteen years.  Although many will find the author totally unsympathic, others will read her story and understand what motivated her.  Irene Vilar lost her mother at age eight, when her mother opened the car door while the car was in motion, throwing herself out and killing herself in front of her child.  Having learned from her mother that a female should be pleasing to others, Vilar stuffed down her feelings about this event and channeled her emotions into her schoolwork, succeeding to the point that she is accepted to college at age fifteen.

Leaving her family behind in Puerto Rico, Irene attends Syracuse University in the Northern part of the United States, an environment as different from Puerto Rico as is imaginable. At fifteen, she is left by her father at the college, knowing no one, with little money and little life experience.   Her family experiences are bleak.  Her father is an alchoholic, who cheats on all the women in his life.  Two of her brothers are drug addicts.  Vilar falls under the influence of a professor at the university and ends up staying with him for a dozen years.  He is sixty years old when they meet, and Irene is sixteen.  He insists on his freedom, never paying her way but insisting that she pay for her food, and half of any vacations, as well as paying him rent.  Since a child would tie him down, he insists on no children.  His basic rule was that he took but did not give back to anyone.

Irene's only rebellion, as she saw it, was forgetting to use her birth control.  Her pregnancies were acts of rebellion against this overpowering influence, a way of asserting her independance.  Yet after a month or two, the thought of losing him overwhelmed her, and she would abort another baby. 

This book, although it is hard to read at times, is recommended for all women; feminists,women caught in dependant relationships that are bad for them, mothers who want to avoid their daughters falling into this trap as well as any woman ambivalent about abortion.  Vilar's life story shows the dangers of giving up independance and control of your life to anyone else, of needing someone so badly that you rebel against your ideals.  The reader is simultaneously repulsed by the fate of all these babies and compelled to read further to hear how Vilar overcame this life and all it entailed. 

The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis

In this, the fifth book of The Chronicles Of Narnia, Lucy and Edmund have returned to Narnia without Susan and Peter, who are now too old.  Their cousin, Eustace, considered obnoxious by everyone except his parents, is brought along with them, although he is fond of telling them that Narnia and Asland do not exist and are just a figment of their imaginations.

They arrive to find that King Caspian has decided to take a voyage on his royal ship, the Dawn Treader.  He plans to sail to the end of the world and find out what lies there and along the way.  He has pledged to determine the fate of the seven lords, friends of his father, who went on expedition when Caspian was a child and then never returned.  Lucy, Edmund and Eustace accompany Caspian, along with other characters the reader has met in previous books of the Chronicles.

The company encounters many strange lands and people.  There is the Land Where Dreams Come True, the Land of Deathwater, the Land of the Dufflepods, and the land where three of the lords are found to have been asleep for years.  The reader is drawn along on the adventure, interested to hear what will befall the company next.  At the end of the book, Caspian returns to Narnia, while the children return to their world.  This book is recommended for readers of all ages, and is especially recommended for families to read together.

Death In The Stocks by Georgette Heyer

Arnold Vereker has been found murdered and his body has been left in the stocks on the village green.  Vereker was wealthy and as the police investigate, they discover many characters who had a motive to kill him, most of them his relatives. 

There are his half-brother and half-sister, Kenneth and Antonia Vereker.  Arnold was their guardian and kept them on a very short lease.  Antonia is engaged to Rudolph Mesurier, the accountant at Vereker's business.  Arnold had just discovered that Mesurier had been embezzling funds and was ready to prosecute him.  Kenneth is also engaged, to a venomous but beautiful woman named Violet Williams.  She flirts with every man she encounters, and makes it clear that her affections can only be bought and paid for, never freely given.

Then there are the investigators.  Superintendant Hannasyde, finds the case perplexing, specifically because it seems so simple.  Giles Carrington is Kenneth and Antonia's cousin, and also their lawyer.  He helps the superintendant understand the relationships that exist, and they discuss the case over drinks and dinners.  A further wrench is thrown in the case when another half-brother emerges; Roger, who the family had thought dead for years.

Readers who enjoy cozy mysteries such as those written by Agatha Christie will enjoy Georgette Heyer's writing.  The character's speech and personalities place the setting firmly in England, and the mystery gets untangled satisfactorily.  This book is recommended for all readers.

Bitter Night by Diana Pharaoh Francis

In Bitter Night, Diana Pharaoh Francis takes the reader into a fantasy world.  But this is not a pleasant fantasy.  This world is brutal and violent, where loyalty is given by compulsion spells that cannot be broken and everyone is out to best those around them. 

This world is controlled by witches.  Each witch has their own coven, and within their coven, they have soldiers who protect them with their lives, if need be.  The soldiers are of two types.  Shadowblades work at night, and can not withstand the light, while Sunspears work during the day, with darkness deadly to them. 

Max is the leader of the witch Giselle's coven; the Prime Shadowblade.  Giselle tricked her thirty years ago into giving up her human qualities to become an immortal being.  The problem is that she didn't tell Max that she would be giving up her life, her family, everything she loved.  Max hates Giselle, but cannot leave or disobey her orders. 

Now, in addition to the battles between witches, an even greater danger looms.  The Guardians, lords of all, have decided to bring down ultimate war and cleanse the earth of all humans.  To do so without destroying the earth, they need the obedience of the witches.  Both Giselle and her arch-rival Solange resist the Guardians, and their angels of destruction. 

Can Max and her crew manage to survive this new threat?  What kind of relationship will emerge between Max and Solange's Prime whom she defeated in battle and then recruited to her side?  Will the Guardians be successful or will the witches emerge as the new ultimate authority?

This book is the first in the Horngate Witches series.  It is recommended for sci-fi and fantasy fans who don't mind extreme violence.

The Secret Of Joy by Melissa Senate

Rebecca Strand is at a crossroads.  She lives with Michael, but she's not sure she wants to take the next step and get married.  She has a job as a paralegal, which she knows she doesn't like, but can't get it together to move on and do something else.  Her beloved father is dying, and she doesn't know what she'll do when that happens.

Then everything changes.  Her father, in his last days, tells her a family secret.  He had an affair twenty-five years ago, and there was a baby from that relationship.  He couldn't face what he had done, and abandoned the baby and its mother; he never saw Rebecca's sister, nor had any kind of relationship with her.  No support money, no cards, no letters, no phone calls.

When he dies, Rebecca is left with huge questions.  How could someone she had loved so much and who had been such a wonderful parent to her have done such a thing?  Should she try and find her sister?  Will she be accepted by her?

After mulling it over and discovering that her sister's name is Joy and that she lives in Maine, Rebecca is pulled to go visit.  She finds Joy, who is not excited to meet her, and who insists that Daniel Strand means nothing to her.  Joy says he was nothing more than a DNA donor.  But Rebecca refuses to give up.  She falls in love with the town and develops relationships with several women there.  Even more, she fiinds Theo, who is everything that Michael is not.  Before she knows it, Rebecca has started a new life in Maine, with a rented house, a new dog and a determination to make her life what she knows she needs it to be.

This book is recommended for readers who enjoy women's literature and for those who enjoy books about family relationships and women finding their way in the world.

The Savage Detectives by Roberto Bolano

Roberto Bolano's The Savage Detectives is the story of a group of young poets in Mexico in the early 1970's.  The book is written in three parts.  The first part is the story of the Visceral Poet group, young poets and writers living in Mexico City, all Hispanics from various countries.  The founders of the group are Ulises Lima and Arturo Belano, who named the group after an earlier set of visceral poets in the 1920's.  That group centered around a female poet, Cesarea Tinajero, who disappeared mysteriously. 

In the first part, we meet the various characters through the eyes of a 17 year old, who thinks he might be a poet.  This young man, Juan Garcia Madero, spends his days reading and writing and discussing literature with the group members.  He also discovers his sexuality, and much of the section deals with his sexual awakenings and various partners.

The second part is written forty years later, and is written as a series of short interviews with various people who have encountered either Lima or Belano over those years.  Through these vignettes, we discover what has happened to these poets over the succeeding decades.  The story winds through several countries and continents.  Each person knows a bit of their stories, and the reader is able to slowly piece together their lives.

The third part is a flashback to the road trip that Belano, Lima, Madero and a prostitute take to try to find Cesarea and what caused her to disappear.  The events of that trip fuel the rest of the book, although the reader only realises this in retrospect.

