REVIEW - THRILL KILLERS - RAYMOND PINGITORE

This is my last book for the Suspense & Thrillers Reading Challenge.

"Thrill Killers" by Raymond Pingitore
(from inside flap)
Gripping and terrifying until the very last scene, this true crime chiller begins in the early morning hours of June 9, 2000. Amy Shute and Jason Burgeson are saying goodnight to each other after a night out dancing with friends at a popular downtown club in Providence, Rhode Island. They were talking beside Burgeson's SUV when ten gaping eyes with malicious intentions fell on them withour their knowing; young men their own age who had been prowling the streets of Providence all night looking for victims to make some money off. They had fatened on Amy and Jason earlier in the evening, and now the young couple were alone in a desolate parking lot, making them prime targets. They forced Amy and Jason into the backseat of the truck and drove to a remote and inaccessible area of the local golf course, where the couple were ordered out of the vehicle and told to kneel down on the ground as the thugs acoured thier belongings for anything of value.

"They saw my face," one of the men observed. "We have to kill them!"

MY THOUGHTS: It grabs you from the first page until you have finished the book. This is about 2 young people who are just starting to get to know each other. They are out on a date with some friends. They are standing next to the truck just talking and then they are kidnapped. Taken to a remote area and killed for $18 and a truck. There is no reason why this crime was committed other than the face the 5 people that killed them where out to make some money. Amy and Jason were in the wrong place at the wrong time. That's the only conclusion I could make. But the worst is that that wrong place had an impact on their family, the community, the police officers, and to some extent the 5 people that killed them. From one bad choice it changed the lives of everyone.

MY RATING: 5

This is my wrap up of the Suspense & Thrillers Reading Challenge. This is the list of books I read for this challenge.

1. True Life Thrillers
Thrill Killers – Raymond Pingitore

2. Religious Thriller
The Last Oracle - James Rollins
3. Historical Thriller
The Bone Garden – Tess Gerritsen

4. Drama Thriller
Only the Cat Knows – Marian Babson

5. Serial Killer Thriller
A Circle of Souls – Preetham Grandhi

6. Horror Thriller
City of Bones – Cassandra Clare

7. Conspiracy Thriller
Thief of Hearts – Tess Gerritsen

8. Forensic mystery
Grave Secrets - Kathy Reichs

9. Comic Thriller
Finger Lickin' Fifteen - Janet Evanovich

10. Amateur Detective Mystery
Dead Man's Bones - Susan Wittig Albert

11. Police Procedural Thriller
City of Bones - Michael Connelly

12. Psychological Thriller
Retribution - Jillian Hoffman

You can see my reviews of any of these books by clicking on the title. That will take you right to the review page of that book.

A-Z WEDNESDAY

What is A-Z Wednesday? Here's the info:

Go to your stack of books and find one whose title starts with the letter of the week.
Post:
1~ a photo of the book
2~ title and synopsis
3~ link(amazon, barnes and noble etc.)
4~ Come back here and leave your link in the comments.
If you've already reviewed this book you can add it also.
Be sure to visit other participants to see what book they have posted and leave them a comment.
(We all love comments, don't we?)
Who knows? You may find your next "favorite" book.
THIS WEEKS LETTER IS: O

I bought this book at a rummage sale this summer. Haven't had a chance to read it yet. The lady happens to be a friend and she told me the book was really good. Here is a little about the book:

"One Thousand White Women" by Jim Ferguson



Product Description
(Amazon.Com)
One Thousand White Women is the story of May Dodd and a colorful assembly of pioneer women who, under the auspices of the U.S. government, travel to the western prairies in 1875 to intermarry among the Cheyenne Indians. The covert and controversial "Brides for Indians" program, launched by the administration of Ulysses S. Grant, is intended to help assimilate the Indians into the white man's world. Toward that end May and her friends embark upon the adventure of their lifetime. Jim Fergus has so vividly depicted the American West that it is as if these diaries are a capsule in time.

Hop over to Reading At The Beach and check out all the folks doing A-Z Wednesday. You might find your next book to read.

REVIEW - THE MANUFACTURED IDENTITY - HEATH SOMMER

This is another review books. I actually got an email from the author asking me to review his book.

I have been reviewing your blog and am interested in offering you a complimentary copy of my debut novel The Manufactured Identity in exchange for your candid and honest impressions to be listed on your blog. As a clinical psychologist, my writings are always about characters with genuine psychological distress attempting to find their way through the at times hostile world. I specifically write contemporary mysteries, with strong mainstream fiction underpinnings.

# Paperback: 308 pages
# Publisher: Tate Publishing & Enterprises (June 23, 2009)
# Language: English
# ISBN-10: 1606965506
# ISBN-13: 978-1606965504


MY THOUGHTS: As a psychological thriller "The Manufactured Identity" is a strange tale that will keep you reading the book. From one moment to the next the characters are keeping you on your toes. The first chapter will grab you as soon as you read it. You read about a guy that can't remember who he is and has thousands of dollars on him. Wouldn't you want to know what happened and where all that money came from. As you keep reading and meeting all these people you begin to wonder what they all have in common. But you will have to read the book to find out! Besides that the book cover is really awesome!

MY RATING: 5

REVIEW - ONLY IN NEW YORK DARLING! - VIRGINIE SOMMET

I got an email asking if I would review this books.

My name is Florencia and I am Virginie Sommet's assistant and she is the author of "Only in New York, Darling!". I am writing on her behalf to inquire about getting her book reviewed on your blog. I was referred to you through J. Kaye’s Book Blog that kindly sent me a list of bloggers interested in reviewing books.
"Only in New York, Darling! " a book that serves as a "log book" but is also a look into the life of a underground french artist moving to New York and how she experiences the city. The book also includes illustrations and interviews.

# Paperback: 292 pages
# Publisher: Lulu.com (September 8, 2008)
# Language: English
# ISBN-10: 1435711009
# ISBN-13: 978-1435711006

Product Description
(Amazon. Com)
**English version** Edgier than the Lonely Planet, hipper than the Village Voice, more intellectual than the New York Times... I've found my Bible to carry me through the funkiest city on the planet! A trippy "logbook" written by a French girl from Normandy landing in Manhattan and slowly making it on her own as an uderground artist, this chronicle plunged me into the maze of New York City's daily life, its pleasures, risks, hassles, encounters and wonders. The language is incomparable, the narration fluid, the tone incisive, at times hilarious, and at times intimate and moving. Reflection of the New Yorkers'psychology, the necessary melting pot of cultures, and the virtues of immigration. The question of identity is featured at he heart of the rhetoric developped. It is New York that possesses us, never the opposite! The writer, she knows it by heart! Bravo! Catherine Vachon

MY THOUGHTS: This was a very interesting book. Full of the insights of a French girl's visit to New York that turns into her living there. The book is written in log or diary form. There are interviews with people, poems and illustrations. It is sometimes funny and sometimes very truthful as to what is happening and going on in this girl's life.

MY RATING: 5

REVIEW - ALEX CROSS'S TRIAL - JAMES PATTERSON

This book is for 1 of my reading challenges.
Fall Into Reading 2009 Challenge

Alex Cross's TRIAL" by James Patterson
(from inside flap)
SEPARATED BY TIME

From his grandmother, Alex Cross has heard the story of his great-uncle Abraham and his struggles for survival in the era of the Ku Klux Klan. Now Alex passes the family tale along to his own children in a novel he's written--a novel called Trial.

CONNECTED BY BLOOD
As a lawyer in Washington, DC, early in the 1900's, Ben Corbett represents the toughest cases. Fighting against oppression and racism, he risks his family and his life in the process. When President Roosevelt asks Ben to return to his hometown to investigate rumors of the resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan there, he cannot refuse.

UNITED BY BRAVERY

When he arrives in Eudora, Mississippi, Ben meets the wise Abraham Cross and his beautiful daughter, Moody. Ben enlists their help, and the two Crosses introduce him to the hidden side of the idyllic Southern town. Lynchings have become commonplace, and residents of the black quarter live in constant fear. Ben aims to break the reign of terror--but the truth of who is really behind it could break his heart. Written in the fearless voice of Detective Alex Cross, Alex Cross's "Trial" is a gripping story of murder, love, and above all, bravery.

MY THOUGHTS: This is James Patterson's new book. If you are a follower of the Alex Cross series you will enjoy reading this book. It gives you some insight into Alex Cross's ancestors. Abraham Cross is an old man who is dying. President Roosevelt, Abraham, and Ben were all in the war together. President Roosevelt sends Ben to his home town to find out what is going on. Ben meets some of his old friends from his younger days. Also his father, who doesn't approve of Ben's way of life. And an old flame who is married to a State Senator. When Ben starts investigating the lynchings that are taking place, he causes an uproar that is going to get him in trouble. As the men that are suppose to be his friends turn on him. I am not telling any more, I don't want to ruin the book for you. It's really good!!

MY RATING: 5

THE TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS COOKIES

I was over at Beth's place, Beth Fish Reads for her Weekend Cooking feature. I found the info for The Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies there. So went to take a look and see what it's all about. This is what I found:

Earlier today, Julie, of Booking Mama fame, and I both reviewed The Christmas Cookie Club by Ann Pearlman – you can read my review here and her review here. We both enjoyed the book and it got us thinking about the importance of friends, especially during this time of year. Julie and I both wanted to do something a little special for the upcoming Holiday Season, and since we live so far away from each other, we can’t get together to celebrate. We thought we’d do the next best thing – a Virtual Cookie Swap with all of our book friends!

For the next twelve days – hence the title The Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies – Julie and I will take turns posting some of our favorite cookie recipes. (We might even throw a surprise or two in there to make things more fun.) And then, on the Friday after Thanksgiving (November 27th), we want you to share some of your favorite cookie recipes with all of us. We will set up Mr. Linky’s on both of our blogs, and we ask that you link your cookie recipe blog posts to us. I will be hosting the traditional cookie recipes and Julie will be hosting the chocolate cookie and candy recipes.

To entice you to join us in our little Cookie Swap, we will both be giving out copies of The Christmas Cookie Club to two lucky participants who link their recipes to our blogs. That means that you can enter to win on both of our sites by linking a traditional cookie recipe to my blog and a chocolate treat to Julie’s. Don’t worry if you don’t have a blog — just leave you recipes in the comments section!

And to make things even “sweeter,” each of us will be giving one of our winners a BIG Cookie Prize Pack which includes one of the copies of The Christmas Cookie Club, a cookbook, and other cookie-related items. You’ll have through Thursday, December 3 to leave a link if you want to be eligible for a prize.

We’re hoping that a lot of our friends out there in the blogosphere will join us. Please think about what recipe you want to feature and help spread the word about not only the virtual cookie exchange but also some of the great prizes you can win! Make sure to check Julie’s blog tomorrow because she will be kicking off Day 1 of The 12 Days of Christmas Cookies with a very easy and very yummy treat!

So if you like cookies and want to share some recipes hop over to Bermudaonion and BookingMama's places and check this out. Sounds like it will be lots of fun. And you never know you might find a new old family favorite recipe.

FRIDAY FILL-INS

Go over an visit Janet for your Friday Fill-Ins.


1. The last band I saw live was B. J. THOMAS.
2. What I look forward to most on Thanksgiving is FAMILY AND SOME GOOD FOOD.
3. My Christmas/holiday shopping is GOING TO BE LIMITED THIS YEAR.
4. Thoughts of WINTER COMING is filling my head.
5. I wish I could wear FLIP FLOPS ALL YEAR.
6. Bagpipes MAKE GREAT MUSIC.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to RELAXING AFTER WORK, tomorrow my plans include CLEANING THE BEDROOM and Sunday, I want to READ THE JAMES PATTERSON BOOK "TRIAL"!

REVIEW - THE LAST ORACLE - JAMES ROLLINS

This book is for 3 of my reading challenges.
Countdown to 2010 Challenge(2008)
Fall Into Reading Challenge
Suspense & Thrillers Challenge(Religious Thriller)

"The Last Oracle" by James Rollins
Product Description(Amazon.Com)

In Washington, D.C., a homeless man takes an assassin's bullet and dies in Commander Gray Pierce's arms. A bloody coin clutched in the dead man's hand—an ancient relic that can be traced back to the Greek Oracle of Delphi—is the key to a conspiracy that dates back to the Cold War and threatens the very foundation of humanity. For what if it were possible to bioengineer the next great prophet—a new Buddha, Muhammad, or even Jesus? Would this Second Coming be a boon . . . or would it initiate a chain reaction that would result in the extinction of humankind?
Vital seconds are ticking rapidly away as Pierce races across the globe in search of answers, one step ahead of ruthless killers determined to reclaim the priceless artifact. Suddenly the future of all things is balanced on the brink between heaven and hell—and salvation or destruction rests in the hands of remarkable children.

MY THOUGHTS: This was a very well written book. It was also the first book I have read of James Rollins. His writing reminds me of James Patterson. The chapters are long but they are broken up into segments. This is going on in 3 countries at the same time. Russia, India, and the U.S.A. As these three groups of people are all trying to find the reason why a well known professor is killed and what links they all together. It is one little girl, but one group wants the girl back and other group wants to know why they want her. They are all chasing each other and trying to figure out what the heck is going on. It all ends at the blast site of Chernobyl, Russia. And what does this have to do with being a religious thrill you might ask? This is all connected through the ancient religion of the Greek Gods.

MY RATING: 5

REVIEW - FEASTING ON ASPHALT - ALTON BROWN

This book is for the Spice of Life Reading Challenge. This is also my wrap up of this challenge. I have done this level of the challenge.

WRAP UP:

A Sampler: Joining the Spice of Life Challenge for “a sampler” means that you want to balance your food book diet with variety, for variety is the spice of life. You will read and review a book from each category for a total of four books.

These are my four books.

1. Paula Deen’s Kitchen Classics – Paula Deen
2. Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café – Fannie Flagg
3. The Recipe Club – Andrea Israel & Nancy Garfinkel
4. Feasting on Asphalt – The River Run – Alton Brown

"Feasting on Asphalt" by Alton Brown
(Product Description-Amazon.Com)
He’s on the road again. This time, Alton Brown and his motorcycle-mounted crew are off on a thousand-mile, south-to-north journey that follows America’s first “superhighway”—the Mississippi. Starting at the great river’s delta on the Gulf of Mexico and ending up near its headwaters in Minnesota, Alton and buddies travel the heartland’s byways to scout out the very best of roadside food—and to get to know the people who spend their lives preparing and serving it.
A companion to the six-part Food Network series airing in fall 2007, Feasting on Asphalt: The River Run is a travel diary, photo journal, and, of course, cookbook. Alton’s itinerary includes big-city eateries and small-town chat ’n’ chews, as well as markets, inns, ice cream parlors, museums, barbecue joints—and even an alligator farm.
Louisiana-style Grilled Alligator Tail (served simply, with lemon and butter) is one of the book’s forty original road-food recipes. Others include Pecan-Coconut Pie from an Arkansan roadside restaurant; BBQ Pork Ribs in Mississippi that Brown eats over pancakes; Vegetable Borscht from St. Paul’s Russian Tea House; and Fried Catfish from a riverside burg in Illinois. When it comes to America’s foodways and folkways, there’s no better tour guide than Alton Brown.

MY THOUGHTS: This is a very informative book! You have notes from the author, maps, and recipes. And lots of pictures. Lots of the recipes in this book I would probably never make. Like the one for alligator. There are lots of recipes for barbecue that sounds really yummy. This recipe comes from Prince Pit BBQ in Bardwell, Kentucky.

For the barbecue Sauce:
32 oz. tomato ketchup
48 oz. White Vinegar
8 oz. light brown sugar
1/2 oz. ground cayenne
1/4 oz. red pepper flakes
Combine all the ingredients in a large stainless-steel pot. Stir and place over medium heat. Bring to a simmer, then reduce the heat to low. Simmer for 1 hour. Let the sauce cool, then pour it into a clean container with a lid. Store in the fridge until ready to use. This yields about 3 quarts of sauce.

MY RATING: 5

TUESDAY BOOK MEMES

Well it's Tuesday again. And time for 2 of my favorite memes. It's Tuesday, Where Are You? over at Raidergirls' place, An Adventure in Reading. Teaser Tuesday over at MzB's place Should be Reading.

IT'S TUESDAY, WHERE ARE YOU?



The Last Oracle - James Rollins

I am all over the place in my current book. India, Russia, and Washington, D.C. In Russia I am trying to get 3 children to safety. In India I am trying to get a scientist out of the country as he is about to be assassinated. And in Washington, D.C. I am trying to figure who is behind the kidnapping of a little girl. What does this all have in common? They are all linked to the theory that Autistic Savant children are capable of remarkable feats. With a little help from some scientists.



TEASER TUESDAY

Southern Ural Mountains
"We have to cross that?" he asked. "There's no other way around?" Konstantin folded the map. "Not withourt going hundreds of miles to circle it, which would take many days. The mine we must reach on the far side of Lake Karachay lies only twelve miles away if we cross here." P. 313 The Last Oracle - James Rollins

REVIEW - THIRSTY - KRISTIN BAIR O' KEEFFE

Title: Thirsty
Author: Kristin Bair O’Keeffe
Publisher: Ohio University Press/Swallow Press
Publisher website: www.ohioswallow.com
Book website: www.thirstythenovel.com
Category: Fiction
Date of publication: October 2009
ISBN-13: 978-0-8040-1123-5
Pages: 216

This is a review copy I was sent by Shelby Sledge,Senior Publicist,Phenix & Phenix Literary Publicists.

"Thirsty" by Kristin Bair O'Keeffe
(from inside cover)
It is 1883, and all of Klara Bozic's girlish dreams have come crashing down as she arrives in Thirsty, a gritty steel town carved into the slopes above the Monongahela River just outside of Pittsburgh. She has made a heartbreaking discover. Her new husband, Drago, is as abusive as the father she left behind in Croatia.
In Kristin Bair O'Keeffe's debut novel, Klara's life unfolds over forty years as she struggles to find her place in a new country where her survival depends on the friends who nurture her: gutsy, funny Katherine Zupanovic, who isn't afraid of Drago's fist; BenJo, the only black man in Thirsty to have his own shop; and strangely enough, Old Man Rupert, the town drunk.
Thirsty follows a chain of unlikely events that keep Klara's spirit aloft: a flock of angelic butterflies descends on Thirsty; Klara gives birth to her first child in Old Man Rupert's pumpkin patch; and BenJo gives her a talking bird. When Klara's daughter marries a man even more brutal than Drago, Klara is forced to act. If she doesn't break the cycle of violence in her family, her granddaughters will one day walk the same road, broken and bruised. As the threads that hold her family together fray and come undone, Klara must decide whether she has the courage to carve out a peaceful spot in the world for herself and her girls.

MY THOUGHTS: This is a wonderful book! I really enjoyed reading about Klara and her family. Mz. O'Keeffe has written a wonderful book of life with Klara and all her suffering. But Klara also has some happy times in her life. Her friends and her children are what keeps Klara together. I really liked the character of Klara and Katherine. I could feel her pain and happiness. When she had her first baby in the Pumpkin Patch at Old Man Rupert's, I felt her happiness. When the butterflies came I could feel them fluttering around. This book takes you to Thirsty and into Klara's home and life. Truly a wonderful book and beautifully written by Mz. O'Keeffe.

MY RATING: 5

MUSING MONDAY

Over at Just One More Page, Rebecca is the host for Musing Monday. She has a really great question this week.

Today’s MUSING MONDAYS post is about your bookshelf…
Does your house have a communal bookshelf? If not, is your bookshelf centrally located so everyone has access to it?

I recently cleaned off my book shelves. I had lots of quilt books, cross stitch books, and other unread books. Boxed up the the cross stitch and quilt books and sent them on their way to the auction. I was amazed at how much I got for those. Don't fret, I did keep a few of my favorites. The idea was to clear off some shelf space so I could put all the books I seem to be picking up. I also placed them on the shelves in alphabetical order by author. This is what it looked like before all the books were arranged. That whole top shelf is quilt books and cross stitch books.



As for the question fo a communal bookshelf. Well, if anyone wants to read them they are very welcome to do that. But I am the only one that lives in this house that actually reads. My hubby doesn't read and my son only reads his collage books. The book shelf is centrally located so most everyone goes past it. This is the book shelf now, sorry about the poor quality of the picture. My camera is having flash issues.



Are your book shelves communal property? Go check out all the folks who are participating this week.

REVIEW - TWO BOOKS AND A WRAP UP

These 2 books are for 4 of my reading challenges
What An Animal 2(Wrap-up)
Countdown to 2010(2007 - 2008)
Fall Into Reading 2009
Clear Off Your Shelves(18%)

"Good Dog. Stay." by Anna Quindlen
(from back cover)
"The life of a good dog is like the life of a good person, only shorter and more compress," writes Pulitzer Prize-winning author Anna Quindlen about her beloved black Labrador retriever, Beau. With her trademark wisdom and humor, Quindlen relfecst on how her life has unfloded in tandem with Beau's, and on the lessons she's learned by watching him: to roll with the punches, to take things as they come, to measure herself not in tems of the past or the future but of the present. Sometimes an old dog can teach us new tricks.

MY THOUGHTS: Wonderful book on life. If only we would learn some things from our pets. Ms. Quindlen did a wonderful job with this book. As I was reading this book I kept saying yea, that's right. I could compare my life to my dogs life. Just like she did. If you look at that way our lives are exactly the same.

MY RATING: 5

***********************************************

"The Adventures of Songha: The Amazing Savannah Cat" by Linda R. Caterine
(from Amazon.com)
"The Adventures Of Songha" is the story of a rare exotic cat, as seen through the eyes of Songha, a beautiful Savannah cat. Songha is half African Serval leopard and half domestic cat, and this unusual combination sets her apart from most other cats. She has a domestic temperament, but her wild leopard blood drives her to seek adventure by escaping from the safety of her wonderful home. Her restlessness takes her into exciting, and sometimes dangerous territory, as she follows her wild urges to run free.Songha tells us about leaving her leopard father, to come and live with her new family in Las Vegas, Nevada. She loves her new family, but when she is not allowed to go outside and run free, she begins searching for ways to escape. She doesn't want to run away from her family. She just wants to run free for a little while, and then come back to her loving home.From her daring first escape, through an upstairs window, to her confrontation with a notorious wild coyote, Songha gives us a "cat's eye" view into the heart and soul of this exotic feline. She is wild and sweet, endearing and infuriating, all at the same time. And of course, she is always entertaining. As Songha pursues her adventures, she learns some valuable life lessons along the way, and also gains some much needed wisdom.This is the story of Songha, the amazing Savannah cat.

MY THOUGHTS: This book is written with the voice of Songha. She is telling the story. Her discover of her "Neighborhood Kingdom" when she escapes from her home. She meets Jacques Cousteau, a Siamese cat and Kitty and her 3 "cubs". Then Songha finds out about El Diablo, a Coyote that runs the neighborhood hunting and killing cats, dogs,and other animals. