Mid-December Rapid Reviews

I, Alex Cross by  James Patterson

Detective Alex Cross is pulled out of a family celebration and given the awful news that a beloved relative has been found brutally murdered. Alex vows to hunt down the killer, and soon learns that she was mixed up in one of Washington's wildest scenes. And she was not this killer's only victim.

The hunt for the murderer leads Alex and his girlfriend, Detective Brianna Stone, to a place where every fantasy is possible, if you have the credentials to get in. Alex and Bree are soon facing down some very important, very protected, very dangerous people in levels of society where only one thing is certain—they will do anything to keep their secrets safe.

As Alex closes in on the killer, he discovers evidence that points to the unimaginable—a revelation that could rock the entire world.

As usual this was an easy read with page turning suspense.  I did not have it figured out.

The Perfect Christmas by Debbie Macomber

For Cassie Beaumont, it’s meeting her perfect match. Cassie, at thirty-three, wants a husband and kids, and so far, nothing’s worked. Not blind dates, not the Internet and certainly not leaving love to chance. What’s left? A professional matchmaker. He’s Simon Dodson, and he’s very choosy about the clients he takes on. Cassie finds Simon a difficult, acerbic know-it-all, and she’s astonished when he accepts her as a client.

Claiming he has her perfect mate in mind, Simon assigns her three tasks to complete before she meets him. Three tasks that are all about Christmas: being a charity bell ringer, dressing up as Santa’s elf at a children’s party and preparing a traditional turkey dinner for her neighbors (whom she happens to dislike). Despite a number of comical mishaps, Cassie does it all—and she’s finally ready to meet her match. But just like the perfect Christmas gift, he turns out to be a wonderful surprise!

 

A predictable but entertaining read.

The Knight by Steven James

Agent Bowers is used to tracking the country's most dangerous killers, but now it looks like a killer is tracking him. When he realizes the murderer is using clues from an ancient manuscript as a blueprint for his crimes, Bowers faces a race against time to decipher who the next victim will be and to stop the final shocking murder—which he's beginning to believe might be his own.

This third installment in the Patrick Bowers series had me on the edge of my seat.  It was intense as the killer was one step ahead of Agent Bowers.  The interludes with step-daughter Teresa helped break up the tension.

Blood Game by Iris Johansen
 
Eve Duncan returns in a thriller that pits her against the most evil mind she has ever encountered: a ruthless killer who taunts her with his every move…and who has a special affinity for blood. When a Georgia senator’s daughter is found murdered, and her body drained of blood, Eve Duncan is drawn into the web of Kevin Jelak—a serial murderer who is on Eve’s short list of killers who might know something about her missing daughter Bonnie. When a goblet of blood is found in Eve’s refrigerator, she knows the taunting is over…and the games have begun. As Eve and Jelak engage in a dance of death, Eve must call upon those she loves and trusts the most…even if it means bringing them into the game as well.
 
This was definitely a gory thriller with a paranormal twist.  This series has taken a bit of a turn from the original few installments.  I want Eve to find Bonnie and be done with it.

Remember To Forget

Remember to Forget by Deborah Raney

Who hasn't dreamed of getting a chance to reinvent yourself and begin a brand new life? That's exactly what graphic designer Maggie Anderson is offered when a terrifying carjacking leaves her stranded a hundred miles from her New York apartment—and her abusive boyfriend.

When a kind stranger offers Maggie a ride, she begins a cross-country journey that ultimately lands her in tiny Clayburn, Kansas. Reinventing herself as Meg Anders, she is welcomed with open arms at Wren’s Nest, in exchange for helping Trevor Ashlock remodel the cozy inn. But can Maggie trust Trevor? Trevor has always been Clayburn's favored son, but tragedy has put his faith in crisis, and now he has trust issues of his own. Once Maggie realizes Trevor is for real, she falls for him...hard. But if she confesses all the lies she’s let him believe about her, she will lose his trust and destroy everything she's worked so hard to build.

 Meanwhile, Kevin Bryson isn't crazy about the fact that his girlfriend and erstwhile punching bag has disappeared. When he unearths a clue to Maggie’s whereabouts, her life may depend on revealing the truth to Trevor.

This is the first book in the Claybourn series and was very fast paced.   It's a suspensful romance that was nominated for a Christy Award in 2008. The entire series was very good, but I think that was my favorite.



Vicki of Reading At The Beach hosts A-Z Wednesday, this week's letter is "R".