The Savage Detectives is a book that will be considered important for years, and will probably become a classic.  Many readers might pick it up thinking it is a mystery, and they might be disappointed.  But those readers that stick around for the ride will be entranced as they enter Bolano's world.  This is definately a book that will bear rereads, and is recommended for readers who appreciate cutting edge literature and exposure to the literature of other countries.

I Sold Andy Warhol (Too Soon) by Richard Polsky

In i sold Andy Warhol. (too soon), Richard Polsky takes the reader on a tour of high priced art and the dealer world of  artists, buyers, sellers, galleries, auction houses, and of course, the deal.  Polsky is well suited to this task as he has been involved in most of these roles.  As a former galley owner and collector, he purchased art and sold it.  He is intimately familiar with the big auction houses and the inside manuverings that characterize the transfer of great art from one collector to another.

The book is loosely organized around Polsky's quest to find an Andy Warhol painting for one of his clients.  They work the network, approaching known Warhol collectors, quizzing galleries, and attending auctions.  All of this brings angst to Polsky.  He had had a Warhol and sold it years ago, before the meteoric rise of art prices.  Seeing what a Warhol brought at today's prices (a million or more) made his selling that much more painful.

I found the discussion about how the art world is changing quite interesting.  Polsky sees a decline in galleries and more and more attention shifting to the big auctions.  He redefines himself in this world, changing his role to an art purchasing advisor rather than a gallery owner, and believes this is where many who want to stay in this world will end up as a career choice.  I also found the world of the super-rich and their concerns interesting.

This book is recommended for anyone interested in art, how artists work, and especially the finance of great art. 

GIVEAWAY!!!! SAY YOU'RE ONE OF THEM BY UWEM AKPAN

Thanks to Hachette, I'm able to give away three audio versions of Oprah's most recent Book Club pick, Say You're One Of Them by Uwem Akpan

Uwem Akpan's stunning stories humanize the perils of poverty and violence so piercingly that few readers will feel they've ever encountered Africa so immediately. The eight-year-old narrator of "An Ex-Mas Feast" needs only enough money to buy books and pay fees in order to attend school. Even when his twelve-year-old sister takes to the streets to raise these meager funds, his dream can't be granted. Food comes first. His family lives in a street shanty in Nairobi, Kenya, but their way of both loving and taking advantage of each other strikes a universal chord.

In the second of his stories published in a New Yorker special fiction issue, Akpan takes us far beyond what we thought we knew about the tribal conflict in Rwanda. The story is told by a young girl, who, with her little brother, witnesses the worst possible scenario between parents. They are asked to do the previously unimaginable in order to protect their children. This singular collection will also take the reader inside Nigeria, Benin, and Ethiopia, revealing in beautiful prose the harsh consequences for children of life in Africa.

Akpan's voice is a literary miracle,rendering lives of almost unimaginable deprivation and terror into stories that are nothing short of transcendent.

Giveaway Rules



You MUST, MUST, MUST leave an email address in your entry to be entered. I hate having to throw out winning entries because there is no way to contact the winner.

1. The giveaway starts Sunday, December 13th and ends Tuesday, December 29th at midnight.

2. There will be three winning entries, which will be chosen by a random number generator.

3. Winners will be emailed and must respond within three days in order to claim their prize. After three days, another winner will be chosen and notified.

4. For one entry, comment below with your email address attached. You can get additional entries by being or becoming a follower of this blog, posting about the giveaway on your blog, or tweeting about it on Twitter. If posting elsewhere, please provide the link.

5. Winners must have a street address in either the United States or Canada. No P.O. boxes allowed by Hachette, sorry!

Good luck! This sounds like an amazing book.

100 Sporting Events You Must See Live by Robert Tuchman

100 Sporting Events You Must See Live is a no-brainer gift for the sports lover in your life.  Robert Tuchman's book, subtitled An Insider's Guide To Creating The Sports Experience Of A Lifetime, guides the average person in doing just that. 

The book lists 100 different amazing sports events.  Everything is here from the Masters and Super Bowl and World Cup to the Kentucky Derby, Westminister Dog Show, Calgary Stampede, Boston Marathon, Monaco Grand Prix, Ironman World Championship, and the most important down here in Tarheel country, the UNC vs. Duke basketball game.

