Misfits by James Howe
Four best friends, Bobby Goodspeed (who tells the story), Joe Bunch, Addie Carle, and Skeezie Tookis who are seventh graders at Paintbrush Falls Middle School in upstate New York. The four are the usual outcasts found in most schools, and Addie has decided to take a stand against what she sees as the hypocrisy in her school. At first she wants to bring forth issues of minorities discrimination and hypocrisy in the democratic system. But it is really much more simple than that.

Through her determination to put forward her beliefs, she forces her friends to step back and take a look at themselves and each other. All who change and come to realize their own potential. Bobby, who works as a tie salesman at a local department store, learns that adults have problems too and that everyone has their own names for themselves. That even his dad needs encouragement and support. Bobby challenges everyone to list all the names (or labels) they have ever been called and to reflect how it has made them feel. They decide to become the No-Name party and ask everyone at the school to stop calling each other names for at least one day.

I love James Howe's books, but have only read his mysteries for kids. This is my first YA novel that he has written. He has done a good job at capturing the personalities of kids who could be from anywhere and anyone. I like that he doesn't use lots of slang and dialog that will become dated in a few years. It made me think about names I've called people and have been called. We're all guilty of that.

Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares
Their mothers were in the same aeorbic classes when they were pregnant. They've been best friends ever since.

Carmen got the jeans at a thrift shop. They didn’t look all that great: they were worn, dirty, and speckled with bleach. On the night before she and her friends part for the summer, Carmen decides to toss them. But Tibby says they’re great. She'd love to have them. Lena and Bridget also think they’re fabulous. Lena decides that they should all try them on. Whoever they fit best will get them. Nobody knows why, but the pants fit everyone perfectly. Even Carmen (who never thinks she looks good in anything) thinks she looks good in the pants. Over a few bags of cheese puffs, they decide to form a sisterhood and take the vow of the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants . . . the next morning, they say good-bye. And then the journey of the pants — and the most memorable summer of their lives — begins.

A fun and real life look at four friends who are as different as they are alike. They bring out the worst and best in each other as they are on their own for the summer. We see the pants travel from one place to another giving each girl the strength and courage to do what they should. I wish I had these pants when I was their age. Perhaps I would have been more bold and brave.

Now it's been made into a movie. I hope it stay true to the book.

Second summer of the sisterhood
Like the summer before, Carmen, Bridget, Tibby, and Lena share their individual adventures with the Pants collective, creating an engaging, kaleidoscopic narrative of four voices. This summer, Tibby attends a film program in Virginia and Bridget (Bee), whose mother has died, impulsively jets off to Alabama to get reacquainted with her estranged grandmother. Lovely Lena tries to protect herself from the heartbreak of loving her long-distance Greek god boyfriend Kostos, and Carmen deals (poorly) with her mother dating again and having the nerve to borrow the Pants!

Fun to be had by all, as we live a 2nd summer of the pants!

Oracle Prophecies by Catherine Fisher

Oracle Betrayed
In the distant land of deserts and islands, the servants of the god rule the land. His wishes are conveyed through the Oracle, and interpreted by the High Priestess. Mirany is the new Bearer, afraid of her perilous duties for the god in the rituals of the Oracle, and fearful of her secret questioning... Does the god truly exist? The priestess is corrupt and in secret partnership with the General, ruler since the God-on-Earth, the Archon, has no real power. The Archon is always chosen as a child, his face always masked, never seen by outsiders. He is ruler, but should any national tragedy occur, he is also the sacrifice.

When the old Archon dies, his spirit migrates into a child, and there are several candidates for succession. But Mirany begins to experience the real visions of the god, discovers which child is the rightful heir, and that the General and High Priestess intend to choose another child and seize power. With only a tomb-robbing scribe and a mad musician for allies, Mirany begins her quest - knowing that, if she is betrayed, her fate will be to be walled up alive in the Archon's tomb...

This book is incredibly difficult to describe as it is very complicated and has so many different people's points of views.

Wow, this is an incredible read. The main person is, Mirany. We see her emerge from the stuttering girl to a leader as she becomes one of the NINE who follow the Archon. Only Mirany can help the true God come to light. But will she be right or is she the traitor?

Book 2 The Sphere of Secrets

Book 3 - Scarab
is out in the U.K. but not yet in the U.S.

Miss Marple

Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie
The murder of Colonel Protheroe is a shock to everyone in St. Mary Mead, though hardly an unpleasant one. Now the vicar, who had declared that killing the detested Protheroe would be a service to the world, as well as his young and flirtatious wife, could be considered suspects. And what about the faithless Mrs. Protheroe, or her lover, the young artist Lawrence Redding? Jane Marple is at her shrewdest in this delightfully intricate mystery. I read all of these as a teenager but am enjoying the re-reads.

I enjoyed the new version showing on PBS Mystery.

Moving Finger
This story is told by Jerry Burton, an RAF flyer recovering from a crash. He has been sent to the village of Lymstock to get rest and quiet. Accompanied by his sister Joanna, Jerry soon finds that all is not as peaceful as he might have hoped. A series of poison pen letters detailing the explicit and often illicit facts of the residents' lives is causing quite a stir. The fear escalates when an apparent suicide is followed by a murder. With so much wickedness abounding, the vicar's wife calls in her old friend Jane Marple, whom she considers an expert on wickedness in village life. Miss Marple yet agains sees the wickedness beneath the surface to uncover the truth behind the poison pen letters and the deaths that result.

Christie examination the evil underneath the pristine surface. This "wickedness" lies not only beneath the beautiful exteriors of the sleepy village, but also beneath the shiny faces of its inhabitants. She once again manages to make all my guesses wrong. Plus this has more of a romantic overtone than her other novels, which is refreshing. Truly brilliant.

At Bertram's Hotel
When Jane Marple comes up from the country for a holiday in London, she finds what she's looking for at Bertram's Hotel: a restored London hotel with traditional decor, impeccable service and an unmistakable atmosphere of danger behind the highly polished veneer. Miss Marple's suspicions are aroused by some of the guests. Her worst fears are confirmed when the doorman is murdered in strange circumstances. With the help of clever Chief Inspector Davey, who is occupied with the investigation of a series of robberies. With her help all is revealed. A fun cozy look at Miss Marple outside of her home.

Murder is Announced
When an ad appears in the gazette announcing a murder to take place on Friday at Little Paddocks at 6:30 p.m., the locals show up, assuming it's a murder mystery party, only to get shot at and then become witnesses to the real murder of a boy no one knows. The police are convienced that someone wants to kill Ms. Blacklock but when her best friend and a local woman are killed it appears that the murderer is becoming a serial killer. Fortunately, Miss Marple arrives and unravels this tangled skein. As with other Agatha Christie novels nothing is as it appears and you never know until the end who the murder really is.

Nancy Drew Graphic Novels from Papercutz

#1 Demon of River Heights
A movie is being filmed in River Heights supposedly about a real life demon. Nancy becomes involved when the film directors go missing. Is there really a demon or just a way to promote the movie or something even more sinister.

I've read most of the various versions of Nancy Drew and enjoyed this. It will be interesting to see how it developes. The Hardy Boys have a graphic novel as well from Papercutz.

It is an interesting modern version of the classic mystery. George & Bess are a lot more promident as well. But I never really get why she wears a skirt.

Unhinged by Sarah Graves
Jacobia Tiptree, or Jake to her friends, owns a big, old house that needs lots of repairs and fixing up. A onetime financial advisor to the Mob she now lives the peaceful life in Eastport, Maine. After falling from the roof many other accidents start happening to her friends and family. But it seems to start with the mysterious disappearence of Harriet Hollingworth, known asa busybody and not liked by anyone. While Jake and her best friend Ellie search for clues, a series of lethal mishaps occur. Ellie's son and husband are imperiled and a visitor to Eastport is killed. But why is all this happening and will they all survive.

Not the first in the series, I believe #7. I got rather annoyed how the answers seemed to just come and no one seemed very concerned for Jake's health as she managed to detour from the hospital several times. Perhaps since I haven't read the other books I don't have all of her quirks down. I might try to read the first book just to see if I can stand it.

Valley of Bones
by Michael Gruber
Rookie cop Tito Morales arrives at the Trianon Hotel in time to see a wealthy oilman plunge ten stories and impale himself on a nearby fence. Soon Morales is joined by detective Jimmy Paz. Together Paz and Morales enter the hotel and discover, in the dead man's room, a most unusual suspect, an otherworldly woman by the name of Emmylou Dideroff. She emerges from a rapturous, prayerlike state and admits that she had a motive for killing the oilman. Psychologist Lorna Wise is enlisted in an effort to make sense of things that go beyond Emmylou's explanation of the murder.

This book is very intense as it describes extremely graphic sexual abuse. Plus it is almost impossible to tell if Emmylou is possessed by the devil or by god. Or is there really a difference between the two? Book two in the series. Tropic of Night is book 1 and is refered to several times in this mystery.

Gruber is the ghostwriter behind Robert K. Tanenbaum popular novels.

Montmorency: Thief, Liar, Gentleman? by Eleanor Updale In Victorian London, after his life is saved by a young physician, a thief utilizes the knowledge he gains in prison and from the scientific lectures he attends as the physician's case study exhibit to create a new, highly successful, double life for himself. He soon becomes the most elusive burglar in Victorian London, adopting a dual existence as both a respectable, wealthy gentleman named Montmorency, and his degenerate servant Scarper. Excellent read. Plus there are sequels already in the works. Hurray!

Honeymoon
By James Patterson
Nora Sinclair has a gorgeous Connecticut fiance, Connor. She had an equally sexy Boston husband, Jeffrey. But bad things happen to the men Nora gets involved with--her first husband died of a heart attack, and before long Connor meets a similar fate. The FBI is suspicious and sends agent John O’Hara to pose as an insurance investigator who dangles a tantalizing prize in front of Nora: a $1.9 million life-insurance policy on Connor’s life, payable to Nora. She is suspicious, but she goes along with John’s investigation into Connor’s death. John isn’t able to dig up much on Nora, but he does find himself in an awkward predicament when he realizes he’s attracted to her.

Collected Alison Dare Little Miss Adventures by J. Torres & J. Bone
Alison Dare is not your typical 12-year-old. The daughter of an archeologist/adventurer and the masked hero known as the Blue Scarab (and the niece of an international super-spy), Alison's life has always been different from other girls her age. A craving for danger is in her blood. Unfortunately, her parents have locked her away at the prestigious St. Joan of Arc Academy for Girls, hoping that this would lead to a more "normal" life for their daughter. But despite all the strict rules at the school, Alison and her best pals –– Wendy and Dot –– somehow manage to get into adventures that rival those of Alison's globetrotting, planet-saving relatives.

Fun, fun, fun...

Emily & the intergalactic lemonade stand : a story of ponies, robots...and world domination by Iam SmithTen-year-old Emily wants nothing more than to own a pony. So she starts selling lemonade to raise money, aided by Juicer, her indestructible combat robot. Her only real customer is Jace, who's only really interested in hanging out with Juicer, because robots are just so cool. This doesn't sit well with Daisy, the spoiled rich girl who's got a crush on Jace, so she has her daddy give her her own robot. That's when the alien invaders show up.

Another graphic novel but more for the younger set. It is a quick read but not really much substance as I couldn't figure out how Daisy, the rich girl, kept getting all these robots. Plus how did Emily get hers? But

Sidekicks: the transfer student, Volume 1 by J. Torres
Terry Highland’s dad was once a superhero sidekick, and Terry has powers of her own. So how do kids with super-powers learn to use them? By enrolling in Shuster Academy, a state-of-the-art high school that trains future heroes. Life at Shuster isn’t all costumes and kicking butt, though; use your powers between classes and you’ll have to deal with the strict Ms. Sternin. As Terry adjusts to her new environment, she has to deal with exams, demerits, and cliques like any other high school student. Her greatest challenge, however, will be overcoming her own fears; although Terry’s power is super-strength, she can’t face returning to the virtual reality fight-training room where an accident threatened her life.

I like this series. I find it interesting how people become super heros and this series shows us how!

What's Michael? by Makoto Kobayashi
Michael is a rotund tabby cat who is often likened by Americans to the comic strip character Garfield. In some stories, Michael is shown as a creature of nature, and Kobayashi expounds on the virtues of cats in the wild, often with surprising conclusions. Michael is also shown in a number of stories with different owners. It is apparent that these stories are not connected, with each one having a completely different set of supporting characters. After all, one aspect of the domesticated cat is the cat owner. The owners are occasionally more interesting than the cat.

A hard day's life - Vol.6

Ideal Cat - Vol. 9

This is a very fun and interesting series as it focuses on the cat and how he observes things around him. I've read the two above volumes and enjoyed both. Nice to have a japanese series that isn't all fighting.

Marvel Age Emma Frost Volume 1: Higher Learning
Introduces us to Emma Frost as a senior in high school and her disfuctional family who manipulate each other to get their own way. Emma means well but often her best intentions go wrong. When she finally realizes that in order to have some kind of life she needs to leave her family and go out on her own. But will it be good for her? We'll see in the next 2 volumes.

Emma Frost Volume 2: Mind Games
Finally free from her overbearing father, Emma Frost is on her own for the very first time. She's found love - but she's also found trouble, as her new boyfriend is in deep with the Boston mob! As Emma learns more "creative" ways of using her newfound telepathic abilities, will it be enough to help her escape the grasp of the criminal underworld?

Emma Frost Volume 3: Bloom
After fighting the Boston mob, her family, and her own boyfriend, Emma heads to university in New York. There she discovers that the teacher she had a crush on in high school is now teaching at the college and secretly dating her rommie. But the biggest discovery is that she discovers she is not alone in her telepathic talent and she develops a risky relationship with another telepath who is not what she appears to be. Emma discovers that there is a fine line between reading people's minds and actually controlling them.

Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi
Vol. 1: The Story of a Childhood
Her autobiographical graphic novel shows us Marjane's life in Tehran from ages six to fourteen, years that saw the overthrow of the Shah's regime, the triumph of the Islamic Revolution, and the devastating effects of war with Iraq. The intelligent and outspoken only child of committed Marxists and the great-granddaughter of one of Iran's last emperors, Marjane bears witness to a childhood uniquely entwined with the history of her country.

We see this unique view of daily life in Iran: of the contradictions between home life and public life and of the enormous toll repressive regimes exact on the individual spirit. Marjane's child's-eye-view of dethroned emperors, state-sanctioned whippings, and heroes of the revolution allows us to learn as she does the history of this fascinating country and of her own extraordinary family. At the end of this volume she is sent to Austria to get a more balanced education.

Vol. 2 - Story of the Return
Four years later we see how she has tried to change herself to not stand out as someone different. Finding that she misses her home more than she can stand, Marjane returns to Iran after graduation. Her difficult homecoming forces her to confront the changes both she and her country have undergone in her absence and her shame at what she perceives as her failure in Austria. Marjane allows her past to weigh heavily on her until she finds some like-minded friends, falls in love, and begins studying art at a university. However, the repression and state-sanctioned chauvinism eventually lead her to question whether she can have a future in Iran. Interestly enough in Austria she tried very hard to fit in and in Iran where is forced to fit in she has to discover how to keep her unique perspective.

These two volumes were facinating and I wish there is another volume to bring us uptodate on what her life is like now. Read it!

Comics by Alan Moore

League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Vol. 1 - a comic that is set in Victoria England in which some of our favorite literary characters are real. Mr. Griffin "the Invisible Man", Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Alan Quatermain, Captain Nemo and the mysterious Ms Murray (recently divorced, hints at a horrible scandle and wears a long scarf tied around her neck at all time hmmmm....)

Recrutied by Campion Bond and the mysterious "M" could it be Mycroft Holmes but ends up being Sherlock Holmes nemephis, Professor Moriarty. Who is secretly controlling England and wants to go to war with a Chinese warlord who controls the East. He has discovered a cavorite that allows anything it resides in to fly.

Will the League be able to discover the truth in time and save England and possibly the world? Of course they will! Very exciting and graphic collection. I am still curious as to what is Ms Murray's special gift and what about Mr. Quatermain? Perhaps Vol. 2 will help me out.

Top 10 Vol 1 & 2
The city of Neopolis is populated by science-heroes and villains, and even the general population have weird powers and traits; there are also aliens, gods and other dimensional beings. Policing the city is a tough job, but somebody's got to do it, so the citizens accept the jurisdiction of a multi-dimensional force of peacekeepers, spread over several alternate Earths. In Neopolis Precinct 10 (Top 10) is the hub and Robyn Slinger (Toybox) is the rookie with a lot to learn, who carries around a crate full of intelligent supertoys who do her bidding. Her new partner is a hulking, sullen, blue dude named Smax who shoots energy beams out of his chest..

Robyn's coworkers include Girl One (whose bioengineered skin constantly changes), Jack Phantom (a lesbian who can phase through solid matter, Hyperdog (a sentient Doberman in a cyborg skeleton), Irma Geddon (a middle-aged housewife with a nuclear battlesuit), King Peacock (worships Satan; punches through solid stone), Synaesthesia (listens to smells, feels colors, sees sounds -- believe it or not, this is a real condition), Janus (a switchboard operator with two faces and two personalities), Alexei (a Communist telepath with a chimanzee for a wife), and a number of others. From giant saurians to weird aliens, from deicides to shark-headed lawyers, not to mention internal affairs, Robyn has her work cut out for her.

Vol. 1 was more fun for me as we got to learn much about the various characters. Especially the relationship between Robyn and her new partner Smax as we see how she deals with her father's decline into Alzheimer's. Vol. 2 started out well then the last section just got weird and preachy. Oh, well.

Leave it to Chance Series by James Robinson
Bk 1: Shaman's Rain
Chance Falconer is a 14-year-old only child born into a family of municipal sorcerers that has protected the city of Devil's Echo for centuries. Chance can't wait to start training in the family business, but her father decides he doesn't want a girl joining the family's dangerous profession. Predictably, it's not long before she stumbles onto a dead body and a kidnapping in progress, and soon enough she's got a full-fledged mystery on her hands. Reminds us of the Nancy Drew mysteries that inspired it but mixed with a Buffy the Vampire Slayer tomboy.

This jumps around a lot. Very fun reading. Can't wait to read more of this series.

Bk 2: Trick or treat and other stories will be available soon.

Ruse: Enter the Detective
Volume 1: Introduces us to detective Simon Archard and his girl-Friday, Emma Bishop. But it is from Emma's point of view that we experience the story and get to know Simon. Plus we discover that Emma has special powers to stop time and yet interact in it. Set in an alternative reality, in a city called Partington, similiar to a Victorian-era-style Sherlock Holmes detective story. There are mysterious gargouls who fly above the sky. But there are many mysteries unanswered. But this is very fun to read and as I'm a big Sherlock Holmes fan I did truely enjoy this book.

Ruse: The Silent Partner
Volume 2: Takes up where volume 1 leaves off with discovering that Simon's dead partner, Malcolm Lightbourne, his former mentor and present nemesis. This master detective has become a master criminal under the influence of the Enigmatic Prism, a mystifying gem that focuses (and corrupts) its possessor's personality, which, of course, makes it insanely desirable. But we do not know why Emma does not use her powers again and much of this volume takes place outside of the city so a whole new cast of characters are introduced.

