Unlikely friendships : 47 remarkable stories from the animal kingdom by Jennifer S. Holland.

Written by National Geographic magazine writer Jennifer Holland, Unlikely Friendships documents one heartwarming tale after another of animals who, with nothing else in common, bond in the most unexpected ways. A cat and a bird. A mare and a fawn. An elephant and a sheep. A snake and a hamster. The well-documented stories of Koko the gorilla and All Ball the kitten; and the hippo Owen and the tortoise Mzee. And almost inexplicable stories of predators befriending prey-an Indian leopard slips into a village every night to sleep with a calf. A lionness mothers a baby oryx. These are the most amazing friendships between species, collected from around the world and documented in a selection of full-color candid photographs.

I became aware of this book because of Freekibble.com and their reference to this youtube video Crow and Kitten are friends.  Which has just became a children's book called Cat and Crow: an amazing friendship.

These kind of stories always make me cry and this was no exception.  The photographs are great and show the animals in their natural environments.  I'm just a sucker for unlikely friendships.

Object of Beauty by Steve Martin

Lacey Yeager is an ambitious young art dealer who uses everything at her disposal to advance in the world of the high-end art trade in New York City. After cutting her teeth at Sotheby's, she manipulates her way up through Barton Talley's gallery of "Very Expensive Paintings," sleeping with patrons, and dodging and indulging in questionable deals, possible felonies, and general skeeviness until she opens her own gallery in Chelsea. Narrated by Lacey's journalist friend, Daniel Franks, whose droll voice is a remarkable stand-in for Martin's own, the world is ordered and knowable, blindly barreling onward until 9/11. And while Lacey and the art she peddles survive, the wealth and prestige garnered by greed do not. Martin (an art collector himself) is an astute miniaturist as he exposes the sound and fury of the rarified Manhattan art world.

Read this based on recommendation of my bookclub at work.  While I enjoyed the concept of the book I didn't particularly enjoy reading it.  I found the characters very unlikeable and the story difficult to follow.  It was strange how it was written in first person but not by the person the book was about.  I had read Shopgirl years ago so was interested in seeing how these compared.  Yawn....

Family Fang by Kevin Wilson

Performance artists Caleb and Camille Fang dedicated themselves to making great art. But when an artist’s work lies in subverting normality, it can be difficult to raise well-adjusted children. Just ask Buster and Annie Fang. For as long as they can remember, they starred (unwillingly) in their parents’ madcap pieces. But now that they are grown up, the chaos of their childhood has made it difficult to cope with life outside the fishbowl of their parents’ strange world.

When the lives they’ve built come crashing down, brother and sister have nowhere to go but home, where they discover that Caleb and Camille are planning one last performance–their magnum opus–whether the kids agree to participate or not. Soon, ambition breeds conflict, bringing the Fangs to face the difficult decision about what’s ultimately more important: their family or their art.

I chose this book for my bookmongers group as it sounded intriguing from the reviews I had read.  I'm kind of torn as I liked it but it was difficult to read.  The story jumps from teh past which chapters include "works of art" featuring Child A & B and/or the parents. Then it would be to the current time where we see how Child A (Annie) and Child B (Buster) have turned out.   Sadly both are more messed up than they were as children.  I think that was the most difficult part seeing how they both struggled with dealing with their emotions and lives.  It got worse as they both went home to live with their parents and how things really hadn't changed.  You always hear that saying "some people shouldn't have children" and the parents were a complete image of it.  I liked it and it sticks with me but it was painful at the same time.

Queen & Country: The Definitive Edition, Vol. 1 by Greg Rucka, Steve Rolston, Brian Hurtt and Leandro Fernandez

This collection introduces SIS field agent Tara Chase who is sent all over the world in service to her Queen & Country.  Meanwhile Director of Operations Paul Crocker walks a narrow tightrope between his loyalty to his people and the political masters that must be served. 

It's always interesting to read these collections as each chapter can vary stylewise as different illustrations illustrate each chapter since this originally came out as separate issues.  This very much feels like MI-5 which is one of my husband's favorite shows.

Beauty and the Squat Bears by Emile Bravo

When the queen's magic mirror declares that Snow White is the fairest in the land, Snow flees the kingdom and finds herself at the doorstep of the seven squat bears' cabin! But the squat bears aren't interested in harboring fugitive princesses. The best place for a beautiful princess is with a prince!



Setting off to find a prince, the squat bears quickly learn that the lives of royalty are far more trying than they seem! One prince has lived as a bird for seven years thanks to a sorceress's curse. One prince is heartbroken after learning that the woman of his dreams is actually a cinder-covered housemaid. One prince was transformed into a hideous beast and scares every princess who comes near. So which one will walk away with Snow White on his arm?

Very funny graphic novel rendition of Snow White and the 7 Dwarfs.  I had to admit it was a lot more funny than I expected as the expressions on the squat bears and meeting with all the various Princes was hysterical.   I like fairy tales varients and this is a new format that I had not thought of before.

Vicky Hill Exclusive! by Hannah Dennison

Novice newswoman Vicky Hill is desperate to get a front page exclusive. But she is stuck reporting on the funerals in the small village of Gipping-on-Plym in England while Annabel Lake, who was hired after Vicky, gets sent on all the best assignments.



But when Annabel faces a bout of food poisoning, Vicky jumps on the chance and takes on of her tips. The dustman has found some mutilated chicken corpses, and he things something may be afoot.


Meanwhile, Vicky must cover the funeral of Sir Hugh Trewallyn, a local aristocrat and hedge jumping enthusiast. But why is Vicky's land lady hiding in the bushes outside the church? Who is the strange man the widow attacks after the service? Did Sir Hugh really die of natural causes? And how does all this tie into those chickens?

This is a very scattered kind of cozy but not really a cozy.  Cozies are usually low on murder and gore and sex.  This was low on murder but lots of sexual inuendos that got old really quick.  I liked aspects of this story but found the main character's obsesson of losing her virginity (didn't matter if with a male of female) became rather off putting.  Not sure if I really want to read any more or not now that I've let it sink in.

Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese

Marion and Shiva Stone are twin brothers born of a secret union between a beautiful Indian nun and a brash British surgeon at a mission hospital in Addis Ababa Ethiopia. It becomes Missing Hospital as the natives cannot distinguish the words. Orphaned by their mother’s death in childbirth and their father’s disappearance, the twins come of age as Ethiopia hovers on the brink of revolution. Raised by 2 surgeons, Ghosh and Hema, both from India they came together to work in Missing hospital.  Ghosh has loved Hema from afar but the birth brings them closer until their love merges and together they raise the twins. Insuring in the twins a love of medicine.  But while identical, Marion and Shiva are as different as their names.

As they grow their passion for the same woman tears them apart and force Marion, fresh out of medical school, to flee his homeland. He makes his way to America, finding refuge in his work as an intern at an underfunded, overcrowded New York City hospital. When the past catches up to him—nearly destroying him—Marion must entrust his life to the two men he thought he trusted least in the world: the surgeon father who abandoned him and the brother who betrayed him.

I partially listened to it on CD and mostly read it for my work bookclub.  I could not put it down after awhile, I just had to know how it would end.  I do not enjoy family saga books and do not care for medical descriptions but these were done so beautifully I found myself fascinated by the story.  Verghese has an extensive bibliography at the end of the novel and you can see how he developed the story and shows his love of medicine and for Ethiopia.

To the Power of Three by Laura Lippman

Josie, Perri, and Kat have been inseparable best friends since third grade -- the athlete, the brilliant, acerbic drama queen, and the popular beauty with a heart that is open to all around her. They live in an affluent suburb of Baltimore and enjoy privileges many teenagers are denied. But on the final day of school one of them brings a gun with her. And when the police break down the door of the high school girls' bathroom, locked from the inside, they find two of the friends wounded, one of them critically -- and the third girl is dead.

This was my first stand alone title by Laura Lippman.  It is so different than her Tess Monaghan series that I wasn't sure if I would enjoy it or not.  Plus with the main storyline told from the point of view of a teenager I was worried it might be too angst driven.  But boy was I wrong as the story unfolds I begun to see the complexity of these 3 girls and how their lives intertwined until the tragic ending.  Is there really a bad person in this story, I'm not really sure. 

I'm a fan of Laura Lippman because of her series but now I'm a fan of her stand alones as well.

Love in a Nutshell by Janet Evanovich and Dorien Kelly  

So Kate takes matters into her own hands and confronts Matt Culhane (owner of the beer) and demands that he hires her since his mistake cost her job.  So Matt decides to use Kate to spy on his brewery employees. Someone has been sabotaging his company, and Kate is just new enough in town that she can insert herself into Culhane’s business and snoop around for him. If Kate finds the culprit, Matt will pay her a $20,000 bonus. Needless to say, Kate is highly motivated. But several problems present themselves. Kate despises beer and finds out she is very allergic. No one seems to trust her, plus she is falling hard for her boss.

Can these two smoke out a saboteur, save Kate’s family home, and keep a killer from closing in…all while resisting their undeniable attraction to one another?  Plus Kate has to deal with her parents who suddenly show up for a Thanksgiving family gathering and decide to relive their memories from the Nutshell.

 

Now this is not up there with Stephanie Plum as it didn't have those laugh-out-loud moments.  But it was fun and entertaining and I wanted to know what happened to the characters.  I'm sure that Evanovich used her name to help sell this book but I think that Dorien Kelly can carry her own.  Looking forward to others by this fresh and fun author.

Kate Appleton needs a job. Her husband has left her, she’s been fired from her position as a magazine editor, and the only place she wants to go is to her parents’ summer house, The Nutshell, in Keene’s Harbor, Michigan. Kate’s plan is to turn The Nutshell into a Bed and Breakfast. Problem is, she needs cash, and she just lost her job due to bad beer being delivered to the bar she was working at.

Explosive Eighteen by Janet Evanovich

Featuring Stephanie Plum

Before Stephanie can even step foot off Flight 127 Hawaii to Newark, she’s knee deep in trouble. Her dream vacation turned into a nightmare, and she’s flying back to New Jersey solo. Worse still, her seatmate never returned to the plane after the L.A. layover. Now he’s dead, in a garbage can, waiting for curbside pickup. His killer could be anyone. And a ragtag collection of thugs and psychos, not to mention the FBI, are all looking for a photograph the dead man was supposed to be carrying.



Only one other person has seen the missing photo—Stephanie Plum. Now she’s the target, and she doesn’t intend to end up in a garbage can. With the help of an FBI sketch artist Stephanie re-creates the person in the photo. Unfortunately the first sketch turns out to look like Tom Cruise, and the second sketch like Ashton Kutcher. Until Stephanie can improve her descriptive skills, she’ll need to watch her back.


Over at the bail bonds agency things are going from bad to worse. The bonds bus serving as Vinnie’s temporary HQ goes up in smoke. Stephanie’s wheelman, Lula, falls in love with their largest skip yet. Lifetime arch nemesis Joyce Barnhardt moves into Stephanie’s apartment. And everyone wants to know what happened in Hawaii?


Morelli, Trenton’s hottest cop, isn’t talking about Hawaii. Ranger, the man of mystery, isn’t talking about Hawaii. And all Stephanie is willing to say about her Hawaiian vacation is . . . It’s complicated.

I always enjoy a new Stephanie Plum novel, they make for easy weekend reading.  I know people say these are past but I still find myself reading the latest ones and never disappointed.  I'm also looking forward to the movie coming out soon.

Twelve Drummers Drumming by C. C. Benison

Several months after his wife's still unsolved homicide in London, Reverend Tom "Father" Christmas accompanied by his nine year old daughter Miranda, fans of the French version of Nancy Drew, visit his sister-in-law Julia Hennis the music teacher and her husband Alastair the physician Thornford Regis. When Vicar Peter Kinsey failed to arrive to lead the services for the late Ned Skynner at St. Nicholas Church, Father Christmas conducts the ceremony. Tom takes over the vacated position of village vicar.

The Christmas pair finds life in the village soothing as they heal from their loss. However, at the fair, someone murders the daughter of the choirmaster; Sybella Parry's body is found inside a large drum. Although most locals assume drugs were involved in the homicide, Tom thinks otherwise. As he makes inquiries and uses the confessional to gather information, Tom finds several suspects who could easily have killed the teenager.

Now Father Christmas aka Tom feels compelled to discover the truth as the unsovled murder of his wife hangs heavy in his heart. This move to a quiet village was supposed to make both he and his daughter more secure and heal.  

Interesting dynamics with Tom and the dealings of the small town folks make this a fun yet complex mystery. Reminds me of the Agatha Christy Miss Marple mysteries where there is always more than meets the eye.

Nursery Rhyme Comics: 50 Timeless Rhymes from 50 Celebrated Cartoonists

By cartoonists Nick Abadzis; Andrew Arnold; Kate Beaton; Vera Brosgol; Nick Bruel; Scott Campbell; Lilli Carre; Roz Chast; JP Coovert; Jordan Crane; Rebecca Dart; Eleanor Davis; Vanessa Davis; Theo Ellsworth; Matt Forsythe; Jules Feiffer; Bob Flynn; Alexis Frederick-Frost; Ben Hatke; Gilbert Hernandez; Jaime Hernandez; Lucy Knisley; David Macaulay; Mark Martin; Patrick McDonnell; Mike Mignola; Tony Millionaire; Tao Nyeu; George O’Connor; Mo Oh; Eric Orchard; Laura Park; Cyril Pedrosa; Lark Pien; Aaron Renier; Dave Roman; Marc Rosenthal; Stan Sakai; Richard Sala; Mark Siegel; James Sturm; Raina Telgemeier; Craig Thompson; Richard Thompson; Sara Varon; Jen Wang; Drew Weing; Gahan Wilson; Gene Luen Yang; Stephanie Yue; and an introduction by Leonard Marcus.


This collection brings together 50 known cartoonists to illustrate 50 famous nursery rhymes in their own unique styles. Some give quite literal illustrations, while others take things in a completely original direction. All present something fun and curious to read though, with fantastic and fanciful drawings on every page.  They range from from the incredible cuteness of the donkey lifting his horn "To wake the world this sleepy morn" so expertly portrayed by Patrick McDonnell, to Lucy Knisley's decidedly different visual take on There Was and Old Woman Who Lived in A Shoe. The old woman in this version is Ruth of Ruth's Rock n Roll Babysitting Service. Ruth is an old woman wearing a skull t-shirt and sporting tattoos on both arms. Her rock band is the whips, and the kids sleep off an afternoon of rock and roll till their parents come and pick them up. Quite a few of the comics are faithful interpretations of each rhyme, such as The Itsy Bitsy Spider. There's a spider, there's a spout and he gets all washed out, the only addition is that he's carrying luggage. Cute stuff! Jack Be Nimble is mad because he jumped over a candlestick - the last frame shows a decidedly red bottom! Solomon Grundy is a bit creepy, and Croak said the Toad is just beautifully illustrated.

This collection is great fun, I purchased to send to my niece and nephews and hope they laugh out loud as much as I did.

Marcelo in the real world by Francisco X. Stork

Seventeen-year-old Marcelo Sandoval is on the high-functioning end of the autism spectrum. He is comfortable at Patterson, his school for students with different abilities, and is looking forward to working with the school's horses in the upcoming year.  His entire life changes the summer his father insists that he work in his law firm's mailroom-the "real" world-if he wants to return to his school in the fall. Marcelo learns, with the help of his compassionate co-worker, Jasmine, and a case that he is drawn to after finding a picture of a girl with a half a face, that not everything in the real world is as it appears.

Marcelo harbors an obsession with religion (he regularly meets with a plainspoken female rabbi, though he's not Jewish); hears "internal" music; and sleeps in a tree house.  But Marcelo sees things are they really are and knows when he finds a photograph that an injustice has been done by the law firm his father owns. 

I've read several books now (or I should say listened to as all have been on CD) Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time and Speed of Dark and think I found this the most compelling as Marcelo seems like a real person who you could imagine working in your office or seeing in your neighborhood.   I've enjoyed all these novels and really found this story engaging.

Unsinkable Walker Bean by Aaron Renier


Bespectacled Walker Bean has listened to his grandfather's tales of adventure on the open seas. Now Walker finds himself smack-dab in the middle of his own thrilling escapade when his ailing grandfather asks him to return a human skull to a trench deep in the ocean floor. Once part of a skeleton of a witch's enemy, this skull has now been transformed into pearl. Armed with his grandfather's journal, an amazing message bottle, assistance from a few trusted friends, and his own clever and inventive mind, Walker braves pirates, evil witches, and his own fears in this tale of derring-do and skullduggery.

Along the way Walker meets up with pirates, a mysterious doctor, and two ancient merwitches that want the skull back and will do all they can to get it.


I've tried to read this a few times and this time I got through the first 2 pages. In the past it always seemed too confusing to read but this time it just started to flow. I did find myself really enjoying it and wanting to know how it would end. Now I’m looking forward to reading the next installment.

Catching fire by Suzanne Collins

2nd book in the Hunger Games trilogy.

Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark have just settled into their lives back in district 12 as co-winners of the 74th games.  But President Snow pays Katniss a surprise visit to inform her he knows they are faking their love that things are going to change.  And change they do as the Capital starts imposing harsher and more violent laws on the districts.  As Katniss & Peeta go on their 12 district journey they see more and more civil unrest.

But when the 75th Hunger Games are announced Katniss knows her days are numbered as all living winners will be in these games to the death and there can be only one winner!  But this time the winners all know each other so what will be the outcome and can Katniss keep Peeta alive?  The book leaves us with a burning desire to read the final book in the triology.

I finally made myself read the 2nd book as while I did really enjoy the 1st one I wasn't sure I wanted to be sucked in and now I can't wait until I read the final book.  Thank goodness it is already out.

Double Dexter by Jeff Lindsay

Latest adventure featuring our favorite serial killer - Dexter Morgan.  While on the surface he appears to be a normal family man who works for the Miami PD blood-spatter expert at night he kills evil people in his spare time.  Yes, you might find yourself cheering on the killer but he only kills really bad people.

While serving up brutal justice to his latest victim (a serial child abuser and killer), Dexter was seen. He barely caught a glimpse of the car as it sped away, but he knows that somewhere out there is a witness. At first he panics, but then his cold, clinical side takes over, and he thinks: I work for the police department, and in my hidden life, I'm an expert at tracking down people who don't want to be found. So he decides: he'll find the witness and dispense with him.

But Dexter underestimated the witness has he discovers that he might just be as devious and maybe even more so than Dexter.  As at every turn Dexter is one step behind and then finds himself implicated in a coworker's murder.

Dexter is one of my favorite series and I always am ready for the new book to come out.  This did take me awhile to get into as much of the book is him self-evaluating the situations.  Plus his wife Rita just drives me nuts by how badly she communicates and she's seemed to have become a closet alcoholic.  But thankfully this book ends with the right amount of craziness and violence that makes us read on.  Plus as my former carpooler would say "there is a great shark scene".

Suite française by Irène Némirovsky

Beginning in Paris on the eve of the Nazi occupation in 1940. Suite Française tells the remarkable story of men and women thrown together in circumstances beyond their control. As Parisians flee the city, human folly surfaces in every imaginable way: a wealthy mother searches for sweets in a town without food; a couple is terrified at the thought of losing their jobs, even as their world begins to fall apart. Moving on to a provincial village now occupied by German soldiers, the locals must learn to coexist with the enemy—in their town, their homes, even in their hearts.

The first, "Storm in June," chronicles the connecting lives of a disparate clutch of Parisians, among them a snobbish author, a venal banker, a noble priest shepherding churlish orphans, a foppish aesthete and a loving lower-class couple, all fleeing city comforts for the chaotic countryside, mere hours ahead of the advancing Germans. The second, "Dolce," set in 1941 in a farming village under German occupation, tells how peasant farmers, their pretty daughters and petit bourgeois collaborationists coexisted with their Nazi rulers.

When Irène Némirovsky began working on Suite Française, she was already a highly successful writer living in Paris. But she was also a Jew, and in 1942 she was arrested and deported to Auschwitz, where she died at the age of 39.

For sixty-four years, this novel remained hidden and unknown.  What is really most fascinating is that she wrote this during the time of the war and Nazi occupation, not just as historical fiction after the fact.  So I was very suprised by the emotions it brought and the saddness I felt knowing we would never know how the other 3 suites would be.

Both stories are intertwined with characters and the situation but very different tones. I have to say I really hated the first suite as the majority of the characters were so terrible but when they started getting killed off with almost comical ways I had to keep reading.

Taste of the nightlife by Sarah Zettel

First in a the series - Vampire Chef

Charlotte Caine is a human chef who runs a restaurant with her vampire brother Chet called Nightlife which caters to the "paranormals" as vampires, witches and warlocks, and werewolves who live among humans are called. When a celebrity restaurant critic, who happens to be a vampire, shows up Charlotte knows a postive review from him could mean instant success. But a drunk warlock shows up the same night and casts a spell that almost burns the building down, dashing any hope of a good review. Then the same drunk turns up murdered on the restaurant doorstep. Evidence points to Chet as the killer and as Charlotte struggles to clear his name, she discovers she must put her trust in a handsome warlock and a charming vampire who are also rivals for her heart.

I picked this up at the library as i was intrigued by the concept and I really enjoyed it.  I don't know if it will be the kind of series I want to read more of but it definitely fit my mood at the time and if I see additional titles come out I'll give it a try.

The Cat, the professor, and the poison by Leann Sweeney

Cat lover Jillian Hart already has her hands full taking care of four preemie kittens at Mercy Animal Sanctuary's office with Deputy Candace Carson.  But when she rides along with Candace to answer a milk cow disappears from a neighbor's farm call she follows a cat to a nearby farm and leads to the discovery of a huge number of needy stray cats and the body of a professor. 

But while the professor seemed kind of crazy who would want the professor dead? What is the connection between the professor and all the stray cats? The more Jillian investigates, the more determined she is to solve the case. Jillian might just need a little help from her cats to solve this one. When cats' welfare is at stake, cats can depend on Jillian Hart!

I have to say I enjoyed this book even more than the first book I read a few months ago.  The characters are much more developed and with the introduction of her dead husband's daughter, Kara it brings a fresh perspective to the series.   This is a fun and relaxing series and I admire the character Jillian as she really tries to practice what she preaches.

Strings Attached by Judy Blundell

Set in 1950, seventeen year old Kit Corrigan has fled from her family in Providence, Rhode Island, and she's broken off her tempestuous relationship with a boy named Billy, who's enlisted in the army.  She now works as a chorus girl in a Broadway show that's so tiny that well, she's barely clinging onto her dream and she's pretty much a nobody in New York.  It's so bad that she lives with one of the other chorus girl's parents couch.


Never make deals with the devil, of this case a Mob lawyer.  When Nate (Billy's father) offers her an apartment, Kit jumps at the chance to leave the hard life behind but her gut tells her differently. There's always a catch and this one a pretty big one.  If she wants the apartment, she'll have to get back in contact with Billy and do a couple small favors for Nate.

So with Nate's help she suddenly becomes a somebody. She gets a job as a Lido girl (working at a nightclub and dancing), has her own apartment, and gets a brand new wardrobe.  But small clues point to something more sinister.  When she finally writes Billy he immediately comes back on leave and feelings inevitably resurface.

A lot of the story is told through flashbacks - most only a few months old.  We learn what makes Kit the woman she is becoming and why she had to leave everyone behind she loved to follow her dream of becoming a Broadway star.

I liked the noir aspects of the story and this really has a YA feel as the sexual overtones are very subtle.  Blundell does a great job giving the flavor of the time and life in New York City.  She has a bibliography at the end that makes me want to read more about this time period.