For each event, Tuchman gives valuable information.  Categories include where the event is held, when, the significance and history of the event, notable athletes participating and how tickets are obtained.  He details travel arrangements, and even provides hotel and restaurants close by the action. 

This book is sure to be a favorite with any sports lover.  Meticulously researched, it provides help for those interested in going in person to these events, and a pleasant fantasy for those unable to go as they page through the book.  This book is recommended for sports lovers of any variety, and would be a welcome gift.

The Good Thief by Hannah Tinti

Ren has spent all twelve of his years in Saint Anthony's Orphanage.  No one seems to know how he arrived or who his parents were, or most mysteriously, why he is missing his left hand.  This defect means that when the boys are lined up for inspection by those who come to adopt, Ren is never chosen.  Then one day a young man comes.  When he sees Ren, he falls to the ground in tears, exclaiming that this is his long-lost brother and of course, he must come with him immediately.  The Fathers of the orphanage agree, and Ren leaves with his new family, Benjamin Nab.

Within an hour, Benjamin lets Ren know that he isn't his brother.  He expects to find Ren and his disability useful in his profession; that of grifter and scam artist.  Benjamin has a partner, Tom, an alchoholic ex-schoolteacher.  Benjamin and Tom live life on the move, scamming the townsfolk in one place, then moving on.  There is little they won't do.  One of their more lucrative sidelines is graverobbing.  Sometimes they rob the corpses of jewelry but sometimes they steal the bodies and sell them to a local doctor.

One night, they get a huge surprise when a body they have dug up turns out not to be dead after all.  This is how Dolley, a huge mountain of a man, a stone cold killer who for some reason loves Ren, comes to join their group.  Tom goes back to the orphanage and gets two twin boys who were Ren's friends there.  All of the group lives in a boardinghouse run by Mrs. Sands, who also takes a shine to Ren.

But trouble is always lurking when you're a grifter.  The local rich man seems very interested in Ren, and seems to have clues about Ren's family background.  Can Ren find out who he belongs to and change his life, or will he end up a grifter forever?

Hannah Tinti has created fascinating characters in The Good Thief.  The plot is intricate and will keep readers reading to find out the next twist and turn and attempting to solve the mysteries of Ren's background.  This book is recommended for fiction readers looking for a great read and memorable characters.

Zeitoun by Dave Eggers

In Zeitoun, Dave Eggers takes the reader to New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. He doesn't narrate the story from the point of view of the government or the many agencies involved. Instead, he tells the story through the eyes of a family that lived through the chaos and the horror.

Abdulrahman Zeitoun immigrated to the United States from Syria, after a decade of working on ships and traveling all over the world. He married Kathy, an American who grew up as a Christian in America, but converted to the Muslim religion. Kathy and Abdulrahman built a life together in New Orleans. They had four children, and worked together in a contracting business. Abdulrahman handled the workers and the actual jobs, while Kathy handled the business side. In addition to the contracting business, they owned several rental houses.

When Katrina headed for New Orleans, and evacuation was recommended, Kathy and the children left, taking refuge with relatives. Although his family begged him to come, Abdulrahman decided to stay behind, ride out the storm and watch over their properties. He expected a storm like most other hurricanes; a few days without power and some cleanup from water damage and structures hurt by falling trees. Of course, Katrina was no ordinary hurricane. Abdulrahman found himself stranded in a city that was flooded beyond belief. It was a city torn by looters and crime; one that the mayor described as "animalistic".

Abdulrahman had bought a canoe years before at a yard sale as a reminder of his seafaring days. He paddled through the neighborhoods near his home, saving several neighbors stranded with no way out, and distributing food and supplies to those he found. As the days went by, Kathy begged him to leave, and the city was under mandatory evacuation. Finally, he began to think about how he would leave and reunite with his family.

Fate intervened before he left. The police came to one of his rental houses, where Abdulrahman and some friends had gathered. All four men were arrested and taken to a holding facility at the city bus station. From there, they were transfered along with other prisoners under the authority of FEMA to a maximum security prison. The second half of the book tells the story of Abdulrahman's imprisonment, and how he was treated there.

Eggers has chosen an effective method of portraying this natural disaster, made worse by human decisions. Viewing the catastrophe through the eyes of a resident provides a different focus than seeing it through the focus of a state or federal agency which is focused on policy and the safety of property and survivors. It provides a window into how quickly government is willing to trample on basic human rights in an effort to restore order. This willingness is chilling, and Eggers portrays it convincingly. This book is recommended for nonfiction readers.