Ruse Traveler: Criminal Intent
Volumen 3: Is out of print as the company went out of business. So I may never see a conclusion to this fun series.

Marvel Age Mary Jane Volume 1: Circle of Friends
MJ's story is about being a high school teen, sorting out who she wants to be and, equally important, who she wants to be with. MJ's best friend, Liz, has her sights set on becoming Homecoming queen. Her boyfriend, Flash, the star quarterback, has been dragging his feet on getting his application for king handed in. MJ doesn't have a date for the dance, but Liz has that sewn up: the perfect guy, Harry Osborn, is up for grabs, and has his eye on our Mary Jane. She likes him, but does she really "like" him? He's no Spidey, but he sure is nice, and he pays for everything. MJ's efforts to raise money for a new dress and the identity of Flash's secret crush add even more complications.

Interesting to see life from MJ's point of view. We see Peter very occassionally but more often as Spiderman. More interesting things to come.

Stuck With You (Time of Your Life) by Trish JensenAs lawyers on opposing sides of a messy divorce case, Paige Hart and Ross Bennett ought to have kept matters purely professional, yet Paige and Ross came to loathe each other with an intensity that was strictly personal. The bad blood between them takes on an unexpected new dimension when the infuriated pair is forced to share a hospital room, when they're quarantined after being exposed to the rare and highly contagious Tibetan Concupiscence Virus that's reputed to shift sensual desire into high gear. When symptoms (which a nonmedical person might mistake for pure and simple lust) start showing up way ahead of schedule, the lawyers' objections to each other are overruled -- and they enjoy every minute of it. But, after the doctors declare that the disease has run its course, Paige and Ross are still feverish with a longing for one another that they hope will never be cured. When the verdict comes in, will they be sentenced to life -- in love?

Fun read and an interesting story.

Kinsey Millhone Mysteries by Sue Grafton
I have read this series several times over since I first started reading it in the late 1980's. But it's like visiting old friends so every few years I start back at letter A and work my way to more recent book.

S is for Silence
Kinsey takes on a cold case--the question of what happened to a shady lady who disappeared 30 years earlier. From the days surrounding the Fourth of July, 34 years earlier, when a hot-blooded young woman named Violet Sullivan disappeared. Violet's daughter, Daisy, who was seven at the time, hires Millhone to discover her mother's true fate. Violet had toyed with every man in town at one time or another, so there's no shortage of scandalous secrets and possible suspects. Grafton alternates between Millhone's first-person point of view and third-person flashbacks that depict the life of the missing woman in 1953.

It did abruptly end with an ok solution. I think the books are becoming more about Kinsey allowing herself to develop relationships with other women.

R is for Ricochet
Kinsey is hired to "babysit" Reba who is getting out of prison after serving almost 2 years for embezzlement- simple, huh? Luckily for Kinsey, Reba, her new best friend also has great taste in clothing and manages to do some fashion re-education for Kinsey. More surprisingly, Kinsey gets a great new haircut- imagine how stylish she's looking! All this happens before the danger picks up and Kinsey is in the middle of breaking and entry and even scarier elements around the edges of crime. No great surprise, these lead to actual danger for Kinsey and fears for Reba's life.

A sub-plot with Henry trying to find love was a welcome side note for a much loved character. Though it was strange to read Reba as a force so strong she bends our tough Kinsey, it was still refreshing to see Kinsey have a female friend with some spunk. Also, I like Cheney he's tough enough, seems to give her enough space and there is a good chemistry between them. Hope they stick it out.

Q is for Quarry ~ It was eighteen years ago that officers Stacey Oliphant and Con Dolan, out on a morning hunting trip, found the decomposing body near the quarry. She was young, white, bound, and stabbed multiple times, and then her throat was slashed. She'd never been identified, her murderer never brought to justice, and the unsolved case has haunted Oliphant and Dolan all these many years. Now, old and sick, and at the end of their respective careers, they want one more shot at solving this Jane Doe homicide, and decide to enlist the help of Santa Teresa private detective, Kinsey Millhone. After hearing the whole story, and reading over the old murder book, Kinsey has to admit she's hooked, packs her duffle, and joins this "odd couple" on what turns out to be quite an intriguing and ultimately dangerous adventure in search of the truth.

Inspired by a still unsolved murder in Santa Barbara County over thirty years ago this rings as a true unsolved mystery. At the end there is a plastic composte of what the girl probably looked like.

P is for Peril ~ Kinsey looks into the disappearance of Dr. Dowan Purcell, who's been missing for nine weeks. Dr. Purcell is an elderly physician who runs a nursing home that's being investigated for Medicare fraud. His ex-wife, Fiona, hires Kinsey when it seems as though the police have given up on the search. Fiona thinks that he could be simply hiding out somewhere, especially since he's pulled a disappearance stunt twice before. However, Purcell's current wife, Crystal, believes that he may be dead. Kinsey is dubious about finding any new leads after so much time has elapsed. She's also worried about having to move out of the office space she now occupies in the suite owned by her lawyer, and between her interviews with suspects she tries to rent a new office from a pair of brothers whose mysterious background begins to make her suspicious.

With typical flair Kinsey is able to unravel all the loose ends.

O is for Outlaw ~ What begins as a random phone call from a "storage space scavenger" (someone who buys the contents of defaulted storage units) leads Kinsey to a box of old papers and personal effects that her ex-husband, former cop Michael "Mickey" Magruder, left behind. The story zigzags between past and present, as Kinsey gets involved again with her first ex-husband. The mementos include an undelivered letter addressed to Kinsey, providing Mickey with an alibi for the beating death of Vietnam vet Benny Quintero, the unproven charge against Mickey that prompted Kinsey to leave him. Although never convicted, Mickey was ruined--losing his job, wife, and friends. Conscience-stricken, Kinsey looks up acquaintances from her early marriage, questioning her judgment and values at the time. Then two Los Angeles police detectives inform her that Mickey has been shot and is in a coma, and Kinsey decides to investigate. But 15 years later, Kinsey realizes that foul play may have been involved in the murder, a deadly temptation for her.

N is for Noose ~ If Kinsey had had just a smidgen of foresight, she would never have taken her current case, handed down to her from her on-again, off-again flame and comrade in arms, Robert Dietz. We encounter the two this time out after Deitz's knee surgery, as Kinsey drives his "snazzy little red Porsche" back to Carson City, where she checks out his digs for the first time. To her surprise, he lives in a palatial penthouse, which--under the unspoken bylaws of investigative etiquette--she qualmlessly snoops through. They sit around for a fortnight playing gin rummy and eating peanut butter and pickle sandwiches together, but perennially single Kinsey grows wary: "It was time to hit the road before our togetherness began to chafe."
She heads off to meet Dietz's former client, Mrs. Selma Newquist, a devastated widow whose husband, Tom Newquist, a detective himself, had been working on a mysterious case when he abruptly died of a heart attack. Selma suspects foul play but can't figure out what Tom was working on even though he's left behind enough paper to fill a recycling truck. Kinsey digs right in and roams the sleepy, one-horse town of Nota Lake for clues, interviewing a colorful cast of in-laws and locals. Beneath the quaint, quiet, country veneer, she unearths a bubbling hotbed of internal strife and familial double-dealing. Was Tom covering up for his partner? Is Selma protecting someone?

M is for Malice ~ Bader Malek, a local industrial tycoon, has died, and his four sons now stand to inherit a substantial fortune. But one of them, Guy, has been missing since 1968. A drug addict, ne'er-do-well and all-around miscreant, Guy had been disinherited by his exasperated father shortly before he vanished. But that particular will has disappeared, and Kinsey has been hired by the family to find out if Guy is still alive and thus in line to collect his original portion of the estate. She quickly succeeds in locating him and brings back a sweet, guileless and totally reformed man. But is he? The three other brothers?a truly devious, arrogant and greedy lot?are deeply ambivalent about Guy's return. A murder in the family leaves the surviving Malek kin as prime suspects.

L is for Lawless ~ Kinsey agrees to help the family of recently deceased neighborhood WWII vet, Johnnie Lee, find out why the military has no record of his service. Soon after Kinsey has finished looking through his papers, Lee's rooms are burgled, and Ray Rawson, who claims he is an old friend recently arrived in Santa Teresa unaware of Lee's death, is beaten up. Kinsey soon finds herself on a plane bound for Florida, in possession of only the clothes she's wearing and her purse( with an extra toothbrush), trailing a young pregnant woman in possession of a duffel bag spirited from Lee's home. On a stopover in Dallas/Fort Worth, Kinsey sleuths disguised as a hotel maid dusting baseboards, meets the increasingly unreliable Rawson again and encounters yet another figure from Lee's past, a violent, vengeful psychopath. While gradually sorting out the connections among this cast, Kinsey travels to Louisville, where Rawson's 80-something mother proves her mettle and Kinsey, determining that lawless, in this case, is neither adjective nor collective noun, unravels a decades-old mystery. But will she make it home in time for William and Rosie's wedding?

K is for Killer ~ Kinsey agrees to look into the 10-month-old death of Lorna Kepler, a young woman whose decomposed body was discovered in her cabin so long after death that it was impossible to determine the cause. Kinsey's client, Lorna's mother, who works the night shift in a 24-hour diner, suspects murder. So does Kinsey, especially after investigating Lorna's effects and her considerable assets, some unaccounted-for. An anonymously delivered pornographic tape adds to the emerging portrait of the dead woman as an intriguingly self-sufficient, ambitious woman of the evening. In nighttime forays, Kinsey talks to an all-night deejay whom Lorna often visited at his studio; she meets--and befriends--a prostitute who occasionally teamed up with Lorna to party with clients. She also investigates the victim's day job as a part-time receptionist for the water district, where a high-stakes development project is currently raising tempers. A host of suspects includes a porn filmmaker in San Francisco, members of Lorna's family, her landlord, the water district employees and even a smooth-dressing cop, whom Kinsey talks to at night. But lack of sleep dulls Kinsey's perceptions, will she be able to figure it all out?

J is for Judgement ~ Kinsey is working again (or at least consulting) for California Fidelity. Shady financier Wendell Jaffe has recently been decreed dead, five years after his real estate empire collapsed and he disappeared from his beloved 35-foot ketch off the coast, an apparent suicide. California Fidelity has just paid his widow $500,000. But then Jaffe is spotted in Mexico with another woman. Kinsey's investigation lands her in some tough spots--such as a drunken stranger's hotel room where she pretends to be a hooker--gets her shot at and leads to a dramatic resolution at sea. Things get more complicated when Jaffe's 18 year old son escapes from prison and 3 people are left dead. He is caught and then suddenly released. Kinsey has to discover who is involved and who is just an innocent bystander.

While interviewing various people who were scammed by Jaffe she is introduced to a family she didn't know she had. As they try to bring her into their world she resists and pushes herself out. Kinsey has to revise her notion of herself as an orphan alone in the world. Thanksfully we see more of Kinsey's octogenarian landlord Henry, his older brother William, and Rose, the neighborhood bar owner. William and Rose are now engaged and living together. Many loose ends are left hanging in Kinsey's life though she's able to solve the mystery. Hopefully these will be answered in the next book.

I is for Innocent ~ When fellow PI Morley Shine dies of a heart attack, Kinsey takes over the task of gathering evidence for a local lawyer who is prosecuting architect David Barney. Six years earlier, Barney was acquitted of murder charges in the still-unsolved death of his wealthy estranged wife Isabel, killed by a bullet fired through the peephole of her front door. Now Isabel's first husband, Ken Voigt, hoping to strip the architect of the fortune he inherited, is charging Barney with Isabel's wrongful death in a civil court, where less stringent evidence is required for conviction. Quickly finding holes in Shine's investigation, Kinsey uncovers a slew of suspects in Isabel's murder, including Voigt's second wife, Barney's first wife, Isabel's less attractive twin sister and even her best friend. Kinsey determines that Shine's death was not straightforward, solves the mystery of another years-old death and comes under direct fire herself before she finally, nearly too late, figures out who is the threat. Kinsey is getting back to her old self as she has to sort out a mess left by another PI who dies suddenly. It's great seeing her find her groove and her way to the answers.

H is for Homicide ~ As the murder of an insurance claims adjuster sends PI Kinsey Milhone undercover in a Los Angeles barrio. Following up a suspicious claim in the murder victim's files, Kinsey trails beautiful young Bibianna Diaz, recently moved up the coast to Santa Teresa from L.A. Under the alias Hannah Moore, Kinsey befriends the young woman and learns she is attempting the same scam pursued by Raymond Maldonado, her ex-boyfriend in L.A. When Raymond's brother, sent to bring Bibianna back, is shot by the young woman's new lover, an old friend of Kinsey's, both Bibianna and Hannah/Kinsey are taken to jail, where Kinsey secretly agrees to join a statewide fraud investigation. Raymond's henchmen grab Bibianna, and take Kinsey too. Now Kinsey is undercover and up to her eyeballs in lies. Will she make it out alive to make sure the bad guys get theres? You can't help but cheer for Kinsey even when she isn't doing too well. This book shows her her not at her best and kind of a depressed side. But we'll stick it out anyway.

G is for gumshoe
A rich, complex, and gripping tale in which Kinsey's grit is tested to its utmost as she unearths the gruesome truth about a long-buried betrayal and, in the process, comes face-to-face with the grisly fact of her own mortality. "G" is for guilt and guile, for greed and grief and the Grim Reaper. California PI Kinsey Millhone, hired to investigate the disappearance of a client's eccentric, elderly mother, but the lady mysteriously disappears within hours of her arrival. Meanwhile she must evade a vengeful criminal whom she helped put away four years earlier. Trying to outwit the hit man on her tail. To this end, she teams up with another P.I. to act as her bodyguard. Right from the beginning sparks fly between these two, hence the romantic aspect of the book.

F is for fugitive ~ Kinsey work takes her to the small California town of Floral Beach, where she's been hired to investigate a 17-year-old murder. Though innocent of the crime, Bailey Fowler was coerced to confess to it; he escaped from prison soon after his sentencing and lived a quiet life under an alias until the cops picked him up on a fluke and discovered his convict status. Bailey's father Royce, now dying of cancer, hopes Kinsey will find the real murderer and save his son from returning to jail.

During her investigation, Kinsey lives at the Fowlers' beach motel with Royce, his demanding, hypochondriacal wife and their resentful, middle-aged daughter. The experience puts Kinsey in a dark mood, reminding her of her own short-lived family (she was orphaned at age five). Nor does the case itself bring joy, as she unearths the ugly secrets of many of Floral Beach's respected citizens--the hypocrisy of the unctuous minister; the philandery of the local doctor and the violence-prone schizophrenia of his wife; the sad secret of the high-school principal; and, of course, the intentions of the murderer, who kills again as Kinsey draws near. As usual never the person you expect and it leaves you guessing until the very end.

E is for Evidence ~ When someone mysteriously deposits $5,000 in Kinsey's bank account and changes the records on one of her cases, private eye Kinsey Millhone takes herself on as a client and finds out that "E" stands for evidence planted and evidence lost . . . and sometimes "E" stands for eternal. Her past has caught up with her as we meet childhood friends and her 2nd ex-husband. But it is not like old home week as murder becomes the key to the past. E is for excellent as always to me.

D is for Deadbeat ~ Kinsey Millhone meets a drunkard named Daggett using another name. He claims that he wants to give $25,000 to a friend who helped him out in the past. After his retainer check bounces Kinsey discovers his real name and that the money has been stolen from a drug sale. As she tries to track Daggett down he is discovered drowned. When she decides to deliver the money to Daggett's designee, a young man who was the sole survivor of an auto accident perpetrated by Daggett, Kinsey finds herself in a dilemma: too many ``D's'' are after the loot. There are two Mrs. Daggetts, a daughter, the drug dealers and a determined killer who soon claims a second life.

C is for Corpse ~ Bobby Callahan, a scared and ruined young man came to find something from his missing memory. His story was hard to credit: a murderous assault by a tailgating car on a lonely rural road, a roadside smash into a canyon 400 feet below, his Porsche a bare ruin, his best friend dead. The doctors had managed to put his body back together again -- sort of. His mother's money had seen to that. What they couldn't fix was his mind, couldn't restore the huge chunks of memory wiped out by the crash. Bobby knew someone had tried to kill him, but he didn't know why. He knew he had the key to something that made him dangerous to the killer, but he didn't know what it was. And he sensed that someone was still out there, ready to pounce at the first sign his memory was coming back. He'd been to the cops, but they 'd shrugged off his story. His family thought he had a screw loose. But he was scared -- scared to death. He wanted to hire Kinsey. His case didn't have a whole lot going for it, but he was hard to resist: young, brave, hurt. She took him on. And three days later, Bobby Callahan was dead.

B is for Burglar ~ Beverly Danziger looked like an expensive, carefully wrapped package from a good but conservative shop. Only her compulsive chatter hinted at the nervousness beneath her cool surface. She's looking for her absent sister, Elaine Boldt . A will to be settled -- a matter of only a few thousand dollars. Elaine Boldt's wrappings were a good deal flashier than her sisters, but they signaled the same thing: The lady had money. A rich widow in her early forties, she owned a condo in Boca Raton and another in Santa Teresa. According to the manager of the California building, she was last seen draped in her $12,000 lynx coat heading for Boca Raton. According to the manager of the Florida building, she never got there. But is Elaine dead or alive.

A if for Alibi ~ introduces California private investigator Kinsey Millhone--a twice-divorced, childless 32-year old woman who lives in a one-room "bachelorette" apartment. Kinsey is hired by Nikki Fife, a woman who had been sent to prison after being convicted of murdering her husband. Nikki maintains her innocence and wants Kinsey to find the real killer--eight years after the murder. While this is not my favorite book, you have to read it to get a feel for how Kinsey is. Plus it is important to see her relationships with her maiden Aunt Gin, her landlord, Henry, and Rosie the tavern owner which is nearby.
Kinsey is tough but it is her vulnerability that get you as she discovers that it is easier said than done to keep your distance. Her interaction with the other characters allowed us to understand her personality more as well. Also, I liked the style in which Grafton portrayed Kinsey through 1st person perspective. You "got into the shoes" of Kinsey Millhone and followed her through the mystery.

Houses of Stone by Barbara Michaels
Pseudonyme for Barbara Mertz but she also writes under the name Elizabeth Peters
Karen Holloway, an ambitious assistant professor at an unnamed women's college in the Northeast, learns of a previously unpublished novel by a 19th-century author known only as Ismene. Since she herself made Ismene famous in the academic world by publishing a volume of her verse, Karen knows her reputation will skyrocket if she can buy the manuscript from the bookseller who found it and issue it with her commentary. She and her colleague Peggy Finneyfrock travel to a dilapidated estate in Virginia's Tidewater region in search of clues to Ismene's identity. But other academics are also in hot pursuit, and Karen finds herself haunted by nightmares brought on by the claustrophobic themes in Ismene's work ("houses of stone" is a phrase from one of the pseudonymous author's poems).

While this did not appeal to me as much as I thought it would, it was still interesting. The main character, Karen, was rather flat but her friends, Peggy and others were much more fun to read about.

Kira-Kira by Cynthia Kadohata is the 2005 Newbery award winner.
Chronicles the close friendship between two Japanese-American sisters growing up in rural Georgia during the late 1950s and early 1960s, and the despair when one sister becomes terminally ill.

I was worried about this novel with a terminally ill sibling, we all know's means death in those days. But this was a very uplifting book and I felt sad to leave these characters as the author really was able to make them seem real to me. I'm so glad it won the Newbery this year. So far two of my favorite novels have been Newbery award winners. I love Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo.

Cynthia Kadohata is from the Los Angeles area so we're hoping to get her to speak for the library.

Power of Five W.I.T.C.H. #1 adapted by Elizabeth Lenhard
It airs on Disney/ABC but I believe has been translated from a japanese series.
The text is book and it starts and ends with an vibrant color comics that kickstart the imagination. It's a story within a graphic novel. Will, Irma, Taranee, Cornelia, and Hay Lin (W.i.t.c.h.) are five ordinary friends with an extraordinary secret: they each have the power to control a natural element -- air, water, fire, earth, and finally, the mysterious "Heart of Candracar." The girls use their powers to guard against evil and to uncover the truth behind mysterious portals leading to other worlds.

Interesting series and it is super popular and the books are always checked out. I like the comic element and believe a true graphic novels are coming out summer 2005 so we'll see how it graduates.

Embrace the Wolf by Benjamin M. Schutz
First in the series that features Leo Haggerty, Private Eye

I have the admit the first chapter sucked me in. 5 years previously twin 5 year old girls were kidnapped by an unknown person. The kidnappers never made a demand but the father, Herb Saunders, never gave up hope they would come home one day. He had been doing his own investigations to find his daughters so when the kidnapper calls and plays a tape of his daughters voices he is off to find the fiend who stole them. His wife returns home to find a note saying he was going to find the devil so she calls in Leo Haggerty to help bring her husband home.

I should have stopped reading it after the first chapter and just skipped to the ending. This is a very tragic book that has a lot of horrible sex and torture that I could have done without. I'm reading his latest book Mongol Reply that is so much more interesting. Perhaps someday I'll try his Leo Haggerty books again.

Adrian Mole: the Cappuccino Years by Sue Townsend continues the Adrian Mole saga. Adrian , now 30, is divorced and the father of two sons (William, almost three years old, and Glenn, 12). His good friends are still around: old flame Pandora "we adore ya" Braithwaite has been elected a Labour MP by capitalizing on her short, tight skirts to win votes; best friend Nigel is trying to figure out how to tell his family he's gay. To Adrian's horror, his parents swap partners with Pandora's parents--and his dad discovers Viagra. Despite his ineptitude at cooking, Adrian works as the head chef at a snooty restaurant called Hoi Polloi, which specializes in "execrable nursery food." Adrian--temporarily--gets his own cooking show, "Offally Good!"

Another book on CD I keep laughing out loud in the car during some of the funny bits. I'm sure the other people driving by think I'm crazy.

League of Extraordinary Gentleman Vol. II by Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neil
Collection of 6 comic books in the 2nd volume of the series. Set in an alternate, technologically advanced 1898 London, the story finds legendary literary heroes Allan Quartermain, Captain Nemo, Hawley Griffin (the Invisible Man), Edward Hyde and Mina Murray fighting battles that the British Empire can't handle without them. Here, the eclectic team is defending Earth from a Martian invasion, partially set in motion by another pulp hero, Edgar Rice Burroughs's John Carter of Mars. I have not read Volume I yet so will go back and see if it fills in any blanks.

Giver by Lois Lowry
When Jonas turns 12, he is singled out to receive special training from The Giver--who alone holds memories of pain and pleasure in life. Now there can be no turning back from the truth. Given his lifetime assignment at the Ceremony of Twelve, Jonas becomes the receiver of memories shared by only one other in his community and discovers the terrible truth about the society in which he lives. 1994 Newbery Medal winner. Lowry is such a wondeful author. Wow.

An interesting book as it really looks at how society would be if no one was different if there was a world where everything was controled by the committee and if you did not conform you were released from the society. A world in which death and love was not understood or color seen. The book leaves the ending open as you are not sure if he really escapes or if he is released. There are two related books that I am looking forward to reading to see if any of my questions are answered.

Gathering Blue is a companion to the Giver.
Lame and suddenly orphaned, Kira is mysteriously removed from her squalid village to live in the palatial Council Edifice, where she is expected to use her gifts as a weaver to do the bidding of the all-powerful Guardians. She meets Thomas, a carver, and Jo, a singer, who are also being trained for the future. When Matty, her only friend from the outside disappears she fears the worse but he brings her back something even more valuable than the color blue.

But as with the Giver, Kira discovers that while life seems so happy and perfect they are all really held captive and that there are consequences for everything. So she must choose.

Very engaging book and as with the Giver you do not know what will happen to the characters.

Elf of Union Square by Jan Carr
An ancient, crotchety elf named Hiram and his sidekick, a Norwegian rat named Knut, conspire to drive people away from Union Square Park, while fifth-grader Jack Crain and a reporter for the New York Times, Will Manley, investigate. It was an entertaining read as it is faciniating to see how quickly people follow the herd over small things. Plus this story made me laugh as I know someone named "Will Manley" who works for the city of Tempe.

Shadows in the Darkness by Elaine Cunningham
The first book in the Changeling series by Tor Books, introduces Gwen (GiGi) Gelman, a disgraced vice cop who learns that the Family she's been fighting might be the family she never knew she had. Kind of a cross between Anita Blake & Merry Gentry - written by Laurell K. Hamilton. A lot less sex and violence which is a nice change. I enjoy Hamilton's works but get turned off by the gore and violence with her various characters.

Books by Jeffery Deaver
Featuring detectives Lincoln Rhyme & Amelia Sachs
Bone Collector
Quadriplegic Lincoln Rhyme abandons his forced retirement and joins forces with rookie cop Amelia Sachs to track down a vicious serial killer. This was a very intense and totally had no idea of who dune it mystery. Very well crafted and I can't wait to read another one in this series. This title was made into a movie as well.

Coffin Dancer
Three witnesses to a murder could put a millionaire arms dealer behind bars for good. When one of them, the co-owner of Hudson Air, is blown up in a plane bombing with the Dancer's fingerprints all over it, the FBI takes the other witnesses into protective custody. Only Rhyme can decipher a crime scene, read the residue of a bombing, or identify a handful of dirt well enough to keep up with the killer. Helped by Amelia Sachs, his brilliant and able-bodied assistant, Rhyme traces the Dancer through Manhattan streets, airports, and subways. But in the end nothing is as it seems and it seems that the Coffin Dancer will win once again, or will he? An interesting against-all-odds love affair between Rhyme and Sachs develops and I can't wait to see if anything more happens or not.

Dexter is now a show on Showtime featuring Michael C. Hall from Six Feet Under.

Darkly Dreaming Dexter by Jeff Lindsay
Meet Dexter Morgan. He's a highly respected lab technician specializing in blood spatter for the Miami Dade Police Department. He's a handsome, though reluctant, ladies' man. He's polite, says all the right things, and rarely calls attention to himself. He's also a sociopathic serial killer whose "Dark Passenger" drives him to commit the occasional dismemberment. Mind you, Dexter's the good guy in this story.

Wow! is about all I can say. Very well written and definitely engaging story. The ending was a bit predicible but such an interesting premise. I listened to it on CD and it was very well done.

Dearly Devoted Dexter finally is here!

Dexter's just added his 40th victim, a homicidal pedophile, and is eagerly looking ahead to number 41 but Dexter's nemesis, Sergeant Doakes, is getting a little too close for comfort. So he decides to act normal and starts hanging out with his "girlfriend" Rita & her kids playing games and drinking lite beer. He is almost becoming normal.

His sister Deborah, now a detective for the Miami-Dade Police Department, is called in on a case that even give Dexter pause for thought. A man is found with "everything on [his] body cut off, absolutely everything"—a piece of work that makes Dexter's own tidy killings look like child's play. This madman, nicknamed Danco, spends weeks surgically removing his victims' ears, lips, nose, arms, legs, etc., while keeping them alive to watch their own mutilation. Despite a certain professional admiration for Danco's dexterity, Dexter decides to take on the case. Plus Deborah's boyfriend has been snatched as the latest victim. Danco is after those who turned on him during U.S.'s involvement in South America.

It's the contradictions in Dexter's character that make it all work—he's smart, he's funny, he cares for children, and yet he has no normal human responses or emotions.

Hopefully additional titles will follow.

Books by Meg Cabot
I got to see Meg Cabot speak at my library in January 18, 2005. She was very entertaining speaker. Some fans flew in from New Jersey just to meet her and hear her speak. Over 250 people showed up for the event.

Every Boy's Got One... ~
A day-by-day travel journal intended as a first anniversary present for Jane Harris's best friend, Holly, turns into Jane's rollicking private diary account of the madcap events leading up to Holly and Mark's Italian countryside elopement. We see their travels via Jane's diary, Cal's PDA journal and the hilarious e-mails (aka Blueberries) that whiz through cyberspace between the main characters, their respective family members and one diehard Wonder Cat fan. We get to know Castelfidardo, a small Italian town in the region of Le Marche, which happens to be the accordion-making capital of the world and is replete with unpredictable electricity, dubious public restrooms and bureaucratic snafus that nearly derail the wedding plans. The jaded, bitterly divorced Cal makes a worthy opponent to Jane, whose notions of marriage are much more romantic than his. Cabot's personal epilogue about her own elopement in the Italian countryside—marked by much of the mayhem her main characters encounter—adds spice to this frothy concoction of love, friendship and true romance.

Boy Meets Girl ~ one of her adult novels set in NYC. Kate works for the Human Resources division of New York Journal. She and her best friend have nick named her boss "T.O.D. - Tyrannical Office Despot" as she is gunning for the top and nothing will get in her way of a promotion and marrying a high end lawyer. So when she asks Kate to fire the most popular employee for being disrespectful of certain unpopular employees Kate does what she is told. Now the fired employee is suing the New York Journal and Kate for wrong termination. But then Kate meets the man of her dreams who is the lawyer representing NYJ.

But well with many ups and downs as is typical of Cabot's novels. It always amazes me that her books take place in NYC but it seems like a small town as there everyone seems to know one another. Lots of email and im'ing messages and cute phone conversations. Fun read.

Teen idol ~ High school junior Jenny Greenley is good at solving problems ... so good she's the school newspaper's anonymous advice columnist. Even if solving other people's problems doesn't make her own -- like not having a boyfriend -- go away, it's still fun. But when nineteen-year-old screen sensation Luke Striker comes to Jenny's small town to research a role life suddenly gets complicated. When he persuades Jenny to use her considerable talents to try to change things at school for the better, he creates havoc that even levelheaded Jenny isn't sure she can repair. Now she has to find her own voice and stand up for what she believes in, not just be the person who tries to fix things after they've broken. I enjoyed this book. It reminds me of an older Princess Diaries but I think the characters were much more enjoyable.

All American Girl ~ Samantha Madison is just your average disenfranchised sophomore gal living in D.C. when, in an idle moment sandwiched between cookie-buying and CD-perusing, she puts a stop to an attempt on the life of the president. Before she can say “MTV2” she’s appointed Teen Ambassador to the U.N. and has caught the eye of the very cute First Son. Suddenly she is an overnight sensation. She can survive all the attention from press but can she survive the attention from her classmates and family. What she discovers is that you have to pay attention to really see what is happening around you and there is always more than meets the eye.

Princess Diaries Series
1. Princess Diaries
2. Princess in the Spotlight
3. Princess in Love is the 3rd in the series. Mia has a boyfriend, Kenny, who she really doesn't like let alone kiss. Plus she is in love with her best friend's brother. It is counting down to her introduction to Genovia and she is overloaded with her grandmother's lessons, dress fittings, finals and how to break up with Kenny. As with the others in this series Mia's life is one big drama but oh, so fun to read. Teen anqst is always so enjoyable.
4. Princess in Waiting Mia's royal introduction to Genovia has mixed results: while her fashion sense is widely applauded, her position on the installation of public parking meters is met with resistance. But the politics of bureaucracy are nothing next to Mia's real troubles. Between canceled dates with her long-sought-after royal consort, a second semester of the dreaded Algebra, more princess lessons from Grandmare as a result of the Genovian parking-meter thing, and the inability to stop gnawing on her fingernails, isn't there anything Mia is good at besides inheriting an unwanted royal title? Always good to see how little Mia's sesteemteme has risen as she becomes fixated on thinking that Michael is going to dump her because she is so busy with her princess duties. More lists which are always fun, Buffy mentioned.
4.5 Project Princess ~ Mia & her friends volunteer to build houses for the less fortunate. It doesn't take Mia long to realize that helping others—while an unimpeachably noble pastime—is very hard work. Will her giving spirit prevail? Will the house collapse due to royally clumsy construction? And most importantly, will Michael stop working long enough to kiss her?
5. Princess in Pink ~ Now at the end of her Freshman year Mia tries to get her reluctant boyfriend to take her to the prom. She’s the newest staffer on the school paper, and her miraculous completion of freshman Algebra is just around the corner. Plus she’s about to get a new baby brother or sister. Could things possibly get any better? But as usual her friend Lilly has a mind of her own and stages a workers strike when a handsome bushboy is fired after pouring soup in Grandmare's lap. But with the usual finese things work out just fine for all.
6. Princess Present ~ Now, Princess Mia spends the holidays in Genovia with Grandmère. This year, she’s looking forward to the most perfect Christmas ever: her boyfriend, Michael, and her best friend, Lilly, are coming to Genovia, too. But even a princess’s plans can go awry. Lilly has a lot to learn about palace protocol, and with all the state holiday functions Mia must attend, there’s no time to linger under the mistletoe with Michael. Worst of all, Mia hasn’t been able to find him the perfect gift.
Perfect Princess ~ is kind of an off shoot part of the series. Mia and her Grandmere give advice on how to act and be a princess. Talks about various other princesses from around the world. Cute read for those who love the series.

Tale of Hill Top Farm by Susan Wittig Albert

After purchasing a farm in the Lake District of England, an animal lover attempts to befriend her fellow villagers, while her animal companions solve a baffling mystery, in a mystery tale inspired by the life of Beatrix Potter. In 1905, Beatrix bought a farm in England's beautiful Lake District. The books in this series (eight are planned) follow her adventures as she gradually moves away from her London life as a dutiful Victorian-age daughter, and into an independent life that offers new hopes, new love, and the possibility of self-determination. You will enjoy the authenticity of the historical setting and the details of Beatrix's life, smile at the antics of the animals, and warm to the strong feeling of place and community.

I so enjoy Albert's China Bayles novels so am looking forward to reading more of these novels but hope China will have more books as well.

Tale of Holly How : the cottage tales of Beatrix Potter

Fethering Mystery series by Simon Brett

I love Brett's Mrs. Pargeter's mysteries. So am glad to find another series of his to read.

Body on the Beach ~ Very little disturbs the ordered calm of Fethering, a pleasingly self-contained retirement settlement on England's less than sun-kissed southern coast. Which is precisely why Carole Seddon, who has outlived both her husband and her career at the Home Office, has chosen to reside there. Her peaceful life is turned upside down when she stumbles upon a corpse on the beach while walking her dog and joins forces with her bohemian neighbor, Jude, to find a killer.

Death on the Downs ~ While out exploring the South Downs of a wealthy town, a driving rain forces Carole to seek shelter in an abandoned barn, where she discovers a bag of human bones. The local police are informed, and rumors spread to the effect that the bones might have belonged to a missing young woman named Tamsin. Soon Carole and her somewhat mysterious and exotic friend Jude are busily involved in sussing out information on their own partly for adventure, and partly because Tamsin had once turned to Jude for help. But per usual nothing is as it seems and it becomes much more complicated as Carole discovers that childhood hurts still haunt several of these people. And it may mean the end for Carole.

Torso in the Town ~ A dinner party at a Fedborough mansion with some stuffy, not very close friends is not exactly Jude's cup of tea. But the practically mummified torso of a woman found in the cellar is much more up Jude's alley. So Jude and Carole decide to investigate on their own. Everyone in this town seems so friendly and willing to gossip but are they really what they seem? Everyone has their own secrets to keep.

Blankets by Craig Thompson

An autobiographical comic, intertwins the stories of his relationships with his younger brother, Phil (with whom he had to share blankets as a child), and with his first girlfriend, Raina (with whom he also shared a blanket). Raised by strict Catholic parents, Thompson struggles with his own faith, attracted to the message but repelled by the Church, and his black-and-white art makes use of Christian imagery.

This is one of the first graphic novels that I've ever read. It is over 500 pages which at first is rather daunting but since it is illustrated comic style it flows quickly. His is not a particularly happy life, full of many disappointments but it is interesting to see how his life evolves.

Chasing Vermeer by Blue Balliett
Mixture of mystery, puzzles, possibilities, and art. Brainy 12-year-olds Petra Andalee and Calder Pillay attend the University of Chicago Laboratory School where their teacher's unorthodox methods make learning an adventure. When Vermeer's A Lady Writing disappears on its way to exhibition at the Art Institute of Chicago, the two overcome their adolescent awkwardness and let their friendship bloom, pooling their talents to rescue the masterpiece and expose the thief. Many elements play a role in unraveling the secrets surrounding the crime: Calder's set of pentominoes; his encoded correspondence with his friend Tommy about a missing boy named Frog; and Petra's intuitive communing with the woman in the painting, all augmented by the unusual ideas presented in a strange old book that Petra has found.

Great fun!

Jane Eyre by Charolotte Bronte
Classic Victorian novel of love and being true to one's heart. Told in her own voice, Jane Eyre, tells her own story. The first section of the novel gives her childhood history and then how she came to Thornfield Hall. Jane Eyre becomes a governess in Mr. Rochester's home of Thornfield and falls in love with him before she finds that he has a tragic secret. The second and third sections of the novel are dominated by male figures who symbolize opposing forms of love: Rochester, who stands for physical passion, and St. John, who stands for spiritual passion. At the end of the novel, Rochester, having passed through redemptive fires and having repented of his hubris, can embody the fully integrated masculine self, capable of both physical and spiritual passion.

I listened to this on CD while driving in the car to and from work. I have never really read the entire novel. I was very annoyed at the first half of the book and then became involved in her quandary with what to do with her life. While the ending is a bit melodramatic, it does making a satisfactory one.

Death series by J.D. Robb ~ J.D. Robb is a psedonym for Nora Roberts and writes futuristic romance/mysteries that feature Eve Dallas, a complicated lieutenant for the New York police department in 2054. Eve has no background as she was found when she was about 8 years old with no memory or records of who she was. In each book in the series we discover more about her and about her new husband Roarke. The stories are well-written and interesting as often we see the case from the point of view of the killers. I do find it odd that barely a year has gone by and we're already in book 18. When do they sleep?

23. Born In Death ~ Eve is busy planning her friends' Mavis's babyshower when she is drawn into a double homicide. When a friend of Mavis, who is also pregnant and due any day, goes missing Eve jumps in to find her as well.
22. Memory In Death ~ After a visit from her past, Lt. Eve Dallas walks a tightrope between her professional duties and her private demons.
21. Origin in Death ~ In late 2059, as scientists work to expand the limits of technology, Detective Eve Dallas tracks the cunning, cold-blooded killer of a father and son.
20. Survivor in Death ~ Lieutenant Eve Dallas struggles to solve the murder of a seemingly ordinary family, and protect one small, terrified survivor.
19. Visions in Death ~ Lieutenant Eve Dallas searches the darkest corners of Manhattan for an elusive killer with a passion for collecting souls.
18. Divided in Death ~ When one of his trusted employees, with whom he had been working on a secret government project, becomes the prime suspect in a double homicide, Irish billionaire Roarke enlists the assistance of Lieutenant Eve Dallas to uncover the truth.
17. Remember When
16. Imitation in Death ~ This time Eve confronts a serial killer who masquerades as Jack the Ripper, Ted Bundy and other vicious criminals of the past. Aided by her faithful second-in-command, Peabody (who's nervously awaiting her detective's exam), and supported by her handsome husband Roarke, Eve scours both the country and the past for clues. As with each title we get more info about both Eve & Roarke's past as the murders they solve today help them heal the pain from the past.
15. Portrait in Death
14. Reunion in Death
13. Seduction in Death ~ Eve Dallas takes on a Casanova killer who stalks young women looking for love in a poetry chat room.
12. Betrayal in Death ~ When a maid from the Roarke Palace Hotel is brutally murdered, Detective Eve Dallas must find the killer before he strikes again.
11. Judgment in Death ~ When a cop killer cuts loose in a club called Purgatory, Detective Eve Dallas descends into an underground criminal hell.
10. Witness In Death ~ Eve Dallas is thrust into the spotlight when she becomes the key witness in the brutal murder of a famous actor.
9. Loyalty in Death ~ Eve Dallas returns to face her most ingenious foe - a "secret admirer" who taunts her with letters…and kills without mercy.
8. Conspiracy In Death ~ The pursuit of a serial killer leaves Dallas's job on the line. Now her hands are tied, between a struggle for justice - and a fight for her career.
7. Holiday In Death ~ In the future when computer technology brings lovers together, dating can be a deadly game.
6. Vengeance In Death ~ A madman brutally murders two men - both with ties to an ugly secret shared by Eve's new husband, Roarke.
5. Ceremony In Death ~ In the most dangerous case of her career, every step Eve takes brings her closer to a confrontation with humanity's most seductive form of evil.
4. Rapture In Death ~ An investigation of three apparent suicides draws Eve into the world of virtual reality - where the mind can become the weapon of its own destruction.
3. Immortal In Death ~ A top model is dead - and the suspect is none other than Eve's best friend.
2. Glory In Death ~ In Eve's latest case, two murder victims have one connection: Eve's lover, Roarke.
1. Naked In Death ~ Introducing New York Police Lieutenant Eve Dallas…

Tuesdays with Morrie: an old man, a young man, and life's greatest lesson by Mitch Albom features Albom's relationship with his college mentor, Morrie Schwartz, with whom Albom has lost touch for 16 years. Upon seeing him on the "Nightline" program - talking to Ted Koppel about what it was like to die from Lou Gehrig's disease - Albom was both horrified and ashamed. He called his old teacher, flew to Boston for a reunion, and began a series of weekly visits, rekindling their loving teacher-student relationship while tackling a larger subject in their final "class": the meaning of life. I listened to this on CD in the car and I cried but in a happy way. I really put off reading this book for YEARS! as I just thought it sounded sappy. I am very glad that I gave it a try as I did enjoy it.

Gregor the Overlander by Suzanne Collins
When eleven-year-old Gregor and his two-year-old sister are pulled into a strange underground world, they trigger an epic battle involving men, bats, rats, cockroaches, and spiders while on a quest foretold by ancient prophecy. This was such a fun read, plus the sequel comes out next month! Hurray!

Both of these books are by Simon's Pulse books for teens and have very similar cover styles. These make for very light reading and are kind of original.

How Not to Spend Your Senior Year by Cameron Dokey
Because Jo O'Connor's father is a witness in an ongoing murder investigation, they must leave town and make it appear that they died in a car accident, but Jo can't bear to leave without saying good-bye to her boyfriend, who now thinks she's a ghost.

Ripped at the Seams by Nancy Krulik
Arriving in New York City with dreams of becoming a successful designer, Sami quickly learns that the big city is a lot different than her small town in the Midwest when her ideas are stolen and she is blacklisted from getting another reputable job, yet not willing to quit, Sami regroups and comes up with a plan that gives her all the notoriety she could ever want.

Leon and the Spitting Image by Allen Kurzweil
As Leon Zeisel heads back to school as a fourth grader, he sees nothing but doom and gloom in his future due to the secret teachers’ reports he has recently read, the introduction of his new and uptight teacher, and the realization that Henry Lumpkin, the class bully, is back and ready for action. Leon's new teacher, Miss Hagmeyer, promises more scholastic agony than usual with the announcement of a mysterious yearlong sewing project. Leon, who is all thumbs, is in danger of repeating fourth grade until he creates a doll image of Miss Hagmeyer that exerts a strange power over the teacher herself. Realizing the potential for mayhem, Leon and his friends team up to solve the mystery and defeat the bully with the help of their magical doll. This was a very interesting yet odd book. But I loved all the eyeballs on the inside pages.

Flipped by Wendelin Van Draanen
In alternating chapters, two teenagers describe how their feelings about themselves, each other, and their families have changed over the years. We hear both sides of the same story with very different conclusions. I really enjoyed this novel. Plus there is a cute chick on the front cover.

Monkeewrench by P.J. Tracy (The mother/daughter writing team of P.J. and Traci Lambrecht under the pseudonym of P.J. Tracy) Features Minneapolis detectives Leo Magozzi and Gino Rolseth.

Tall, dark haired and complicated, riding boot-wearing Grace McBride is the fragile heart and soul of a group of oddball computer geeks with a collectively shady past. They are five friends on the run from violence who have banded together to form the successful Minneapolis software company, Monkeewrench. But when someone begins using the grisly scenarios from their new game, Serial Killer, as inspiration for real life murder, it quickly becomes obvious that the horrors of the past have finally caught up with them.

What I liked about this book is that even though I had my suspicions it was a lot more complicated and a bit shocking. I'm looking forward to reading more by this duo.

Live Bait is the 2nd title in this new series. I listened to it on tape. Elderly people are being murdered in Minneapolis, and detectives Leo Magozzi and Gino Rolseth work to solve the case. On the surface it appears to be some kind of crazy serial killer who is going after old people. But as they delve into the details in the victims lives it becomes apparent that the people who were being killed have more in common than what meets the eye. We also have the original characters from the Monkeewrench crew in the story but in a much more background mode.

Another excellent suspenseful thriller by this new writing duo. I can't wait until the new one comes out.

Dead Run is the 3rd title in the series. And it does not disapoint.
Monkeewrench founders Grace MacBride and Annie Belinsky, along with Deputy Sharon Mueller, are driving from Minneapolis to Green Bay, Wisconsin, where they believe a new serial killer is just warming up. When their car breaks down deep in the northern woods, far from civilization and cell-phone towers, a walk through the forest leads them to the crossroads of Four Corners, where they find...absolutely nothing. Something terrible has happened in Four Corners, and the complete absence of life, together with severed phone lines in every building, makes it impossible to find help. Grace, her senses honed by a lifetime of justifiable paranoia, sees the sinister in every detail, and her instincts barely save the three women when they witness a horrifying double murder. Grace, Annie, and Sharon are suddenly running for their lives, while the rest of the Monkeewrench crew, along with Minneapolis cops Leo Magozzi and Gino Rolseth, strike out on a blind search to find them.

This book was very hard to put down as I wanted to see if they could get out alive. Plus the women are the strong ones and able to bring the terrorist threat to it's head. Wow! Right to the end.

Snow Blind #4 in the series.
With the holidays over and the long cold winter looming, January can be a bleak month in Minneapolis. So what better way to bring a little cheer to the good people of the city than sponsoring an old-fashioned snowman-building contest? In a matter of hours, a local park is filled with the innocent laughter of children and their frosty creations. But things take an awful turn when the dead bodies of police officers are discovered inside two of the snowmen – sending the entire department and Detectives Magozzi and Rolseth on high alert.

The next day, Iris Rikker, the newly minted sheriff of rural Dundas County, comes across another body in another snowman. Fearing that Rikker’s inexperience will hamper the investigation, Magozzi and Rolseth head north, in a blizzard, to hunt for clues. As Grace MacBride and her crack computer jocks at Monkeewrench comb the Web for connections, a terrifying link emerges among the dead cops, Magozzi and Rolseth, and Monkeewrench – a link that must be broken before it’s too late.

Ok the Monkeewrench is a red hering! We see more about Magozzi & Rolseth plus the new female sheriff in Dundas County. What this book really comes down to is in regards to domestic violence who is responsible? The person doing the beatings? the police who won't help? the family, friends and neighbors who looks the other way?

What would you do if you could take action into your own hands and punish them all? Read Snow Blind and find out. This was a very interesting look at domestic violence and the consequences. I did not see how this book would end as they did a great job making this look one way and then taking it a 180 turn.

Eugenia Potter series by Virginia Rich (picked up by Nancy Pickard)
Cooking School Murders
In Harrington, Iowa, for her yearly hometown visit, dignified and down-to-earth Mrs. Potter becomes involved in the slashed-throat murder of a student in an advanced cooking class attended by Harrington's elite. We are introduced to Eugenia Potter and the other cast of characters. It is interesting as I read these many years ago and am enjoying it very much.

Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith
Tom Ripley is chosen by the wealthy Herbert Greenleaf to retrieve Greenleaf's son, Dickie, from his overlong sojourn in Italy. Dickie, it seems, is held captive both by the Mediterranean climate and the attractions of his female companion, but Mr. Greenleaf needs him back in New York to help with the family business. With an allowance and a new purpose, Tom leaves behind his dismal city apartment to begin his career as a return escort. But Tom, too, is captivated by Italy. He is also taken with the life and looks of Dickie Greenleaf. He insinuates himself into Dickie's world and soon finds that his passion for a lifestyle of wealth and sophistication transcends moral compunction. Tom will become Dickie Greenleaf--at all costs.

Very interesting. I thought I had read it many years ago but now I'm not sure I did.

Jennifer Government by Max Barry
In a corporate-governed future world where people take the last names of the companies they work for, merchandising officer Hack Nike tries to get out of a contract that requires him to shoot teenagers, a situation that results in his unwitting involvement with an agent who is out to get Hack's employer. I really enjoyed this book. What a hoot!

Lost and Found by Jane Sigaloff
When successful London Lawyer Samantha Washington leaves her diary, which contains a dark secret that could destroy her career, in a New York hotel room, TV producer Ben Fisher walks into her life and seems to know a lot about her, leading Sam to believe that he is now the owner of her diary. Lots of mis-interpretations lead to a funny modern romance.

Ringan Laine series by Deborah Grabien
Weaver and the Factory Maid Coming into ownership of a restored eighteenth-century cottage, British folk musician Ringan Laine discovers that the property is haunted and is assisted by long-time girlfriend Penny in researching the identities of his otherworldly tenants. I liked the premise but it wasn't a prefered read. I will try another one to see if it improves.

Big Bad Wolf Tells All by Donna Kauffman Tanzy Harrington tells all in her online singles column. When her Aunt Millicent orchestrates an up-close-and-personal encounter with Riley Parrish, she rebuffs any niggling inner attraction to the all-too-obviously Clark Kent in ill-fitting clothing. And yet. It's the "and yet" that makes for the delicious two-step Tanzy and Riley dance around each other while he tries to protect her from a predatory online stalker-fan, and she tries to remember why the swingin' single life is her modus operandi.

Jane Austen Book Club by Karen Joy Fowler features five women and one enigmatic man who meet on a monthly basis to discuss the novels of Jane Austen, one at a time. As they debate Marianne's marriage to Brandon and whether or not Charlotte Lucas is gay, they reveal nothing so much as their own "private Austen(s)". Sylvia whose husband, Daniel, has left her after 32 years and three children. Jocelyn, her best friend, never married and now focuses on breeding dogs. Prudie is a French teacher in her late twenties, in possession of a worthy husband yet disoriented by persistent fantasies about sex with other men. Sixty-something Bernadette has decided that she's finally over the hill and can act a little dotty, just let herself go. The beautiful, risk-taking Allegra -- Sylvia and Daniel's lesbian daughter -- has quit speaking to her lover. And Grigg, a middle-aged science fiction fan and computer whiz, is strangely unattached. But then maybe he's gay?

This book was interesting in how much the author gave us glimpses into the various characters personal lives. It was just long enough. I felt very happy after reading it.

Justice Hall by Laurie R. King features Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes. Two old friends reappear, in decidedly different guise: the two “Bedouin” guides from O Jerusalem are in England, caught in a mesh of honor and justice and the death of a young nephew. Quickly Russell & Holmes discover that nothing is quite as it seems and together they will solve this very secret mystery.

Confessions of Max Tivoli by Andrew Sean Greer - set as historical fiction in turn of the century San Francisco. At his birth, Max's father declares him a "nisse," a creature of Danish myth, as his baby son has the external physical appearance of an old, dying creature. Max grows older like any child, but his physical age appears to go backward--on the outside a very old man, but inside still a fearful child. The story is told in three acts. First, young Max falls in love with a neighborhood girl, Alice, who ages as normally as any of us. Max, of course, does not; as a young man, he has an older man's body. But his curse is also his blessing: as he gets older, his body grows younger, so each successive time he finds his Alice, she does not recognize him. She takes him for a stranger, and Max is given another chance at love. This is a very interesting if you can call it love story. It reminded me of the Timetraveler's Wife which I read a few months ago.

Surviving the Applewhites by Stephanie S. Tolan is a Newbery honor book for 2003.

Jake Semple is a scary kid. Word has it that he burned down his old school and then was kicked out of every other school in his home state. Only weeks into September, the middle school in Traybridge, North Carolina, has thrown him out, too. Now there's only one place left that will take him -- a home school run by the most outrageous, forgetful, chaotic, quarrelsome family you'll ever meet. Each and every Applewhite is an artist through and through -- except E.D., the smart, scruffy girl with a deep longing for order and predictability. E.D. and Jake, so nearly the same age, are quickly paired in the family's first experiment in "cooperative education." The two clash immediately, of course. The only thing they have in common is the determination to survive the family's eccentricities. This is such a fun read, I really got to like all the various characters. This story is from both E.D. & Jake's point of view and it flows well. Tolan is such a great author and really stands the test of time.

Animal Dreams by Barbara Kingsolver Codi Noline, her self-confidence flagging after failures in med school and in a relationship, returns home to Grace, Ariz., where she renews a romance, comes to understand her father and worries about her sister, Hallie, who is helping farmers in Nicaragua. This is portrayed in a series of flashbacks for both Codi & her father who is declining from Alzheimers. It is so well written. I read it so long ago when I lived in Tucson so it was fun to read it again.

After dark by Jayne Castle (aka author Jayne Ann Krentz)
A race of aliens once lived on the future Earth colony called Harmony, leaving behind them the ruins of a vast, beautiful, and mysterious culture that is still protected by the psychic illusion traps and eerie ghosts that they created. Lydia Smith is an archaeologist who can resonate and dissolve the illusions, and those talents, combined with her lack of finances and questionable professional reputation, make her the obvious hire for Emmett London, who is trying to track down a lost antique and the nephew who stole it. Lydia's first consulting job quickly turns dangerous, however, as corpses, ghosts, and illusion traps start popping up--not to mention the rather unprofessional electricity between her and her first client. I like her futuristic romances, very fun to read.

After Glow
It's the second time in a month that Lydia Smith has found a dead body. The first time pararchaelogist and museum curator Lydia became tangled up in a murder investigation it brought her together with her current paramour, ghost hunter Emmett London. So naturally Lydia thinks of Emmett when she stumbles across the body of her former professor, Lawrence Maltby. While the police believe Maltby's death was caused by his drug addiction, Lydia doesn't buy it. So with Emmett's help, she pursues her own investigation even as she tries to figure out exactly what kind of a relationship she and Emmett have.

It is a good follow-up to the previous books and it's fun to be back in the futuristic world of Harmony.

Smoke in Mirrors by Jayne Ann Krentz a well known romance suspence author. I have read many of her books. This title features Leonora Hutton who is investigating her half-sister's, Meredith's supposidly accidental death. When she gets a delayed email from the grave she knows that Meredith was murdered. She meets Thomas Walker who is also looking into another related death of his sister-in-law Bethany. His brother Deke Walker doesn't believe his wife's supposed suicide. Were these women murdered and if so why and by whom? Lots of romance, more deaths and finally an ending that is not easy to foresee. I prefer her science fiction romances but this was fun.

Angel Factory by Terence Blacker
Twelve-year-old Thomas Wisdom's seemingly perfect life with his peaceful British family begins to fall apart after he learns that he was adopted and that his parents and sister are really angels sent to Earth to prevent humanity from destroying itself. Their plan is to recruit adopted children and persuade them to cooperate with the Project by using brainwashing, threats, and even violence. When he discovers that even the President of the United States is an angel, Thomas doesn't know whom to trust. Then he is forced to make a decision–whether or not to go along with the Project. He discovers that nothing is like it seems and has to decide who to trust. A very engaging YA novel.

Earlene Fowler Bennie Harper Mysteries
1. Fool's Puzzle
2. Irish Chain
3. Kansas Troubles
4. Goose in the Pond
5. Dove in the Window
6. Mariner's Compass
7. Seven Sisters
8. Arkansas Traveler
9. Steps to the Altar
10. Sunshine and Shadow
11. Broken Dishes

Keepsakes Crimes by Laura Childs
Carmela's life is having its ups and downs. Her scrapbooking shop is doing well, but she's been separated from her husband for six months. She's trying to put that behind her and enjoy Mardi Gras.

While attending a parade with her friend Ava, she is shocked to see the body of a friend lowered from a float, dead. She's even more surprised to learn that Shamus, her husband, is the chief suspect. She doesn't believe he could really be the killer, so she sets out to see what she can learn.

Needlecraft Mysteries by Monica Ferris
1. Crewel World
2. Framed In Lace
3. A Stitch in Time
4. Unraveled Sleeve
5. A Murderous Yarn
6. Hanging by a Thread
Betsy is still new enough to Excelsior, Minnesota, to not know a scandal when she causes one. So, when she hires Foster Johns to fix her roof, the resulting uproar has her needled. The whole town has pinned a five-year-old unsolved double murder on him. Betsy believes Johns when he says he isn't guilty. But she'll have to use every stitch of her sleuthing skills to tie up all the loose ends that will prove his innocence once and for all. This included both knitting and stitchery. Very fun and the mystery was pretty good as well. I started with this one so will go back and see what the early ones were about.
7. Cutwork