Rapid Wrap-Ups (Nov.)

The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe

Harvard graduate student Connie Goodwin needs to spend her summer doing research for her doctoral dissertation. But when her mother asks her to handle the sale of Connie’s grandmother’s abandoned home near Salem, she can’t refuse. As she is drawn deeper into the mysteries of the family house, Connie discovers an ancient key within a seventeenth-century Bible. The key contains a yellowing fragment of parchment with a name written upon it: Deliverance Dane. This discovery launches Connie on a quest—to find out who this woman was and to unearth a rare artifact of singular power: a physick book, its pages a secret repository for lost knowledge.

As the pieces of Deliverance’s harrowing story begin to fall into place, Connie is haunted by visions of the long-ago witch trials, and she begins to fear that she is more tied to Salem’s dark past then she could have ever imagined.

This was a well written, page turning book that held my attention. Having recently visited Salem, Mass and the surrounding area enhanced my reading of this book.

Black Hills by Nora Roberts

A summer at his grandparents' South Dakota ranch is not eleven-year-old Cooper Sullivan's idea of a good time. But things are a bit more bearable now that he's discovered the neighbor girl, Lil Chance, and her homemade batting cage. Each year, with Coop's annual summer visit, their friendship deepens from innocent games to stolen kisses, but there is one shared experience that will forever haunt them: the terrifying discovery of a hiker's body.

As the seasons change and the years roll, Lil stays steadfast to her dreams of becoming a wildlife biologist and protecting her family land, while Coop struggles with his father's demand that he attend law school and join the family firm. Twelve years after they last walked together hand in hand, fate has brought them back to the Black Hills when the people and things they hold most dear need them most.

An investigator in New York, Coop recently left his fastpaced life to care for his aging grandparents and the ranch he has come to call home. Though the memory of his touch still haunts her, Lil has let nothing stop her dream of opening the Chance Wildlife Refuge, but something . . . or someone . . . has been keeping a close watch. When small pranks and acts of destruction escalate into the heartless killing of Lil's beloved cougar, recollections of an unsolved murder in these very hills have Coop springing to action to keep Lil safe.

Lil and Coop both know the natural dangers that lurk in the wild landscape of the Black Hills. But now they must work together to unearth a killer of twisted and unnatural instincts who has singled them out as prey.

A good escapist read that did drag in a few spots, but easily overlooked as I became involved in the story and characters.

Trust No One by Gregg Hurwitz

Over the past two decades, Nick Horrigan has built a quiet, safe life until, one night, a SWAT team bursts into his apartment, grabs him and drags him to a waiting helicopter. A terrorist has seized control of a nuclear reactor, threatening to blow it up. And the only person he’ll talk to is Nick.

When they come face to face, he promises to tell Nick the real truth behind the events that shattered his life twenty years ago.

At seventeen years old, Nick Horrigan made a deadly mistake—one that cost his stepfather his life, endangered his mother, and sent him into hiding for years. Now, what Nick discovers in that nuclear plant leaves him with only two choices—to start running again, or to fight and finally uncover the secrets that have held him hostage all these years.

As Nick peels back layer after layer of lies and deception, buffeted between the buried horrors of the past and the deadly intrigues of the present, he finds his own life—and the lives of nearly everyone he loves—at risk. And the only thing guiding him through this deadly labyrinth are his stepfather’s dying words: TRUST NO ONE.

A suspenseful, action filled thriller that had me on the edge of my seat thinking I had it figured out to turn the page and find out I was wrong. This was a new to me author and I picked up the book totally on the recommendation blurb on the front cover by David Baldacci. I will be checking out more of Gregg Hurwtiz’s books.

Puzzle King by Besty Carter

On a gray morning in 1936, Flora Phelps stands in line at the American consulate in Stuttgart, Germany. She carries a gift for the consul, whom she will bribe in order to help her family get out of Hitler's Germany. This is the story of unlikely heroes, the lively, beautiful Flora and her husband, the brooding, studious Simon, two Jewish immigrants who were each sent to America by their families to find better lives. An improbable match, they meet in New York City and fall in love. Simon-inventor of the jigsaw puzzle-eventually makes his fortune. Now wealthy, but still outsiders, Flora and Simon become obsessed with rescuing the loved ones they left behind in Europe whose fates are determined by growing anti-Semitism on both sides of the Atlantic.

The story line moves and back and forth through the decades between 1892 and 1936 telling the story of Flora, Simon, Seema and their relatives still in Germany. This was a good page turning novel that I think could have been a great novel with a little more work. Many parts were skimmed over, I felt disappointed at not getting more of the story.

Thankfully Reading Wrap-Up

I spent more time reading than I thought I would this weekend! 

My father-in-law is feeling much better and decided that he did not want any visitors for two days so he could get some rest.  My husband still popped up just to make sure all was well.  He is anticipating coming home tomorrow.

I finished four books and got started on a fifth. 

Waiting For You by Susane Colasanti

At the beginning of her sophomore year, Marisa is ready for a fresh start and, more importantly, a boyfriend. So when the handsome and popular Derek asks her out, Marisa thinks her long wait for happiness is over. But several bumps in the road—including her parents' unexpected separation, a fight with her best friend, and a shocking disappointment in her relationship with Derek—test Marisa's ability to maintain her new outlook. Only the anonymous DJ, whose underground podcasts have the school's ear, seems to understand what Marisa is going through. But she has no idea who he is—or does she?

A good teen read with the typical girl wanting the hot guy and missing the dorky one (who is better for her) right in front of her face.

Secrets She Left Behind by Diane Chamberlain

One afternoon, single mother Sara Weston says that she's going to the store—and never returns. In her absence, she leaves her teenaged son alone with his damaged past and a legacy of secrets.

Keith Weston nearly lost his life in an act of arson. He survived—but with devastating physical and emotional scars. Without his mother, he has no one to help him heal, no money, nothing to live for but the medications that numb his pain. Isolated and angry, his hatred has one tight focus: his half-sister, Maggie Lockwood.

Now the person Keith despises most is the closest thing he has to family—until Sara returns. If Sara returns. . .

Another one of Diane's books that I could not put down. The story is told in alternating character's voices that worked well.

Wishin' and Hopin' by Wally Lamb

It's 1964 and ten-year-old Felix is sure of a few things: the birds and the bees are puzzling, television is magical, and this is one Christmas he'll never forget.

LBJ and Lady Bird are in the White House, Meet the Beatles is on everyone's turntable, and Felix Funicello (distant cousin of the iconic Annette!) is doing his best to navigate fifth grade—easier said than done when scary movies still give you nightmares and you bear a striking resemblance to a certain adorable cartoon boy.

Back in his beloved fictional town of Three Rivers, Connecticut, with a new cast of endearing characters, Wally Lamb takes his readers straight into the halls of St. Aloysius Gonzaga Parochial School—where Mother Filomina's word is law and goody-two-shoes Rosalie Twerski is sure to be minding everyone's business. But grammar and arithmetic move to the back burner this holiday season with the sudden arrivals of substitute teacher Madame Frechette, straight from QuÉbec, and feisty Russian student Zhenya Kabakova. While Felix learns the meaning of French kissing, cultural misunderstanding, and tableaux vivants, Wishin' and Hopin' barrels toward one outrageous Christmas.

I laughed my way through this little gem of a book. Read it, you won't be sorry.

A Rogue of Her Own by Johanna Lindsey

At court, Rebecca innocently steps into the rivalry between the queen's spymaster and the noblewoman in charge of the maids of honor who is using the maids to spy on powerful courtiers. Soon Rebecca is entangled in a web of deceit with the charming marquis Rupert St. John. The devastatingly handsome n'er-do-well is the cousin of Raphael Locke, with whom Rebecca was once infatuated. What she doesn't know is that Rupert is a secret agent of the crown who leads a double life.

When Rupert obtains proof that Rebecca is spying on him, he seduces her. He hardly suspects her guileless nature. Forced to the altar, Rupert believes that Rebecca has set a trap of the worst sort in order to marry into his powerful family. Although he vows never to be faithful to his beautiful wife, as Rupert comes to know Rebecca's wit, adventurous spirit, and generous nature, his vow of revenge turns into a desire to share many passionate nights only with his wife for the rest of his life.

Historical romance is not my first choice of genres, but I will pick up a Johanna Lindsey book as she has been a favorite author for years. A happy ending diversion that did not disappoint.

I started The Knighy by Steven James.

November YA Wrap-Ups

The Magician’s Elephant by Kate DiCamillo

What if? Why not? Could it be?

When a fortuneteller's tent appears in the market square of the city of Baltese, orphan Peter Augustus Duchene knows the questions that he needs to ask: Does his sister still live? And if so, how can he find her? The fortuneteller's mysterious answer (an elephant! An elephant will lead him there!) sets off a chain of events so remarkable, so impossible, that you will hardly dare to believe it’s true.

I really enjoy reading this story. It may be too heavy for some readers with its themes of loneliness, loss, forgiveness and may best be read aloud to younger readers.

T4 by Ann Clare LeZotte

It is 1939 and in a little house in Germany, on a street lined with popular trees, Paula Becker and her family have come to accept that she is deaf. Paula communicate through her own creative hand signs. She helps her mother cook and watches over her younger sister. At church, the organ’s hum shakes her whole body and soul. At home, she awaits, the tapping paw of her dog’s touch.

But it is the onset of World War II, and Adolf Hitler’s Tiergartenstrasse 4, or T4 is the headquarters where the Nazi regime maintains strick orders to kill any mentally ill or disabled people. At 13, in fear for her life, Paula must leave home and go into hiding.

This little, but powerful book, is told in free verse. It is easy to read and would be a great tool to use in talking with and teaching kids about this horrible aspect of the war.

Wings by Aprilynn Pike

Fifteen-year-old Laurel has led a sheltered, homeschooled life in a very small town, so when her parents decide to move and enroll her in high school, she has trouble getting used to her new life. A life, as it turns out, that’s not at all like those of other kids. One clear sign is a winglike blossom that blooms on her back. Oh, and her new best friend, the scientifically minded David, reveals under a microscope that her cells are more plant than animal. But it takes an encounter at her old home with the handsome but decidedly different Tamani to convince her that she is a faerie. She also learns it’s up to her to save her land from the evil influences that are trying to take it away from her and her family.

It took me a few chapters to get into the book but once I did it was enchanting. I liked David much better than Tamani, but that could be because I am an “older” reader. ;o).
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Something, Maybe by Elizabeth Scott

Everyone thinks their parents are embarrassing, but Hannah knows she's got them all beat. Her dad made a fortune showing pretty girls--and his "party" lifestyle--all over the Internet, and her mom, who was once one of her dad's girlfriends, is now the star of her own website. After getting the wrong kind of attention for far too long, Hannah has learned how to stay out of sight...and that's how she likes it.

Of course, being unknown isn't helping her get noticed by gorgeous, confident Josh, who Hannah knows is her soul mate. Between trying to figure out a way to get him to notice her, dealing with her parents, and wondering why she can't stop thinking about another guy, Finn, Hannah feels like she's going crazy. She's determined to make things work out the way she wants....only what she wants may not be what she needs.

I have been a fan of Elizabeth Scott’s since reading Stealing Heaven. Great coming of age story that has it all: dysfunctional parents, a spunky heroine, the hot guy and the understanding “just friends” other guy.

The Pillars of the Earth

Synopsis:
Ken Follett is known worldwide as the master of split-second suspense, but his most beloved and bestselling book tells the magnificent tale of a twelfth-century monk driven to do the seemingly impossible: build the greatest Gothic cathedral the world has ever known.

Everything readers expect from Follett is here: intrigue, fast-paced action, and passionate romance. But what makes The Pillars of the Earth extraordinary is the time—the twelfth century; the place—feudal England; and the subject—the building of a glorious cathedral. Follett has re-created the crude, flamboyant England of the Middle Ages in every detail. The vast forests, the walled towns, the castles, and the monasteries become a familiar landscape. Against this richly imagined and intricately interwoven backdrop, filled with the ravages of war and the rhythms of daily life, the master storyteller draws the reader irresistibly into the intertwined lives of his characters—into their dreams, their labors, and their loves: Tom, the master builder; Aliena, the ravishingly beautiful noblewoman; Philip, the prior of Kingsbridge; Jack, the artist in stone; and Ellen, the woman of the forest who casts a terrifying curse. From humble stonemason to imperious monarch, each character is brought vividly to life.

The building of the cathedral, with the almost eerie artistry of the unschooled stonemasons, is the center of the drama. Around the site of the construction, Follett weaves a story of betrayal, revenge, and love, which begins with the public hanging of an innocent man and ends with the humiliation of a king.

Do not let the size of this book keep you from reading it, it is a wonderful historical, face-paced novel filled with romance, murder, action, and suspense.  I devoured it in days and could not wait to read the follow-up novel World Without End.

Vicki of Reading At The Beach hosts A-Z Wednesday, this week's letter is "P".

This book also fits the Random Bestseller part of Take A Chance Challenge.

Out Stealing Horses

By Per Petterson

We were going out stealing horses. That was what he said, standing at the door to the cabin where I was spending the summer with my father. I was fifteen. It was 1948 and one of the first days of July.

Trond’s friend Jon often appeared at his doorstep with an adventure in mind for the two of them. But this morning was different. What began as a joy ride on “borrowed” horses ends with Jon falling into a strange trance of grief. Trond soon learns what befell Jon earlier that day—an incident that marks the beginning of a series of vital losses for both boys.

Set in the easternmost region of Norway, Out Stealing Horses begins with an ending. Sixty-seven-year-old Trond has settled into a rustic cabin in an isolated area to live the rest of his life with a quiet deliberation. A meeting with his only neighbor, however, forces him to reflect on that fateful summer.

This was a beautifully written novel that was a bit slow going at the begninning but once I got into it, I could not put it down. It won the 2003 Norwegian Critics Prize for Literature, the 2006 Independent Foreign Fiction Award, and the 2007 Impac Dublin Award

Vicki of Reading At The Beach hosts A-Z Wednesday, this week's letter is "O".

Nov. Rapid Reviews

Storm Cycle by Iris Johansen and Roy Johansen

Rachel Kirby is a computer genius whose personal life is hell. While she continues to climb the corporate ranks, her beloved twin sister is plagued by a chronic illness that will eventually kill her, leaving Rachel all alone.

Serendipity in the form of a mysterious email lands in Rachel’s lap one day, but not without a price. Thousands of miles away, archeologist John Tanek sits trapped inside a collapsed Egyptian tomb with a functioning laptop. He knows that Rachel is the only person who can help him, but time is quickly running out. It turns out the collapse was no accident. John has discovered something very valuable in that tomb, something that humankind has been searching for throughout history, something that Rachel could use as it may hold the key to her sister’s cure. While Rachel orchestrates his rescue, she soon finds herself trapped in a dangerous web of deceit and murder. Can she put her trust in John Tanek? She’d do anything to save her sister. Will they both live long enough to unravel the ancient mystery they’ve found inside the tomb?

This is the second book by mother/son team that was just okay for me. The plot was suspenseful and fast paced but I did not become invested in the characters and their lives.

Leaving Carolina by Tamara Leigh

Piper Wick left her hometown of Pickwick , North Carolina , twelve years ago, shook the dust off her feet, ditched her drawl and her family name, and made a new life for herself as a high-powered public relations consultant in LA. She’s even “engaged to be engaged” to the picture-perfect U.S. Congressman Grant Spangler.

Now all of Piper’s hard-won happiness is threatened by a reclusive uncle’s bout of conscience. In the wake of a health scare, Uncle Obadiah Pickwick has decided to change his will, leaving money to make amends for four generations’ worth of family misdeeds. But that will reveal all the Pickwicks’ secrets, including Piper’s.

Though Piper arrives in Pickwick primed for battle, she is unprepared for Uncle Obe’s rugged, blue-eyed gardener. So just who is Axel Smith? Why does he think making amends is more than just making restitution? And why, oh why, can’t she stay on task? With the Lord’s help, Piper is about to discover that although good PR might smooth things over, only the truth will set her free.

I discovered Tamara Leigh after reading Stealing Adda and became a fan. What I enjoyed about this story is the dilemma to remain quiet vs disclosing the whole truth. This is book one in the Southern Discomfort Series with Nowhere Carolina releasing in 2010.

The Weight of Silence by Heather Gudenkauf

It happens quietly one August morning. As dawn’s shimmering light drenches the humid Iowa air, two families awaken to find their little girls have gone missing in the night.

Seven-year-old Calli Clark is sweet, gentle, a dreamer who suffers from selective mutism brought on by a tragedy that pulled her deep into silence as a toddler. Calli’s mother, Antonia, tried to be the best mother she could within the confines of marriage to a mostly absent, often angry husband. Now, though she denies that her husband could be involved in the possible abductions, she fears her decision to stay in her marriage has cost her more than her daughter’s voice.
Petra Gregory is Calli’s best friend, her soul mate and her voice. But neither Petra nor Calli has been heard from since their disappearance was discovered. Desperate to find his child, Martin Gregory is forced to confront a side of himself he did not know existed beneath his intellectual, professorial demeanor.

Now these families are tied by the question of what happened to their children. And the answer is trapped in the silence of unspoken family secrets.