The Dyodyne Experiment by James Doulgeris & V. Michael Santoro

James Doulgeris and V. Michael Santoro have created a vision of America in the near future.  Hold onto your hats, as their vision is full of events that could happen but that all hope will not be our fate.

America, and New York City in particular, has been targeted again by America's enemies.  This time the threat is multi-pronged.  The Muslim terrorists that were responsible for the 9-11 terrorist attack have come up with a new plot.  Hijacking an oil tanker, they have turned it into the biggest conventional bomb imaginable.  They detonate it in the port of New York City, killing hundreds of thousands.  In the meantime, North Korea has smuggled in six nuclear bombs, hidden around the country and are demanding the the United States ignore their takeover of South Korea.  Both Russia and China are involved in the political manuverings that occur in the wake of these events.

The Dyodyne company, along with the military, is the best hope America has of confronting and defeating the terrorists.  The company, under the guidance of Sarah Randall, has come up with a method of precisely locating and tracking terrorists.  This is accomplished with the use of a virus that interacts with the person's DNA, turning them into a radio beacon that can be tracked anywhere.  Sarah becomes romantically involved with Tim Hatcher, a career military man, who helps the team overcome the problem caused by depending on wireless phones, as he is an expert on satellite tracking.  Together with diplomats and CIA operatives, they  race against time to save America from her enemies.

This book is recommended for thriller readers.  The action is fast and furious, and many readers will stay up late, desparate to read just one more chapter and see if the plot will be defeated before all is lost.  The Dyodyne Experiment is a fast-paced thriller that will keep the reader glued to its pages. 

GIVEAWAY!!!! TRUE BLUE BY DAVID BALDACCI, AUDIO UNABRIDGED

Ex-cop Mason “Mace” Perry and lawyer Roy Kingman investigate the death of a partner at Roy’s law firm, uncovering surprising secrets from both the private and public world of the nation's capital. Soon, what began as a fairly routine homicide takes a terrifying and unexpected turn-into something complex, diabolical, and possibly lethal.






Giveaway Rules
You MUST, MUST, MUST leave an email address in your entry to be entered. I hate having to throw out winning entries because there is no way to contact the winner.


1. The giveaway starts Sunday, November 21st and ends Friday, December 4th at midnight.
2. There will be three winning entries, which will be chosen by a random number generator.
3. Winners will be emailed and must respond within three days in order to claim their prize. After three days, another winner will be chosen and notified.
4. For one entry, comment below with your email address attached. You can get additional entries by being or becoming a follower of this blog, posting about the giveaway on your blog, or tweeting about it on Twitter. If posting elsewhere, please provide the link.
5. Winners must have a street address in either the United States or Canada. No P.O. boxes allowed by Hachette, sorry!

Good luck!  I've listened to several of David Baldacci's books and they are great, and do well on audio.

The Manhattan Prophet by Jake Packard

The world of The Manhattan Prophet is disquieting.  It is set in New York City after a nuclear bomb has been detonated there by terrorists, destroying American life as we know it.  Thousands of poor and sick have been herded into Central Park, now known as Shantypark, where they live lives of desperation, forced to remain there by the police.  The police have become para-military and have taken control of most areas of civilization.  Their leader has no intention of giving that control up, and will use whatever force is necessary to retain his power.  News organizations have been pared down to a few government-sanctioned ones, and the only information going out is thoroughly vetted. 

Into this environment Salem Jones emerges.  The child of parents who are criminals and both imprisoned, Salem has grown up in prison, and is now being released, having reached adulthood.  Even though he has been in a prison environment, stories of his effect on others has reached the outside.  He has turned prisoners into nonviolent men, and created sanity and peace in the prison.  The story of his emergence is eagerly waited worldwide, as everyone wants to know more about this man.

Maria Primera is the reporter chosen to tell Salem's story.  She is assisted by her cameraman, Herbie, the child of hippie parents who raised him to believe in everything and nothing.  On the day of Salem's emergence, he manages to evade all the media and crowds.  The police want to control him; millions just want to see him.  Salem moves to Shantypark and starts to spread his message of hope there.  He performs miracles, healing terminal patients and unarming men bent on violence.  Maria is caught up in his story, and both are caught up in the turmoil caused by those wanting to be free and those determined to keep control.

