Happy New Year!  My Last book of 2010.

Please Ignore Vera Dietz by A.S. King

Vera Dietz's a little odd, but in a good way. She's dealing with the death of her ex-best friend, Charlie. She loved him. She hated him. She knows what happened the night he died, but can she find it in her to forgive him and clear his name? 

Vera  and Charlie have been best friends since childhood and they keep each other secrets - Vera's mother left when she was 12 and was a stripper when she was a baby.  Charlie's dad abuses his wife and Charlies.  But as they enter their Junior Year everything falls apart. 

Charlie finds new friends when he starts having after school detention buddies Evil Jenny Flick.  When Jenny decides that she wants Charlie and that Vera is in the way she broadcasts Charlie's secret about his father's domestic abuse to the whole school and blames Vera. In “retaliation,” Charlie reveals the fact that Vera's mother was a stripper before she deserted the family and then starts a perilous relationship with Jenny. 

But Vera is changing too as her goal has been to get hired by the local animal store/shelter that she has been volunteering in for the past several years.   But she is torn as her father tells her he can have her mother's car only if she gets a job delivering pizza.

Vera's story begins at Charlie's funeral where she hides the truth about Jenny's part in his death. It seesaws through her full-time job delivering pizzas while maintaining “A” grades, her upsetting relationship with Charlie, her conflicts with Jenny as well as her father, her romance with a 23-year-old coworker, and other complications.  Charlie's ghostly presence manifests itself through out the book making her feel like she is going crazy. The chapters alternate between perspectives of Vera's father, dead Charlie, and the pagoda atop the town (yes, the pagoda speaks). Vera's father's even include “flow charts” about dealing with life circumstances. All of these give us another view of Vera's life. 

Heartbreaking to read yet page turning as I wanted to know if Vera could find the strength to stand up and tell the truth and not just let things be.   It was refreshing to read a YA novel with real situations versus fantasy or teen angst.

Beat the Reaper by Josh Bazell

Dr. Peter Brown is an intern at Manhattan Catholic, what some would call the city's worst hospital. He's cynical, critical, comical and one tough guy. He's big, not so good looking (in his own words) and he used to be a mafia hit man. He went into witness protection, got a new identity which explains why he's a half dozen years older than most of his contemporaries.

His hours are long, but drugs help, so does attitude. One day he has to tell someone about his cancer and it turns out to be Nicholas LoBrutto, aka Eddy Squillante, someone from his mafia days. At first LoBrutto thinks Doc Brown has come to kill him, because the good doctor has an AKA as well, he's AKA Pietro Brnwa and he is also known as "Bearclaw."

It doesn't take long for LoBrutto to start the squeeze on Peter. Either Peter saves him or he turns him over to the mob. As long as LoBrutto lives, Peter is safe. And thus begins the zaniest thriller I've read. A lot of the book has Brown flashbacking to how his life got to this point.  He came home to find his grandparents dead at age 14.  His grandparents raised him when his own hippi parents were too caught up in living  their own lives to raise a child.  After their death he befriends a guy named Skinflick who is known to be the son of a mafia lawyer.  At 18 he is given his first kill by Skinflicks father - the 2 brothers who killed his grandparents to get made by the mob.  So over the next several years his reputation grows as he kills with a vengence and a blood tenacity.


But when he is sent to help Skinflick kill a father and his sons that are running a sex trade worker farm - he gets fingered as the main killer and goes to court.  Here is where we find out how he got his nickname Bearclaw which is much more anticlimatic than I thought it would be.  After Brown is aquited he finds himself thrown into a shark tank at the local aquarium trying to keep his girlfriend alive.  When she gets knocked off he decides to flip on the mob and gets put into witness protection.

I won't give anything away but I have to say the final 2 chapters were brutal - I almost threw up during some of the descriptions of Brown performing surgery on himself!  Plus I'll never look at a aquarium in quite the same way again.  I listened to it on CD as I couldn't get past the first chapter when I was reading it.  The flashbacks are mixed in and it was hard for me to follow where as I could just listen and I could just follow along.

This book was kind of crazy and fascinating at the same time.  If you don't like violence, fowl language or sex then do not read this book as it has all of that plus much more.  One of the reviews describes this book as a cross between House and Sopranos and that pretty much sums it up.

Trio of Sorcery by Mercedes Lackey

Collection of 3 stories. 

The first new Diana Tregarde story in almost 20 years and the first Jenny Talldeer tale in over 15 years.  Each story has a bit of a preface by Lackey to explain the time and place of the story.

Arcanum 101, which takes place in the 1970s, a young Diana Tregarde finds time between her studies at Harvard and her budding writing career to stop a supposed psychic from interfering in the police investigation of a kidnapping case. This was also more of a novella as it was over half the book in length.

Other books featuring Diana Tregarde 

Burning Water (1989)
Children of the Night (1990)
Jinx High (1991)

Drums, set in the 1990s, sends PI and Native American shaman Jennie Talldeer on a quest to prevent an angry Osage ghost from coming between Navajo Nathan Begay and his Chickasaw fiancee. 

Ghost in the Machine, set in the high-tech world of modern times, computer programmer and techno-shaman Ellen McBridge investigates a series of mysterious deaths linked to a multiplayer online role-playing game.

I was a huge fan of the Diana Tregarde novels so was really excited to pick this collection up.  Now I want to go back and re-read the rest of the books as well as look for the Jenny Talldeer books which I have not read.  Interestingly enough these stories were written in order of how much I liked it.  While I did enjoy the last story found it to be my least favorite maybe because  I'm not into online gaming.  I always enjoy these kind of books that Lackey wrote so am glad to see her writing in this style again.

MERRY CHRISTMAS! 

Christmas Eve at Friday Harbor by Lisa Kleypas

The Nolan men all live on San Juan Island in Friday Harbor.  Their family was never really a family and while all 3 live on the same Island have very little to do with each other.  Christmas for them is just another day. But tragedy strikes when their only sister dies in a car accident and she gives legal guardianship to her brother Mark. A single guy in his prime Mark doesn't know what to do. He persuades his brother Sam to share responsibility and he and Holly move in with him. But their niece Holly has been traumatized and can't or won't speak since the accident.

That is until the owner of a new toy shop named Maggie Collins gives Holly a magical shell. This connects Maggie and Mark  and they both find themselves undeniably attracted.  But Mark already has a girlfriend named Shelby and Maggie is recovering from her husband's recent death from cancer. Mark is a decent guy and knows that his girlfriend Shelby would be the perfect mother for Holly. Maggie feels guilt over finding another man attractive. Both are in a transitional period but can't seem to stop thinking about each other. Will they overcome their obstacles? 

This has a feel of a series and after reading the author's website that is confirmed.  You can see each brother has issues with relationships and intimacy.  While this was a short Christmas novel - barely 200 pages, it was engaging and the perfect read for an airplane ride.  I hope a bit more depth goes into the future books but this is a intriguing introduction.

Dashing through the snow by Mary Higgins Clark & Carol Higgins Clark

As Christmas approaches, the folks of Branscombe, N.H., are celebrating their first Festival of Joy. Visiting from New York City are novelist Nora Regan Reilly and her PI daughter, Regan Reilly, and their close friends Alvirah and Will Meehan, who won $40 million in the lottery a few years earlier. When four employees of Conklins Market win $160 million using numbers supplied by their associate Duncan Graham, they decide to share their winnings with Duncan even though he didn't put in a dollar that week. Duncan, alas, has vanished.  Eventually he shows up looking like he as been run over by a truck. 

Quickly we learn he has been scammed by con artists who have come to town teaching a money saving course.  He gave them $5000 - his entire savings - to invest in an oil well.  He naively gives them his lottery numbers and later discovers they took his numbers and were the 2nd winning ticket.  He goes to confront them and falls down the stairs but manages not to be caught.  He steels their ticket and goes to confess to his fellow lottery winners. 

Meanwhile his girlfriend Flower has flown into town from San Francisco to surprise him but when she learns he won the lottery and didn't call her immediately thinks he is no longer interested in her.  So she checks into a local B&B which conveniently is owned by friends of the con men who are thieves themselves and take Flower hostage.  The Reillys and Meehans are hot on the trail to discover where Flower is and who has the winning ticket.  Another twist is the flower ring that Duncan had put a deposit on to propose to Flower with.  Alvirah  recognizes it as a ring that was stolen 8 years ago from a woman who died under suspicious circumstances.

It all ends well with very little violence and with a romantic flavor.  Not the most difficult mystery but different.  I guess it is part of a series so might go and read some of the earlier books.  I was looking for a holiday mystery and this fit the bill.  One fact that bothered me is if Duncan had $5000 why didn't he just use it to buy the ring instead of just putting down a deposit.

Mrs. Miracle by Debbie Macomber

Seth Webster lost his wife in a car accident four years ago and he still is mourning her loss and trying to cope. After his wife's death, their young twin boys went to live with their grandparents but have recently returned to living with him and he is in way over his head. Trying to work full time, raise spunky 6-year-old twins and manage a house has left him feeling overwhelmed and multiple housekeepers have come and gone leaving him on his own.

Finally, Mrs. Emily Merkle arrives on his doorstep and sets the house to order, takes care of everything that is out of control and the boys absolutely adore her. The twins have trouble pronouncing her name and it comes out "Mrs. Miracle" which sticks and everyone around town begins calling her that. She seems to know everyone and everything and has her hand on what needs to be done in the Webster household as well as with other families in town.

The romantic love interest is Reba who is suffering from her own loss of a broken engagement and estrangement from her sister and family. Seth has seen her from afar but never gathered the courage to ask her out.  Events bring them together when Reba is suddenly in charge of the children's Christmas pageant, his twins are part of the pageant.  

Meanwhile Seth's in-laws, Jerry and Sharon, are having their own problems as their marriage is breaking apart as neither one can figure out how to get along or what they really want.   Sharon leaves Jerry when he forbids her from visiting the twins for Christmas.  Since she leaves all her medications behind he decides to bring it to her and hopefully resolve their issues.

Everybody's hanging on to old hurts and missing out on joys of Christmas because of it, but Mrs. Miracle will help them clean up the mess they've made of their lives.

Nice clean romantic Christmas story.  Mrs. Miracle is a modern day version of Mary Poppins.  There are some other subplots that bring the story along very nicely.  Even a few recipes included in the book and I did enjoy the quotes from Mrs. Miracle.  Good weekend on the plane reading.  This was made into a TV movie on Hallmark channel by the same name.

Corduroy Mansions by Alexander McCall Smith

This new novel focuses on London in eccentric occupants of Corduroy Mansions in Pimlico. Residents run the gamut from the very likable to the much loathed. There's William, a well-meaning, widowed wine merchant determined to oust his lazy twentysomething son from his house. (He's enlisted the assistance of his neighbor, Marcia, who's taken his desire for collusion as a romantic advance.) Four young women share a flat below him. Among them is Dee, a health-food devotee who can't understand a male coworker's resistance to her offer of a high-colonic, and art history student Caroline, who has designs on a friend unsure whether he wants to date women or men.

Then there's the thoroughly despicable Oedipus Snark, a Parliament member devoid of scruples, conscience, and class. Even his own mother despises him; she's writing his biography, with the aim of exposing every one of his faults.

One of the ways William tries to get rid of Eddie is by becoming a co-owner of Freddie de la Hay, a canine who has many ideas of what he wants to do instead.  Eventually William (tipsy on too much champaign) agrees to letting Marcia move in and moving all of Eddie's belongings into the hallway.  They discover a small painting that they suspect Eddie stole as it seems to good to be true.  We see Eddie's true character when he kicks Freddie de la Hay and later kidnaps him for what appears to be a dog fight. 

The book is nicely tied up with a dinner William has for the entire building and even his son Eddie shows up.  I will read anything that Alexander McCall Smith but I have to say this is one of my least favorite novels that he has written though I did enjoy the London scene. 

Busy Body by M.C. Beaton

Featuring Agatha Raisin

Agatha Raisin has always been ambivalent about holiday cheer, but her cozy little village of Carsely has long prided itself on its Christmas festivities. But this year Mr. John Sunday, a self important officer with the Health and Safety Board, has ruled that the traditional tree on top of the church is a public menace; that lampposts are unsafe for hanging illuminations; that May Dimwoody’s homemade toys are dangerous for children… Things have reached such a desperate pass that the Carsely Ladies’ Society joins forces with the ladies in the neighboring village of Odley Cruesis to try to put a stop to Mr. Sunday’s meddling—only to find that someone has literally put a stop to him with a kitchen knife. Millionaire and prime suspect Miriam Courtney, who threatened to kill Sunday, hires Agatha to clear her name. Complications ensue after someone strikes Miriam a fatal blow to the head.

Agatha and her perky young protégé, Toni Gilmour work together on the case and along the way Toni's friend Sharon who also works for Agatha goes missing and is later discovered murdered.  This provides more insight into Toni's character and is a small detour in the story.  We continue the original storyline as Agatha now is trying to determine who murdered Sunday & Courtney.  She even ventures to Boston to meet up with Miriam's estranged children who didn't even come over for the funeral.  this part of the mystery gets very complicated as there are several cases of mistaken identity. As with most Agatha Christie novels nothing is quite as it seems and sometimes those small villages harbour violent people.

The last few Agatha Raisin mysteries take place over several months to a year in time and this one is one Christmas to another before the mystery is solved.  A new Agatha Raisin book is always a reason for me to celebrate and I enjoyed the holiday aspects of this story.  Many of the original characters are back and it's nice to see them evolve.

Unseen by Nancy Bush

In rural Oregon, Gemma LaPorte wakes up in a hospital with a fragmented memory. Det. Will Tanninger tells Gemma that she's a prime suspect in a hit and run that critically injured a child molester. As Gemma's memories start to return and she finds notes she had made about brain function, she wonders whether the concussion is the only reason for her amnesia.

It delves on the supernatural as Gemma is able to read emotions and maybe minds as she finds herself reading thoughts that are not her own.  We learn as she starts to regain her memory that her adopted mother used her talent to con people by predicting their futures.  She can vaguely remember an elderly American Indian woman leaving her on a boat when she is little.  She wonders how this all ties together.

The combination mystery /supsenseful romance is further complicated with a serial killer who burns his victims - he sees their auoras as witches and since he is a wolf he has to kill the witches.   There is definite chemistry between Gemma and Will and he is torn between his attraction to her and finding the truth.

The story is told from several points of view, Gemma, Lucky, Will and Wolf (the serial killer who burns his victims).  We are left to wonder if Gemma and Lucky are the same person perhaps a different personality.  I was turned off by how many male characters were just nasty drunks who wanted to beat people up and attack women.  But overall this was a very good suspenseful romance.  I've tried to read her other series and didn't really enjoy it but will look for "Wicked Game" which might be a prequel.

Surgeon by Tess Gerritsen

A serial killer is on the loose in Boston. The victims are killed by being cut with a scalpel on the stomach, the intestines and uterus removed, and then the throat slashed. The killer obviously has medical knowledge and has been dubbed "the Surgeon" by the media.

Detective Thomas Moore and his partner Rizzoli of the Boston Homicide Unit have discovered something that makes this case even more chilling. Years ago in Savannah a serial killer raped and  murdered women in exactly the same way. He was finally stopped by his last victim, who shot him as he tried to cut her. This survivor now lives in Boston, Dr. Catherine Cordell, who now works as a cardiac surgeon at one of Boston's prestigious hospitals.  We quickly learn that Cordell is connected with the Boston victims by rape.

As the murders continue, it quickly becomes obvious that the killer is really after Dr. Cordell, who is becoming so frightened that she is virtually unable to function. But she might be the only person who can help the police catch this copycat killer. To complicate matters even further, Detective Moore, often referred to as Saint Thomas as he mourns the death of his wife, is getting emotionally involved with the doctor.

I wanted to read this book as I've been watching the TV show Rizzoli & Isles on TNT so I wanted to read the book that the show is based upon.  I guess I should say very loosely based upon.  I do not find the Rizzoli character very likeable and I'm not sure if the Isles characters is based on Dr. Cordell or not.  So I think I will try the next book in the series as the series is based on both books according to the credits.  My problem is I do not enjoy medical thrillers and this is definitely one of those.  So I skipped the medical surgery stuff and just read the rest.

Heat Wave by Richard Castle

In the middle of a New York heatwave, the murder of real estate tycoon brings detective Nikki Heat to the case--and along with her comes the aggravating journalist Jameson Rook.  Nikki Heat is hit with an unexpected challenge when the commissioner assigns superstar magazine journalist Jameson Rook to ride along with her to research an article on New York's Finest. Pulitzer Prize-winning Rook is as much a handful as he is handsome. His wise-cracking and meddling aren't her only problems. As she works to unravel the secrets of the murdered real estate tycoon, she must also confront the spark between them. The one called heat.  Jameson Rook, is a fictionalized version of Richard Castle himself.  If you watch the show "Castle" this will all make more sense.

One of the fun aspects of the show is the sexual tension between Castle & Beckett and in this book it comes to fruition with a not too graphic sex scene.  In the first season we see most of the characters reading "Heat Wave" and I always wondered if it was as fun as they kept saying it was.  Now I won't say this is the most exciting mystery I ever read but I did enjoy that it just wasn't another episode rehashed and I can see how characters from the were written into this series.   I enjoyed listening to it on CD while driving and will definitely look for the 2nd one that is already in press. 

Take from Amazon.com
"Mystery sensation Richard Castle, blockbuster author of the wildly best-selling Derrick Storm novels, introduces his newest character, NYPD Homicide Detective Nikki Heat. Tough, sexy, professional, Nikki Heat carries a passion for justice as she leads one of New York City's top homicide squads.

About the Author

Richard Castle is the author of numerous bestsellers, including the critically acclaimed Derrick Storm series. His first novel, In a Hail of Bullets, published while he was still in college, received the Nom DePlume Society's prestigious Tom Straw Award for Mystery Literature. Castle currently lives in Manhattan with his daughter and mother, both of whom infuse his life with humor and inspiration."

I do enjoy the way this series is being treated as a real thing and even has the actor "Nathan Fillion" who plays Castle as the author on the back of the book. I feel like ABC and the writers of the show are having a great time with this series and if you are a fan of the show then you'll enjoy these books.

Last Seen Wearing by Colin Dexter

2nd book in the Inspector Morse series.  This is one of the  most complicated mysteries that I've ever read.   Morse & Lewis are brought in to take over a case after the investigating detective died in a car accident.  Valerie Taylor has gone missing 3 years ago and presumed dead.  But suddenly letters to her parents start arriving to bring fresh interest into the case.  Morse immediately assumes she is dead but wonders why letters would start arriving but most of all who would send them.  Is it her distraught parents, her mysterious lover or the murderer?

Morse bumbles through the case trying out theories, drinking and listening to opera.  One of my favorite scenes is him trying to get into what we would call a stripclub without paying for a ticket.  Poor Lewis is left outside to wait.   Morse eventually figures it out but then it appears his theory is wrong - but as the book ends we wonder.  Maybe he was right after all.  You need to read it to judge for yourself.

Morse is one of my favorite book and TV series.  So I enjoy going back and re-reading these.

Half-Life of Planets by Emily Franklin

Told from two alternating points of view. Liana, who loves studying about outer space, has recently been deemed a “slut” via an anonymous note, and she aims to disprove the label by not kissing anyone during summer break. Liana deals more with her own self-image as well as her disassociation with her parents. Her father is a hypercondriac and constantly in the hospital with tests.

Hank, who has a vast knowledge of music, has Asperger's syndrome, and he doesn't think that a girl would ever want to kiss him. He has is own issues with his family as we see him interact with his mother and older brother.

They meet in the hospital at the candy machine and quickly form a bond, yet as they navigate their friendship, they have a hard time expressing their individual needs.

It's really well done and it was refreshing to read a YA book that wasn't filled with drama and teen angst. Both characters felt real and it had me rooting for the ending.

Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk: a modest bestiary by David Sedaris and illustrations by Ian Falconer

Short stories that feature animals. Each story starts out normal enough, more or less like an Aesop's Fable, but then gets more preposterous as far as animals go and then more and more relevant to life as we live it today. But to me a lot of the stories were unneccessary violent or just depressing. At first I enjoyed Falconer's illustrations but when some were more graphic than I wanted it just left a bad taste in my mouth. I think my favorite ones were early on and as the stories got more perverse I just didn't enjoy it.

I've enjoyed the other books by Sedaris that I've read so was disappointed in this collection.

Sleeping Doll by Jeffery Deaver

Featuring Katheryn Dance

Kathryn Dance, an investigator with the California Bureau of Investigation, is the lead cop handling the escape of psychopathic killer Daniel Pell. Pell dubbed "Son of Manson" by the press for his "family" of young runaways and his most horrendous crime, the murders of computer engineer William Croyton, Croyton's wife and two of their three children. The only child left alive, nine-year-old Theresa, is known as the Sleeping Doll. Pell, charismatic and diabolically intelligent, continually eludes capture, but Dance, a specialist in interrogation and kinesics (or body language), is never more than a few suspenseful minutes behind.

As with all Deaver's books there is a big twist that kept on coming. It kept me guessing and I enjoyed learning more about Dance's character and her specialty of kinesics. This series is much less violent than his other series and I enjoy the mental aspects of it as well.

Cat getting out of a bag and other observations by Jeffrey Brown

You can tell from the cover that Jeffrey Brown knowns his cats. This small comic book captures the various mannerisms of how cats behave and act. So much of this book reminds me of my 2 cats that it made me smile and laugh. Brown obviously loves his cats and admires their quirks. Many of the comics stand alone and some combine together to make lovely little vignettes.

For cat lovers everywhere.

Espresso Tales by Alexander McCall Smith

Continues 44 Scotland Street serial that McCall Smith wrote for the Scotsman. It continues the adventures of all our favorites but mostly focuses on Bertie Pollock, the super intelligent 6 year old and his relationships with his parents and adapting to a new school and making friends.

But our other band of characters are there as well. Bruce has lost his job as a surveyor, and between admiring glances in the mirror, is contemplating becoming a wine merchant. Pat is embarking on a new life at Edinburgh University and perhaps on a new relationship, courtesy of Domenica, her witty and worldly-wise neighbor. Plus we see Ramsey Dubarton, who puts his wife, Betty, to sleep by reading her installments of his memoirs.

It makes for such a nice mix of stories, that I can't help but smile when I read them. I love everything he writes and have found that I'm really enjoying listening to this series on audio as I drive.

Any Place I Lay My Hat by Susan Isaacs

Amy Lincoln has trust issues. Her mother abandoned her after her father was first sent to prison. She was brought up in the projects by her Grandma Lil, a leg waxer and devoted Falcon Crest viewer; her amiable father, Chicky, spent most of Amy's childhood in prison on a series of minor theft raps.

A boarding school scholarship rescues Amy from lower-class oblivion; she goes on to Harvard and Columbia, then lands a job at "In Depth", a highbrow weekly magazine. Upbeat and self-deprecating, Amy spends little time bemoaning her past, but an encounter with college student Freddy Carrasco, who claims he's the illegitimate son of a Democratic presidential candidate, gets Amy wondering where her own mother might be. While advising Freddy how to approach his father, she uses her reporting skills to track down her elusive mother.

She eventually discovers her maternal grandmother living in Florida. Thankfully Amy's job takes her to Florida to cover a democratic rally. She instantly connects with her new found grandmother and wonders about her mother. Most the rest of the book is Amy trying to get up the nerve to actually find her mother as well as try to get over her recently ended 2 year relationship with John.

This was my first book by Isaacs and while there were elements I enjoyed I just kept wondering why I was reading it. I guess to see if Amy ever met her mother. It ended with a surprisingly happy ending but it felt unsatisfactory. I know Isaacs has been writting for a long time but it doesn't make me want to read more of her work.

Prime Baby by Gene Luen Yang

Eight-year-old Thaddeus Fong is insanely jealous of his baby sister and uses his intelligence as a weapon to prove his sister is really an alien or at least a portal for aliens to come through. He starts counting his sister's Ga (as this is the only sound she makes) and everytime it is a prime number. This leads him to conclude that his sister is an alien but eventually he discovers she is really a portal for aliens to come through.

So he uses his evil genius to corrupt the aliens into doing bad things like taking over the world but they keep doing good deeds like knitting socks and blankets. In a stroke of genius he manages to convince his parents that she is an alien and it works when she is taken away by the government to be studied. But surprising to him, Thad discovers that that his sister really loves him and he has broken her heart. So to make things right he shows his parents he is a portal to the aliens too so he can be with his little sister.

It is told in a delightful graphic book version. I didn't expect to really like it as much as I did. I read his other graphic novel "American Born Chinese" and enjoyed "Prime Baby" much more.

White Heat by Brenda Novak

Nate Ferrentino and Rachel Jessop shared one night of sex six months ago and it did not end well. Now they are being paired up as their roles of private investigators in Department 6 to investigate a religious cult/commune and the disappearance of one of its members. It sounds like a piece of cake assignment for Rachel, until she finds out that she will have to infiltrate the cult by posing as Nate's wife; and since she still has feelings for Nate, she will find this assignment a challenge.

Most of the novel is the almost lack of sizzle between these two as they try to infultrate the cult which is situated in a ghost town called Paradise. The cult is run by Ethan is is quickly established as a sociopath who lives off other's grief and drugs and sex. Honestly how this cult kept it together let alone how Ethan managed to keep these people in the cult I have no idea. He spends more time having sex or doing drugs than actually interacting with anyone. The only interesting twist was the gay relationship he started with his henchman.

It read quick but really had little sexual tension or substance to the story. I know that there are 2 others in the series but really have no interest in read them.

120 Days of Simon by Simon Gardenfors

Translated from Swedish, well known Swedish comicbook writer and rapper Simon Gärdenfors descides to go on an adventure and sublets his apartment for 120 days. He then posts on his website to get people to sponsor him for a maximum of 2 days. Simon gave himself only two rules: he couldn't return to his apartment and he couldn't spend more than two nights at the same place. Based on the responses he makes his map of where in Sweden he will go.

He scrupulously keeps a road diary and relies on his cell phone to keep in touch with friends and the love of his life. This of course doesn't stop him from having sex with anyone who will let him. He spends more time thinking about but it's still kind of shocking to see it done by a cartoon.

As all good things, they must eventually come to an end. He's had a great summer of alcohol, sex and adventures. Not everything went well as some of the previous girls he slept with are not happy with him and keep calling. So he spends a great deal of time avoiding them. He is way too casual about unprotected sex and not really caring about their age either. The book is kind of deceiving as it looks so cute and charlie brown like but it's way more adult than that.

So I'm not sure if I liked it or not. I found the premise interesting so that is why I wanted to read it. I was a bit disgusted by how casual Simon treats sex while touting his love of another woman.

Tricked by Alex Robinson

A new graphic novel that follows the paths of six characters who weave around one another, all finally meeting in the story's violent climax. The six are Ray Beam, a blocked and exhausted rock star; Nick, a small-time grifter; Phoebe, a daughter in search of her father; Steve, the very worst kind of music fan; Lily, a young girl drawn into Ray's artistic drama; and Caprice, a self-defeating waitress.

Again Robinson makes the characters real and believable. I think my favorite characters was Caprice, the waitress. Probably because she is a larger woman like myself. But I found her interaction much more believable than the relations between Ray Beam and Lily. The sections on Steve really terrifying and difficult to read. Robinson made it even more scary by making the text hard to read as it got more out of focus and scribbly.

I had just finished Box Office Poison a few weeks ago and enjoyed the more condensed storyline that focused on these 6 people whose lives are intertwined by a situation that hasn't happened yet. To keep the supsense going the chapters go from 49-1 almost like a countdown to the conclusion. But he really has a way of writing a story that is gritty but intriguing at the same time.

Forever Odd by Dean Koontz

Grieving the loss of his fiancee ,Stormie, killed during the climax the previous novel. Odd Thomas returns a year older later, now 21 he feels almost ancient and more rueful than ever about his gift for seeing ghosts. Elvis is still around and seems more morose than ever.

Early one morning Odd is awakened by Dr. Wilbur Jessup who appears in his pajamas. Instantly Odd knows that Dr. Jessup is dead and goes to investigate and finds the physician brutally murdered and Danny missing. Dr. Jessup is the stepfather of Danny who is Odd's best friend. Odd tracks Danny and his abductors to an abandoned casino-hotel, closed by an earthquake that killed dozens five years ago.

Quickly Odd discovers that it's a trap. Danny is bait to draw Odd to Datura, a spookily self-absorbed, wealthy porn entrepreneur and New Age nut, who, obsessed with violent death, wants Odd to make ghosts visible to her. He can't, but there are eight ghosts in the casino, one of whom comes in handy when Odd escapes Datura and her two gorillas, rescues and hides Danny, and engages in the protracted, lethal game of cat-and-mouse that changes everything for Odd.

I'm intrigued by how Koontz is developing the Odd Thomas storyline and curious to see how the future books develop.

Box Office Poison by Alex Robinson

Although the story is about an entire group of people, story of Sherman, Dorothy, Ed, Stephen, Jane, and Mr. Flavor it focuses on friends Sherman and Ed. Sherman is just out of college, wants to be a writer, but for now works in a bookstore as a clerk. He moves in with Stephen and Jane at the beginning of the story and we see his relationships develop and revolve around the apartment and the bookstore.

The shy and insecure Ed wants to become a cartoonist. Ed's storyline focuses more on him trying to gain some confidence, honesty and loyalty in the comic industry when he gets hired to work for Irving Flavor a short unhappy man who Ed discovers created one of the most successful comic book characters evermade - Nightstalker. But never got more than the $50 payoff he took 20 years previously. So Ed's mission becomes getting Mr. Flavor the reconognition and money he deserves. But as we see Mr. Flavor's history we learn that reality is very different than the stories he tells.

Most of it takes place during a year but the ending gives you a look into their futures. Robinson does a great job at making the characters look like real people (flaws and all) and has a great way of writing dialog that feels real. While this may look like a graphic novel it is more of a visual approach to fiction as it is presented in chapters.

Hide by Lisa Gardner

Follow-up to the book, Alone. Bobby Dodge, once a sniper for the Massachusetts State Police and now a police detective, gets called to a horrific crime scene in the middle of the night by fellow detective and ex-lover D.D. Warren. An underground chamber has been discovered on the property of a former Boston mental hospital containing six small naked mummified female bodies in clear garbage bags. A silver locket with one of the corpses, which may be decades old, bears the name Annabelle Granger.

Most of the story follows an unnamed woman who has been on the run for over 20 years. We eventually discover that she is Annabelle Grander. When she decides to go report to Boston Homicide offices it causes quite the stir. Especially since she physically resemblances to Catherine Gagnon (whose life Bobby saved in Alone). There is instant chemistry between Bobby and Annabelle which leads to complications.

It takes about half the book to discover that Annabelle isn't the only one who has reinvented herself. I did enjoy the background research that the first half of the book focuses on. I found Annabelle's character much more believable and enjoyed this suspensful book. Also I did not figure out who the bad guy was and was shocked when it was revealed. I did get annoyed at the end as I find Gardner seems to love to dwell on human suffering a bit too much.

But it was a good weekend or vacation read.

Colorado Kid by Stephen King

Fresh out of journalism school, Stephanie McCann is an intern at a weekly newspaper in an obscure corner off the coast of Maine. She is writing homey features and reporting on trivial stories, but she rather enjoys it. Then a big-city reporter comes to town to gather stories about "unsolved mysteries." The paper's owner and the managing editor send him away unsatisfied, and then tell Stephanie the only real unsolved mystery on the island.

Years earlier, two high school sweethearts found a dead body on the beach. There was no identification, and only a few items found with the body gave any hope of telling where he was from. Eventually it is revealed that they found out the man was from Colorado, which led to the identification of the body. The actual resolution to the mystery never comes, as the point of the story is to only share the mystery of it and how no one wants to read an incomplete story. hmmm... almost feels like a dig there by King.

I read this as I'm enjoying the SyFy show Haven that is based on this story. I had no idea how losely based as the TV show really has nothing about the story. I did enjoy the story as it's really an oral storytelling by two oldtimers who are sharing their love of the mystery with a newcomer who at heart is one of them. I have to say I enjoy King's novelas best as he has a way of capturing the situation and making one feel like you are a part of the story.

Three Weissmanns of Westport by Cathleen Schine

Betty Weissman is 75 when Joseph, her husband of 48 years, announces he's divorcing her. Soon, Betty moves out of their grand Central Park West apartment and Joseph's conniving girlfriend, Felicity, moves in. Thanks to Cousin Lou, Betty has a place to escape in a rundown Westport, Conn., beach cottage. But things quickly get more complicated when Betty's daughters run into their own problems. Literary agent Miranda is sued into bankruptcy after it's revealed that some of her authors made up their lurid memoirs, and Annie, drowning in debt, can no longer afford her apartment. Once they relocate to Westport, both girls fall in love—Annie rather awkwardly with the brother of her stepfather's paramour, and Miranda with a younger actor who has a young son.

This is a lovely story of heartache and family loyalty. The conversations between Betty and her daughters are ripe with prior resentments as well as trying to be supportive of such a shocking life change. My favorite parts were the dinner parties at Cousin Lou in which his father-in-law is suffering from Alzheimer's and doesn't know where he lives. This seems like it would be sad but honestly I laughed as he is really ok where he is but has no idea of who anyone is. He keeps asking who the man with the comb over is that keeps talking to him. What makes this funny is the person he is talking about is his daughter who has a hairdoo that rivals cotton candy. This is just one example of the wonderful conversations that take place in this story.

I would not call this chiclit but rather a lovely summer read for any age.

Faking it by Jennifer Crusie

Matilda "Tilda" Goodnight, whose chance encounter in a closet with cute con man/thief Davy Dempsey leads to madcap mayhem and breathless romance. He's trying to steal back the money he filched from Clea Lewis, ex-girlfriend (and possible husband killer), who had taken it right back. Tilda just wants her last "Scarlet" painting, which Clea has bought to impress Mason Phipps, her rich art-obsessed beau. It's the last of six forgeries Tilda did for Tony, her now deceased gallery-owner dad, and Tilda is determined to preserve her newly squeaky-clean reputation.

The whole Goodnight clan and supporting cast are entertainingly loopy. There's Tilda's mother, Gwen; her sister, Eve/Louise, a split-personality teacher/diva; her gay ex-brother-in-law, Andrew; and her precocious teenage niece, Nadine. Add a host of shady characters and would-be hitmen, and the breezy plot thickens and puffs up like the light airy doughnuts all Goodnight women are attracted to but eventually forsake for muffins: "Muffins are for the long haul and they always taste good. They don't have that oh-my-God-I-have-to-have-that thing that the doughnuts have going for them, but you still want them the next morning."

Crusie is known for her complicated romantic plots and this is no exception but more complicated than I remember. But it made for a nice weekend read. She writes comedy well and adds a nice blend of romance that is believable. Her characters are interesting and made me want to finish the story.

Messenger of Truth by Jacqueline Winspear

Massie Dobbs mystery - 4th in the series

Set in 1930's England just before WWII is going to begin. Georgiana Bassington-Hope, a pioneering female war reporter who was a classmate of Maisie's at Girton College (Cambridge), asks Maisie to investigate the death of her twin brother, Nicholas Bassington-Hope, a WWI veteran and artist. The police have ruled Nick's fall from a scaffold at a Mayfair gallery before his masterpiece could be unveiled an accident, but Georgiana suspects foul play. As Maisie delves into the art world and the dead man's unusual family, we see that class divisions still abound and dangerous political undercurrents of homegrown fascism in early 1930s Britain.

Massie Dobbs books are more about psychological development versus a true mystery. A lot of this book has Dobbs evaluating her life and those around her. I enjoyed the development between her and Billie (her assistant) whose family suffers a tragedy. Dobbs suffers from a melancholy spirit and has to find if anyone can make her happy. But I love how we see an independent woman deals with society who tries to dictate what she can and can not do. I like how the author merges history with for me is an unknown time in history. I've heard her speak a couple of times and she spends a lot of time researching her books and keeping the characters as authentic as possible.

Hallowed Murder by Ellen Hart

First in the Jane Lawless series

After discovering a sorority sister drowned near her Alma mater, restaurateur Jane Lawless embarks on an investigation to untangle the events that led to Allison Lord's death. Because little evidence exists, the police assume Allison committed suicide; but Jane is somehow convinced that the young woman was murdered. Besides the mystery we see the many issues such as fundamentalism, homosexuality, bigotry and psychological that torment the characters. Jane is herself a lesbian but while she observes various behaviors the issue is never brought up except with her good friend, Cordelia Thorn. Cordelia is really the more interesting of the 2 as she is an actress and loves food. We find out that Jane's partner died several years ago and she has isolated herself off and is trying to find her back.

It was an interesting story and it was kind of refreshing to read a lesbian story that didn't focus so much on the sex but rather the relationships. I'm intrigued enough to want to read more books that feature Jane Lawless.

44 Scotland Street by Alexander McCall Smith

First in the series, this book comprises of 110 sections was originally serialized in the Scotsman. We follow the lives of residents of an Edinburgh boarding house. We're first introduced to Pat, 21, who is on her second "gap year" (her first yearlong break from her studies was such a flop she refuses to discuss it). She is employed at a minor art gallery and newly settled at the eponymous address, where she admires vain flatmate Bruce and befriends neighbor Domenica. A low-level mystery develops about a possibly valuable painting that Pat discovers, proceeds to lose and then finds in the unlikely possession of Ian Rankin, whose bestselling mysteries celebrate the dark side of Edinburgh just as Smith's explore the (mostly) sunny side. The possibility of romance, the ongoing ups and downs of the large, well-drawn cast of characters, the intricate plot and the way Smith nimbly jumps from situation to situation and POV to POV.

I can see how this was written as a serial as each section has a bit of an ending with a bit of a cliffhanger so you want to read the next installment to find out what happened next. I love all of McCall Smith's works and enjoyed this as much as his other series. I listened to this on CD in the car and it was something I looked forward to every day while driving. I'm so glad that there are more out there to read.

City of Dragons by Kelli Stanley

It is February 1940, San Francisco's Chinatown, fireworks explode as the city celebrates Chinese New Year with a Rice Bowl Party, a three day-and-night carnival designed to raise money and support for China war relief. Miranda Corbie is a 33-year-old private investigator who stumbles upon the fatally shot body of Eddie Takahashi. The Chamber of Commerce wants it covered up, and the cops acquiesce. All Miranda wants is justice--whatever it costs. From Chinatown tenements, to a tattered tailor's shop in Little Osaka, to a high-class bordello draped in Southern Gothic.

I've read quite a few reviews so was excited to read it. I enjoyed a lot of it but did feel that I was given too much information about the main character. She's a PI who used to be a callgirl who used to be a nurse in the Spanish war. We just kept getting more layers that it almost overwhelmed the story for me. But she's a tough cookie, she drinks with the boys and doesn't give up when she gets beaten up. Plus she is out to find the answers no one wants to even ask the questions for.

Interesting storyline and characters and the ending was done well. I'll look for the sequel.

Cancer Vixen by Marisa Acocella Marchetto

In 2004, cartoonist Marchetto, a hyperstylish was busy capturing "fabulista" humor, in the New Yorker and Glamour. She was engaged to a fabulous guy, perennially cool restaurateur Silvano Marchetto, whose personal style perfectly matched her Manhattan-centric life. Just weeks before their "secret" wedding she found a lump in her breast shortly. Telling Silvano was bad enough but having to tell him that she didn't have health insurance was even worse. She was convinced he would leave her but his only concern was that she be ok, the rest would take care of themselves.

Cancer Vixen tells the story of what happens next, and how her inner circle— stylists, gossip columnists, shoe designers and assorted others you'd only find in New York City, rallies round to help her beat the disease and get married on time and in high style. Marchetto wears her best high heels to chemotherapy and remarks on the similarities between her hospital gown and Diane von Furstenberg designs.

I didn't expect to have such an emotional reaction as I did reading this story. It reminded me of Sex and the City but dealt with more serious issues. I really enjoyed it but found it informative as well. And learned never, never, never let your insurance lasp!

Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie: A Flavia de Luce Mystery by Alan Bradley

11-year-old sleuth Flavia de Luce, lives in the quiet English village in the 1950s. Flavia is the youngest of 3 girls who live with their widowed father. Their mother died just after Flavia was born. She spends much of time in her laboratory working with chemicals as well as is preoccupied with retaliating against her lofty older sisters. She is sneaking around after hours when she overhears a rude, redheaded stranger arguing with her eccentric father, a philatelic devotee.

Equally adept at quoting 18th-century works, listening at keyholes and picking locks, Flavia learns that her father, Colonel de Luce, may be involved in the suicide of his long-ago schoolmaster and the theft of a priceless stamp. The sudden expiration of the stranger in a cucumber bed brings for the mystery of who the man is and why he died there. She uses her local library and her connections with the other villagers, but when her father is arrested for murder she must prove who did it.

I really wanted to like it but just felt annoyed by how precocious and prickly Flavia is. It wasn't until the final chapters of the book that I even started to like her and enjoy the book. And that was because she got herself kidnapped and started to show she wasn't perfect.

There is a sequel and I may read it down the road but it will be awhile.

Cold Moon by Jeffery Deaver

Features Lincoln Rhyme & Detective Amelia Sachs and introduces Kathryn Dance an investigator from the California Bureau of Investigation who is an expert interrogator and uses kinetics to spot lies witnesses and suspects present.

At first what seems to be 2 separate cases eventually intertwine in didn't see it coming moment. Sachs is investigating her first case solo in which a businessman supposedly commits suicide. But how does a man with a broken thumb tie a noose to hang himself? While Rhyme is investigating a serial killer who calls himself the watchmaker. But like an onion you keep pealing back the layers to find an even more complicated storyline.

I wanted to read this as I was curious about Kathryn Dance who is introduced in this book. But I wasn't disappointed either as it was a complicated yet intriguing story. I really liked how everything tied together in the end and it felt believable.

Body on the Beach by Simon Brett

Carole Seddon, a fiftyish divorcee late of the Home Office, has settled in a small town of Fethering, content to live a sensible, orderly retirement. But two events conspire to disrupt Carole's rigid routine: the arrival of an alarmingly casual new neighbor who insists on being called, merely, "Jude"; and the discovery of a dead middle-aged male on the Fethering beach.

When Carole informs the police about the body, they dismiss her as a menopausal hysteric; after all, their subsequent search of the area yielded no trace of evidence. But when a haggard, drug-deranged woman appears at Carole's door with a gun, demanding to know if Carole located a knife on the body, Carole realizes that the corpse had been moved just before the police search. The situation gets more dyre when a local teenage boy is found washed up on the beach, it's Jude who convinces Carole that the two deaths are somehow connected and deserving of the two neighbors' full attention.

We learn a lot about Carole's mundaine government working life but while hints of a more exotic life for Jude we really learn very little about her.  It's interesting as her character seems open but she won't even give out her last name.

I really enjoy Simon Brett and know that I read this many years ago but enjoyed it very much.  Yet more books to read now.

Sizzling Sixteen by Janet Evanovich
 Latest installment in the Stephanie Plum series
 The story starts out with the kidnapping of her cousin, Vinnie, who's being held for ransom in the high six figures. As Stephanie, sidekick Lula, and office manager Connie soon realize, Vincent Plum Bail Bonds is seriously in the red due to Vinnie's gambling. Vinnie's also gotten caught up with local mobster Bobby Sunflower in a complicated scheme. Even though her sleazy cousin isn't her favorite person and chasing oddball felons isn't her ideal career, Stephanie knows family loyalty counts for something, plus she owes him for giving her a job all those years ago. So with Lula and Connie in tow--and romantic interests Morelli and Ranger lurking in the background Stephanie is causing hauvic once again.

For me this book fizzled rather than sizzled.  I was disappointed.  There were some comedic moments but honestly I think she just needs to go with either Morelli or Ranger and just ride it out!  It seems that the last few books have her skipping back and forth.   I'll continue to read this series but I hope the next one has a bit more fun in it.  It just felt flat to me.

Scott Pilgrim Volume 5: Scott Pilgrim vs The Universe by Bryan Lee O'Malley
To win the hand of the lovely Ramona Flowers, he must defeat her seven Evil Ex-Boyfriends in video-game style battles.  This time out, he's got to fight the handsome twins Kyle and Ken Katayanagi who are even more awesome than Scott himself. More importantly, now that he and Ramona are cohabiting, they face danger from the jealousies and insecurities of couple hood.  Scott and Ramona both carry emotional baggage from their previous relationships. Scott cheated on one or more of his ex-girlfriends, who have names like Envy and Knives. As we know Ramona has several ex-boyfriends but dated the twins at the same time! 

The ending is rather bittersweet as Ramona just kind of pops out of existence.  It leaves you wondering how this will resolve. There is more mature feel to this series now as we see Scott become more of an adult especially with his relationships.  There is still that teen angst but thankfully not so prevalent.  A movie version of this series has been released but I think I'll wait until it comes out on cable or DVD.

Winter Widow by Charlene Weir

San Francisco policewoman Susan Donovan moves to Hampstead, Kans., when she marries the small city's police chief, Dan Wren, only to become a widow within six weeks. Shocked and enraged, Susan gets herself appointed Hampstead's temporary police chief and vows to find Dan's killer. When a reporter, daughter of the area's leading family, is strangled while investigating Dan's death, the mayor responds to local pressure and threatens to fire outsider Susan before more citizens die. She wins a five-day reprieve but must survive various assaults, from humans and animals, before she can solve the cases.

I had read a later book in the series and her backstory intrigued me so I finally read the first in the series.  Coming from the midwest you get a real feel of the cold isolation that the open plains are. She has to deal with a small town mentality where men run the show.  Much of the story is her internalizing the situation and trying to deal with the grief she is feeling.  Not bad for a first book.

Reformed Vampire Support Group by Catherine Jinks

Nina Harrison has been 15 years old since 1973 because she is a vampire. She and the members of the Reformed Vampire Support Group break the mold when compared to the accepted vampire lore that has been around since the time of Count Dracula. They are not beautiful, strong, powerful, rich, or in control. Instead they are sickly, struggling just to stay alive, living on the blood of the guinea pigs they keep, and making the best of their affliction. They have all vowed not to drink human blood or be responsible for the creation of another vampire. But Nina hates her boring, uneventful life, which changes drastically when Casimir is staked and the group, realizing that the killer knows who and where they are, all move in with Nina and her mother, a non-vampire.

With only a silver bullet as a clue to track the vampire slayer, Nina, Dave, and Father Ramon, who sponsors the group, set out on a dangerous journey. Along the way they rescue a werewolf from an illegal fight ring, deal with a villainous father/son team, and discover that their immortal lives might have more to offer than they ever thought.

Set in Sydney Australia we get a real flavor of the city plus how uneventful life is if you are a vampire. Imagine if you were only awake during the night - it would really limit your work potential. Plus they even had to wear sunglasses at night as bright lights would make their eyes bleed! Yuck.

I wanted to like this but honestly the characters are so whiny and prickly it was hard to even care if they lived to the next day. But I finished it the end as I try to give most vampire books at least a try. I was grateful that it wasn't very violent and believe there was nothing romantic or sexy about being a vampire in this story. The redeaming factor was the ending chapter when it is revealed that Nina has written their story but changed names and descriptions and places to protect everyone.  So it felt more authentic then the rest of the story.

Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson

This is a quiet tale of Major Ernest Pettigrew, an honor-bound Englishman and widower, who is the very embodiment of duty and pride. He lives in his childhood home in the quaint village of Edgecombe St. Mary in Sussex, England. As the story unfolds, the major is mourning the loss of his younger brother, Bertie, while grieving again for his wife who died several years ago. But on the flip side Pettigrew is trying to get back Bertie's antique Churchill shotgun—part of a set that the boys' father split between them, but which Bertie's widow doesn't want to hand over. While the major is eager to reunite the pair for tradition's sake, his son, Roger, has plans to sell the heirloom set to a collector for a tidy sum.

As he frets over the guns, the major develops a friendship with Jasmina Ali—the Pakistani widow of the local food shop owner in town. Mrs. Ali is a 50-something Pakistani widow who shares his love of Kipling and his wry look at the world in which they both reside.

Time passes and the more things change the more things stay the same as Pettigrew finds himself part of the gossip and he flounders on what is polite and what is the right thing to do. He struggles to understand his own son whom he discovering he has little in common with yet he yearns to have around.

This story is not dramatic and will not make you sit on the edge of your seat but I just kept turning the pages and enjoy this lovely quiet story about life.

Crocodile on the Sandbank by Eizabeth Peters

Also writes under Barbara Michaels

Introduces us to Amelia Peabody

Set in 1884, Amelia Peabody is not your typcial female of the time. She is a spinster living with her aging father and more educated than most men. She lives through her books, so after her father dies she receives a large inheritance and decides to use it for travel. On her way through Rome to Egypt, she meets Evelyn Barton-Forbes, a young woman abandoned by her lover and left with no means of support. Amelia promptly takes Evelyn under her wing, insisting that the young lady accompany her to Egypt, where Amelia plans to indulge her passion for Egyptology.

But when Evelyn becomes the target of an aborted kidnapping and the focus of a series of suspicious accidents and mysterious visitations, Amelia becomes convinced of a plot to harm her young friend. Like any self-respecting sleuth, Amelia sets out to discover who is behind it all. As they enter Egypt they brothers Walter & Radcliff Emerson, who become love interests. The story gets more complicated when Evelyn's cousin shows up with a marriage proposal and a promise to split their grandfather's inheritance.

The mystery is not why you would read this book. It is an entertaining yet educational look at a time period in which men and women were discovering much about the past and moving towards the future. I had read this book back in high school and read many of the series but it's been years since I've read a Peabody mystery. I'm ready to catch back up with this entertaining series.

Mischief in Maggoddy by Joan Hess

Arly Hanks, comes back from vacation to find the community in an uproar: practically everyone is under the influence of psychic Madame Celeste, four hippies have taken over a local store and local prostitute and moonshiner Robin Buchanon has disappeared, leaving behind five hungry children.

The mayor's wife, busybody Mrs. Jim Bob Buchanon, wants Arly to do something about the children, a wild and uncivilized lot, but Arly manages to foist them onto Mrs. Jim Bob while she goes hunting for the mother, whom she finds with her head blown off in the middle of a marijuana patch. As she sets out to discover who planted the weed and then booby-trapped it, the children proceed to bring Mrs. Jim Bob low while Madame Celeste has premonitions of disaster. Aided by a possible new love interest, David Allen Wainright, guidance counselor at the local high school, Arly tries to help the children, particularly the foulmouthed but oddly charming Hammet.

I have to say this is one of my favorite Maggoddy books. I read it so long ago but the majority of the story stuck with me. But I had forgotten that it had all happened in one book and not through out several storylines. Looking forward to more Maggody books to read over this hot summer.

Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter: Guilty Pleasures - The Complete Collection by Laurel K. Hamilton, Stacie Ritchie, Jess Ruffner-Booth, Brett Booth and Ron Lim

Graphic novel based on the Anita Blake series - this one focuses on the Guilty Pleasures book. Fusing mythology, werewolves, and vampires with a story loaded with mystery, action, and romance, the Anita Blake novels take place in a world where vampires, werewolves, and other creatures of nightmare have been declared legal citizens of the United States. Anita Blake is an "animator" - a profession that involves raising the dead for a living. She is also known as a fearsome hunter of criminal vampires, and she moonlights by investigating cases that are far too much for "conventional" police. But as Anita gains the attention of the vampire masters in her hometown of St. Louis, she also risks revealing an intriguing secret about herself - the source of her unusual strength and power. Watch as Anita goes up against fierce obstacles and is forced to make tough choices. What price will Anita pay in order to save her friend's life and solve the Vampire Murders?

Since I've read a lot of this series I didn't have problems following the storyline but for those who may not have read the series I think it would be hard to follow or understand Anita's motivation. I personally didn't care for the illustrations of Anita or Jean Claude as he really looked like a harlequin romance cover with his white pirate shirt. Plus it was hard to figure out why she even liked Phillip or Jean Claude. I did enjoy some of the minor storylines such as the wererats and Edward who is also an animator. But honestly I didn't enjoy as much as I hoped.

Peony in Love by Lisa See

Set in 17th-century China, this coming-of-age story, is part ghost story, family saga but also a work of musical and social history. The story is told by Peony, the 15-year-old daughter of the wealthy Chen family, as she approaches an arranged marriage, she commits an unthinkable breach of etiquette when she accidentally comes upon a man who has entered the family garden. Unusually for a girl of her time, Peony has been educated and revels in studying The Peony Pavilion, a real opera published in 1598, as the repercussions of the meeting unfold.

Peony's life mirrors that of the opera, and eternal themes abound: an intelligent girl chafing against the restrictions of expected behavior; fiction's educative powers; the rocky path of love between lovers and in families. It figures into the plot that generations of young Chinese women, known as the lovesick maidens, became obsessed with The Peony Pavilion, and, in a Werther-like passion, many starved themselves to death. You really see how life was during that time as the story offers meticulous depiction of women's roles in Qing and Ming dynasty China (including horrifying foot-binding scenes) and vivid descriptions of daily Qing life, festivals and rituals.

The story takes place over a span of almost 30 years as we see Peony become a hungry ghost and deal with the loss of her life and love of her family and the life she never got to have. So she tries to live life through the living as she follows the man she was supposed to marry. But until her tablet is dotted she will never be able to venture on. Women are punished during life and after life for not conforming to what is expected of them.

A truly intriguing story as it really is about a time period I have little knowledge or read about it. Plus it was interesting to discover how much women of that time were involved with literature and the arts. This is not a light summer read but a though provoking story. I need to read more by Lisa See.

Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Set in the post apocalyptic world where a replacement for the United States demands a tribute from each of its 12 territories: two children to be used as gladiators in a televised fight to the death. We start out the story seeing life through Katniss Everdeen's eyes as she struggles to find food for her mother and younger sister. When the drawing happens for the tributes of district 12, Katniss finds to her horror that her sister's name is drawn. In a moment of almost dispair Katniss offers to take the place of her sister in the Hunger Games. So after this ultimate sacrifice, she is entirely focused on survival at any cost. It is her teammate, Peeta Mellark, who recognizes the importance of holding on to one's humanity in such inhuman circumstances.

Much of the story is told through flashbacks as we learn more about Katniss and how she came to this point. But the story is brutal as one by one tributes are killed off until the shocking conclusion where the ultimate horror becomes realized. Because of the "love connection" between Katniss & Peeta it is determined that if both tributes from the same district survive to the end then they can both be winners. But when the capital tries to revoke it at the last moment Katniss has the last word by showing they are both willing to die if they have to chose. Unfortunately the love Peeta feels for Katniss is real while Katniss is playing the game to survive.

So the story ends with them going home as the victors but Katniss has revealed her feelings to Peeta who is heartbroken. We're left wondering if they can keep up the deception as they will be under constant surveillance by the capital. Since this is the first book in the trilogy it isn't suprising that the ending is left opened for the next book. I listened to it on CD and really enjoyed it. It's right up there with Lois Lowry's Giver and Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451. Wow.