The story is told in alternating viewpoints from Antonia, Martin, Calli, Petra, Deputy Sheriff Louis, and Ben, Calli’s brother. It takes a couple of chapters to get each character straight, but then it flows very well and becomes a page turner as you race to find out what has happened.

She's In A Better Place by Angela Hunt

Jennifer Graham is struggling to make ends meet while running the Fairlawn Funeral Home, raising two children, and studying for her national board exam. Her work takes on a new dimension when Gerald Huffman, her assistant and mentor, reveals that he has a serious illness. When she learns that he and his daughter haven’t spoken in years, Jen decides to help them reconcile . . . but things don’t go exactly as she planned.

Jennifer is longing for stability in her life . . . but she soon discovers that life isn’t stagnant; it’s always changing. Once again, the mortuary is a setting for lessons of laughter, love, and life.

Angela Hunt is one of my favorite Christian authors. This is the third book in the Fairlawn series and probably the saddest. You would think that reading about the funeral industry would be dull, boring and a bit gross, but it was very educating, and I have come to appreciate those who work in it. It was also funny and touching. The Living Funeral was hilarious! I highly recommend this series.

Green

By Ted Dekker

AS FORETOLD BY ANCIENT PROPHETS, an apocalypse destroyed Earth during the twenty-first century. But two thousand years later Elyon set upon the earth a new Adam. This time, however, He gave humanity an advantage. What was once unseen became seen. It was good and it was called...Green.

But the evil Teeleh bided his time in a Black Forest.

Then, when least expected, a twenty-four year old named Thomas Hunter fell asleep in our world and woke up in that future Black Forest. A gateway was opened for Teeleh to ravage the land. Devastated by the ruin, Thomas Hunter and his Circle swore to fight the dark scourge until their dying breath.

But now The Circle has lost hope. Samuel, Thomas Hunter's cherished son, has turned his back on his father. He gathers the dark forces to wage a final war. Thomas is crushed and desperately seeks a way back to our reality to find the one elusive hope that could save them all.

Enter an apocalyptic story like none you have read. A story with links to our own history so shocking that you will forget you are in another world at all. Welcome to GREEN. Book Zero.

The Circle Trilogy (Black, Red, White) was my foray into fantasy fiction two years ago. Because I had read the series two years ago, it took me about 100 pages to get familiar with the characters and the world in which it was set. Once that happened, I was hooked on page-turning roller coaster ride of suspense, adventure, a battle between good and evil and the love a father has for a son. It helped that my son is reading the series (just finishing Red and starting White) to fill in what I had forgotten, but yelling at me not to give too much away!! As I said, there is a battle between good and evil and some of the evil, violent parts are disturbing and not for the squeamish. One evening I had to stop reading knowing if I didn’t, I’d have dreams. I thoroughly enjoyed Green, finishing it with a satisfied sigh, smiling while saying “clever ending, clever”.

Green is best read along with the other three books, but whether you read it first or last is totally up to you.

FOUR NOVELS. TWO WORLDS. ONE STORY. "Dive Deep"

Thank you to Thomas Nelson Publishers for this review copy.

Keep The YAs Coming!

20 Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler

According to her best friend Frankie, twenty days in Zanzibar Bay is the perfect opportunity to have a summer fling, and if they meet one boy ever day, there's a pretty good chance Anna will find her first summer romance. Anna lightheartedly agrees to the game, but there's something she hasn't told Frankie---she's already had that kind of romance, and it was with Frankie's older brother, Matt, just before his tragic death one year ago.

Beautifully written and emotionally honest, this is a debut novel that explores what it truly means to love someone and what it means to grieve, and ultimately, how to make the most of every single moment this world has to offer.

The character’s quest to throw away their virginity had me a bit concerned and I hope young girls really don’t feel like it is their “albatross”. With that said Anna did struggle with the decision so it was not treated frivolously. Recommended for older teens to adults due to the subject matter.. A good debut.

Notes From The Dog by Gary Paulsen

“Sometimes having company is not all it’s cracked up to be.” Fifteen-year-old Finn is a loner, living with his dad and his amazing dog, Dylan. This summer he’s hoping for a job where he doesn’t have to talk to anyone except his pal Matthew. Then Johanna moves in next door. She’s 10 years older, cool, funny, and she treats Finn as an equal. Dylan loves her, too. Johanna’s dealing with breast cancer, and Matthew and Finn learn to care for her, emotionally and physically. When she hires Finn to create a garden, his gardening ideas backfire comically. But Johanna and the garden help Finn discover his talents for connecting with people.