This book is recommended for readers who enjoy urban fantasy.  Readers should be aware that there is an abundance of violence and adult language in the book.   

Spook Country by William Gibson

This book is written in one of my favorite genres; the intersection between sci-fi, urban fantasyand cryptic events.  As someone whose love for Neal Stephenson's The Baroque Cycle trilogy leads her to read it multiple times, William's Gibson's Spook Country allows me to add another author to my collection in this genre.

Gibson drops the reader into the middle of a big puzzle, and then reveals clues in the stories of three separate groups.  There is a prize out there although it is unclear what it might be, and everyone is trying to locate it for their own purposes.  The first group is made of The Old Man, a former government operative and his employees.  This group also includes Tito, a Chinese-Cuban young man brought in to perform the heavy work, and some of his relatives. 

Another group features Hollis Henry, a former rock star turned investigative journalist.  She is working for a secretive character called Bigend, who owns the magazine that has just hired Hollis, and who wants her to locate Bobby Chombo for some reason.  Chombo is a genius programmer, heavily into computer-generated art, and apparently, part of the plot to locate whatever it is that's out there. 

The final group is made of Brown, a government operative who seems to be a functionary in some nameless government agency.  He has kidnapped Milgrim, a high-functioning drug addict.  Although a drug addict, Milgrim has utility as a translator.  Brown keeps him under control by feeding him drugs.

The book concentrates on bringing these three groups together, and their interactions allow the reader to slowly comprehend what all are searching for.  Gibson creates a landscape where information is key; no one's life is private, and technology is an integral part of all plans.  It is a futuristic thriller/spy novel, and the spare language Gibson employs is perfect for a plot that is slowly revealed.  This book is recommended for sci-fi and fantasy fans.

Tirissa And The Necklace Of Nulidor by Willow

Tirissa wakes up one morning, going about her day with her adopted family.  But this day is not like any other.  A spell is cast on her village, and everyone she knows is affected.  They become dazed and unaware of their surroundings; victim of The Deadening.  Tirissa runs to the house of the local herb lady and healer, and hears that a wizard may have put on this spell.  It is similiar to the spell in the old stories of what happened to the town of Nulidor.  First, The Deadening occured, and then a second spell that killed everyone there.  The healer tells Tirissa that she is the only one who can save the town, as she is the only one unaffected. 

Scared and alone, Tirissa starts out and journeys to the house of a more powerful healer.  That woman gives her more information and a silver necklace that has come down through the ages.  As Tirissa journeys, she meets a group of wood nymphs.  They tell her the missing pieces of her background.  She is the child of a wood nymph and her human lover.  That explains why Tirissa is not affected by the spell, and why she has access to magic such as hiding inside trees and talking to stones and forces of nature.

Tirissa picks up some allies on her trip.  Oglo is a troll, hundreds of years old, that had fought against the forces of evil once before and lost.  Now he is eager to go with  Tirissa, to help her and to redeem himself.  Along the way they get another member of their party, Storge.  Storge is a n'er do well who finds himself pressed into service as a king's guard.  He joins Tirissa and Oglo on their journey, reluctant at first to help but becoming a valued member of their group as time goes by.

It is good that Tirissa finds friends along the way, because she also finds many enemies.  There are the horrific Beaks; men who transform into huge birds that attack humans, stabbing them as they swoop down.  There are Kings and Princes that want to stop Tirissa's mission, hoping to gain power through helping the evil wizard that created the spell.  There is a hellhound named The Tracker, who tries his best to bring down Tirissa.  Finally, there is the wizard himself, with all his power and weapons.  Can Tirissa stop his evil spells before everyone is destroyed?

Young readers will enjoy this rousing adventure.  Tirissa is just twelve, and shows resourcefulness, loyalty, compassion and courage.  The plot is exciting, and both heros and villians are imaginatively created.  This book is recommended for children 9-12.  It could easily be the first book in a series of Tirissa's adventures, and children will be eager to read of further tales.

Join Tirissa's Facebook fan page for a chance to win a free copy of the book:

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She Had No Enemies by Dennis Fleming

Mary Michelle Fleming, known as Mickey to her family, was eighteen when she was brutually murdered by a serial killer.  Noticing her walking home from a grocery store, he followed her and stabbed her and slit her throat, leaving her for dead after attempting and failing to rape her.  Mickey was the baby of the family, with seven siblings, one of whom is the author, her brother Dennis.  She had graduated high school and was ready for college and the rest of her life when Anthony J. LaRette, Jr. stole her dreams and plans from her.

But Larette didn't just kill Mickey.  He also stole the heart and soul from the family.  The author writes movingly of what the aftermath of such a brutal crime is, and what it does to the survivors.  The Fleming family had not been the success story that we often expect families to be.  Their history was full of abuse, emotional and physical, from alcoholic parents who let their demons escape over and affect their eight children.  Dennis, like many of the siblings, got out of the house as soon as he could.  He escaped himself into drugs and alcohol before realising that he wanted something more from life.  He found the military and it helped him escape his background and find a purpose.

The book follows the family in the years after Mickey's murder until the execution fourteen years later of her murderer.  The killer was found and arrested within two weeks, a blessing to the family, and one that was possible because Mickey found the strength to run for help even with her deadly injuries.  It was determined once LaPrette was imprisoned that he had killed other women.  He claimed to have killed thirty women, and law enforcement tied him to twenty-four. 

Dennis Fleming had moved back home after his military career to try to help the rest of his family.  After the murder, the old patterns of abuse and inter-familial betrayal re-emerged.  His first marriage failed, and his wife and daughter left for another state.  He entered several other relationships, some to hide his pain, and some to try to bring some stability into his life.  Others in the family sunk into alcohol or drug abuse.  Quarrels among family members erupted over money and possessions, and some members were estranged from others.

Fleming refused to let this one event determine his entire life.  He continued his education, and although he made his living in a scientific lab, he spent his afterhours life writing and creating film as a way to process his thoughts on life.  This creative outlet enabled him to carve out a successful life, never forgetting Mickey, but refusing to let a tragedy define him.

So much of what Dennis writes rings absolutely true.  His description of the initial feelings after a loved one dies is stunning in its accuracy.  He explores the hate he feels towards the killer, and how for a while his only desire was to kill the man who killed his sister.  He writes about how it feels to go into a store and see magazines and newspapers selling copies based on the crime against a family member.  Finally, he writes of the acceptance and ability to move beyond this personal tragedy.  He viewed the execution of the man who murdered Mickey, but not out of vengance.  He witnessed it to represent the family and to close the circle.  Dennis Fleming is not an advocate of the death penalty; he believes such killers should be imprisoned and studied to understand what causes such behavior.

This book is highly recommended for readers searching for ways to move past tragedies, as well as for those interested in criminal justice and books about criminals and what motivates them.  It shows the human side of the other victims of crime; those left behind to carry on and try to make sense of random, unspeakable violence.  I came away from reading this book full of admiration for the author and what he has been able to accomplish with his life. 

The Art Of Racing In The Rain by Garth Stein

In The Art Of Racing In The Rain, Garth Stein has chosen to tell his story through the eyes of a dog, Enzo.  Enzo comes to live with Denny Swift as a puppy.  Through the years, he is there as Denny meets Eve and marries her, and as they have their daughter, Zoe.  He is there as Denny starts to have success as a race car driver, and is treated as a full member of the family.

Then tragedy strikes.  Eve sickens and dies young, and Denny is caught up in a fight with her parents for custody for Zoe.  The fight gets vicious, and he loses custody while things are being resolved.  Through all this grief, Enzo is there as a steady touchpoint for Denny and Zoe, bringing them solace through his love and loyalty.

The reader hears how the custody battle works its way out over the years.  Enzo gets older and starts to deteriorate physically.  The book, in many ways, is the story of Enzo's life as he looks back over it as he nears his own end.

This book is recommended for animal lovers.  Many dog owners rave about this book, and it is one that they recommend highly and will remember for a long time.  For me, computer nerd that I am, the whole device of an animal narrator never really clicked as I found it impossible to engage with the viewpoint that Enzo understood the human world and what makes humans act as they do.  His philosophical discussions on being trapped in a dog's body when he should surely have been created a human just didn't ring true for me.  Still, this book is very popular, and most readers will enjoy it immensely.