Moon over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool

2011 Newbery winner

Twelve-year-old Abilene Tucker is the daughter of a drifter who, in the summer of 1936, sends her to stay with an old friend in Manifest, Kansas, where he grew up.  Having heard stories about Manifest, Abilene is disappointed to find that it's just a dried-up, worn-out old town. But her disappointment quickly turns to excitement when she discovers a hidden cigar box full of mementos, including some old letters that mention a spy known as the Rattler. These mysterious letters send Abilene and her new friends, Lettie and Ruthanne, on an honest-to-goodness spy hunt, even though they are warned by the locals and a mysterious letter left in her treehouse to "leave everything be".  But Abilene throws all caution aside when she heads down the mysterious Path to Perdition to pay a debt to the reclusive Miss Sadie, a diviner who only tells stories from the past. It seems that Manifest's history is full of colorful and shadowy characters--and long-held secrets. The more Abilene hears, the more determined she is to learn just what role her father played in that history. And as Manifest's secrets are laid bare one by one, Abilene begins to weave her own story into the fabric of the town.

I wasn't sure if I was going to enjoy yet another historical fiction set in the depression but I found the stories fascinating.  The only thing I could have done without was the constant rhymes the main character chants through out the story.  But overall a heartwarming story.

Burning of her Sin by Patty G. Henderson

Featuring Brenda Strange - 1st in the series
Meet Brenda Strange. Wealthy. Dead Ringer for Princess Diana. Brenda Strange has a great life, looks, money and a great job. She's is a lawyer and she's just been made junior partner. All is changed in the blink of an eye when a crazed gunman goes on a killing spree and she becomes one of the victims and is seriously injured.

Brenda, literally, is pulled back from deaths door to find she has a strange psychic abilities.  She decides to leave her life as a lawyer and focus on making miniature teddy bears in her brother, Timmy's memory.  During her near death experience she saw her young brother who died when she was a child.
Brenda and her lover Tina, decide to buy an old Victorian house in Tampa, something Brenda has wanted to do for a long time. Tina hopes this will help Brenda's recuperation.  They will split their time between Florida and New York.  Brenda was drawn to the house from the beginning. After they move in, the mystery begins and Brenda will not rest until it's solved. To top it all Brenda's mom is diagnosed with cervical cancer and is torn between her obsession with the house and dealing with her emotions.

I have heard about this series for years and never made time to read it.  I wouldn't say it was my favorite lesbian mystery but definitely not as graphic as some I've read over the years.  I want to try some others to see how the series develops as I do enjoy a good occult mystery.

Lucky breaks by Susan Patron

Lucky is about to turn 11 and she knows that this is a special birthday. She's ready to be intrepid, which isn't easy in Hard Pan, California, with a population of 43. Her best friend Lincoln is still tying knots, his little brother Miles is an endearing genius, and Brigitte, her French-born new mother, is studying how to become more American and a good new parent for Lucky. When Paloma, a fun and smart girl tagging along with a group of geologists, comes to Brigitte's cafe, Lucky knows she would be a perfect best friend. The trouble is that Lucky must overcome many obstacles, including Paloma's overprotective parents, tomato worms, and her own decidedly not sensible decisions.

I so enjoyed the prequel "The higher power of Lucky" which won the Newbery in 2007.  So it was great fun to read this sequel and now I'll need to look for the 3rd book of the triology.  I listened to it on CD and the reader did a good job plus there was an author interview at the end of the CD.

Luz sees the light  by Claudia Dávila

Everyday scenarios teach Luz how to live with less impact on the environment. Her neighborhood experiences blackouts due to excessive electricity use, gas prices are so high that her family has to ride bikes to the mall, and her mother buys local foods at the supermarket to save money. Eventually, the 12-year-old is inspired to turn a vacant lot into a community garden.

Cute graphic novel teaching the importance of the environment and being involved with one's community.  At first I was a bit annoyed by Luz being so oblivous to what was happening around her and only interested in earning money for expensive sneakers.  But as she started paying attention and being aware of how her actions were impacting her community and environment.  This would be great for grade school kids.  

The professor's daughter illustrated by Emmanuel Guibert ; story by Joann Sfar ; translated by Alexis Siegel.

Graphic novel featuring the tumultuous courtship of a pair of Victorian lovers, one of whom happens to be an ancient Egyptian pharaoh. Lillian, daughter of an eminent Egyptologist, and the mummified Imhotep IV turn more than a few heads when they venture out in public, and their affair is complicated when she accidentally poisons two police officers. After turning herself in, she is thrown in jail and tried for murder. When Imhotep is caught trying to rescue her, he, too, must face a judge and jury. Both Lillian's and Imhotep's fathers attempt to save their children and set things right. Imhotep's father takes an extreme approach, abducting Queen Victoria and tossing her into the Thames.

This graphic novel was a real hoot, I loved when Imhotep talked to his father in egyptian hieroglyphics. 

Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns) by Mindy Kaling

Mindy Kaling has lived many lives: the obedient child of immigrant professionals, a timid chubster afraid of her own bike, a Ben Affleck–impersonating Off-Broadway performer and playwright, and, finally, a comedy writer and actress prone to starting fights with her friends and coworkers.  Mindy invites readers on a tour of her life and her unscientific observations on romance, friendship, and Hollywood, with several conveniently placed stopping points for you to run errands and make phone calls.

I listened to the audio version which is recorded by Mindy and slightly adapted to fit an audio version.  I had read reviews but wasn't sure I could handle an entire book spoken by Mindy but was pleasantly suprised by how much I enjoyed it and laughed out loud.  It was perfect for listening to in the car.  Plus I learned that she is really a comedy writer and became an actress from writing for the show.  I found her book really empowering and made me like her so much more.  I loved how she wrote about her upbringing and being an overweight woman.  It felt very real.

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.