I enjoyed this different direction Paulsen took with this book. It was funny, touching as Finn learns what family really means.

Kisses and Lies by Lauren Henderson

After discovering that someone saw what looked like Dan’s emergency EpiPen in A-lister Plum’s designer handbag, Scarlett and her tough American sidekick, Taylor, sneak into a posh London nightclub, where Plum has a private table. Scarlett is stunned to discover a piece of evidence that might implicate another girl in Plum’s exclusive circle, Lucy Raleigh. Which means Scarlett must cast a wider net in order to catch the right suspect.

Back at school, groundskeeper Jase is hoping to take Scarlett’s mind off her troubles with some heart-stopping kisses. Scarlett can’t help but feel guilty for indulging in romantic rendezvous when she should be hunting down Dan’s killer. However, once Scarlett finds out how Lucy is connected to Dan, she knows she must drop everything and travel to the McAndrew estate in Scotland to hunt for more clues. But when she arrives, Scarlett becomes the target of a dangerous hunt herself.

Be aware that you should really read Kiss Me, Kill Me before reading this book to get the whole story of why/what Scarlett is trying to accomplish. While it may have been a bit unbelievable in spots, it was a good read, perfect for young adults. A couple issues were not resolved that leads me to believe there may be a third book.

If I Stay by Gail Foreman

Just listen,” Adam says with a voice that sounds like shrapnel. I open my eyes wide now. I sit up as much as I can. And I listen. “Stay,” he says.

Choices. Seventeen-year-old Mia is faced with some tough ones. Stay true to her first love—music—even if it means losing her boyfriend and leaving her friends and family behind?

Then, one February morning Mia goes for a drive with her family, and in an instant, everything changes. Suddenly, all the choices are gone, except one. And it’s the only that matters.

You feel as if you are right next to Mia as she recounts how she got to the where she is and I found myself saying, stay, stay ! Beautiful, emotional, touching and a must read.

Love, Aubrey by Suzanne Lafleur

A tragic accident has turned eleven-year-old Aubrey’s world upside down. Starting a new life all alone, Aubrey has everything she thinks she needs: SpaghettiOs and Sammy, her new pet fish. She cannot talk about what happened to her. Writing letters is the only thing that feels right to Aubrey, even if no one ever reads them.

With the aid of her loving grandmother and new friends, Aubrey learns that she is not alone, and gradually, she finds the words to express feelings that once seemed impossible to describe. The healing powers of friendship, love, and memory help Aubrey take her first steps toward the future.

Readers will care for Aubrey from page one and will watch her grow until the very end, when she has to make one of the biggest decisions of her life.

A definite 2 or 3 tissue book that is sad but honest, funny and emotionally satisfying. At first I was appalled at what Aubrey’s mom did, but as I read I became a bit more sympathetic, but by no means excusing her action, and wanting their healing and reconciliation. A great debut book by the author.

Nothing To Lose

By Lee Child

Two lonely towns in Colorado: Hope and Despair. Between them, twelve miles of empty road. Jack Reacher never turns back. It's not in his nature. All he wants is a cup of coffee. What he gets is big trouble. So in Lee Child’s electrifying new novel, Reacher—a man with no fear, no illusions, and nothing to lose—goes to war against a town that not only wants him gone, it wants him dead.

It wasn’t the welcome Reacher expected. He was just passing through, minding his own business. But within minutes of his arrival a deputy is in the hospital and Reacher is back in Hope, setting up a base of operations against Despair, where a huge, seething walled-off industrial site does something nobody is supposed to see . . . where a small plane takes off every night and returns seven hours later . . . where a garrison of well-trained and well-armed military cops—the kind of soldiers Reacher once commanded—waits and watches . . . where above all two young men have disappeared and two frightened young women wait and hope for their return.

Joining forces with a beautiful cop who runs Hope with a cool hand, Reacher goes up against Despair—against the deputies who try to break him and the rich man who tries to scare him—and starts to crack open the secrets, starts to expose the terrifying connection to a distant war that’s killing Americans by the thousand.

Now, between a town and the man who owns it, between Reacher and his conscience, something has to give. And Reacher never gives an inch.

This is book #12 in the Jack Reacher series. I love this character, but this was not one of my favorite installments but I highly recommend the series.

Vicki of Reading At The Beach hosts A-Z Wednesday, this week's letter is "N".

Emily's Ghost

by Denise Giardina
Enigmatic, intelligent, and fiercely independent, Emily Brontë refuses to bow to the conventions of her day: she is distrustful of marriage, prefers freedom above all else, and walks alone at night on the moors above the isolated rural village of Haworth, Yorkshire.

But Emily's life, along with the rest of the Brontë family, is turned upside down with the arrival of an idealistic clergyman named William Weightman. Weightman champions poor mill workers' rights, mingles with radical labor agitators, and captivates Haworth — and the Brontës especially — with his energy and charm.

An improbable friendship between Weightman and Emily develops into a fiery but unconsummated love affair. And when tragedy strikes, the relationship continues, like the love story at the heart of Emily's beloved novel Wuthering Heights, beyond the grave.

I enjoyed this well-written fictional look into the lives of the Bronte sisters. I felt the bleakness of the Yorkshire moors, as well as Emily's love of them. While I liked the fictional history of Emily, the portrayal of Charlotte as small-minded, petty and needy was overdone in my opinion. The reading of this book has me wanting to re-read Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre as well as read Anne's books.

More YA Catch-ups

Solving Zoe by Barbara Dee
Zoe Bennett feels lost at her fancy private school.
She's not the star drama queen like her sister, or a brainiac math genius like her brother. Luckily her best friend, Dara, is just as content as Zoe is to stay in the shadows -- or is she? When Dara gets a part in the school musical, Zoe feels abandoned. What's worse, Zoe's practically being stalked by the weird new kid, Lucas. Then Lucas accidentally drops his notebook and Zoe finds it's written in symbols and numbers -- it's complete gibberish. Yet she sees her name in there, plain as day. Now Lucas is telling her she's a natural code-reading genius -- or some kind of mental freak.

As Zoe's daydreaming lands her in trouble at school, anonymous notes start to appear in students' lockers, and Zoe is the number one suspect. Solving word puzzles may come easily to her, but now there's more at stake -- will Zoe be able to solve her way out of this?

I learned about codes, ciphers and cryptanalysis in this quick, entertaining coming of age story. My reading of this book was enhanced by listening to An Abundance of Katherines.

Milkweed by Jerry Spinelli

He’s a boy called Jew. Gypsy. Stopthief. Runt. Happy. Fast. Filthy son of Abraham.

He’s a boy who lives in the streets of Warsaw. He’s a boy who steals food for himself and the other orphans. He’s a boy who believes in bread, and mothers, and angels. He’s a boy who wants to be a Nazi some day, with tall shiny jackboots and a gleaming Eagle hat of his own. Until the day that suddenly makes him change his mind. And when the trains come to empty the Jews from the ghetto of the damned, he’s a boy who realizes it’s safest of all to be nobody.

I choose this book as one to read for Herding Cats II challenge, having no idea what it was about only that I was familiar with the author. It was a gem! A great book for older middle school and up about the Holocaust.


An Abundance of Katherines by John Green
When it comes to relationships, everyone has a type. Colin Singleton's type is girls named Katherine. He has dated--and been dumped by--19 Katherines. In the wake of The K-19 Debacle, Colin--an anagram-obsessed washed-up child prodigy--heads out on a road trip with his overweight, Judge Judy-loving friend Hassan. With 10,000 dollars in his pocket and a feral hog on his trail, Colin is on a mission to prove a mathematical theorem he hopes will predict the future of any relationship (and conceivably win the girl).

This was a hilarious book to listen to and I found myself looking for excuses to get in the car to hear more of the story! Their road trip takes them to Gutshot, Tennessee, living in a pink palace and working for the owner of a tampon string factory. My third John Green book that I thoroughly enjoyed and glad I choose to listen to this one.

The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary Pearson
Identity. Where does it lie? In a face? A voice? A bundled string of events we call a lifetime? Is it in our DNA, bone, flesh, ancestry? How do we define our identity, and is it a once and for all definition? Or is it always changing?

Who am I? Can anyone ever know for sure just what it takes to be who we are?

We all search for our place in this world and how we fit in, but for Jenna Fox that search reaches dark new dimensions when she wakes from a coma and can’t remember who she is. Worse, she doesn’t remember the people who claim to be her parents. There is something curious about them, about the house they all live in--in fact, curious describes her whole life, as she attempts to unlock the secrets of who she was, and who she has become.

An award and honor winning book that gets you to think about science and ethics. A page turner that had me engrossed until the very end.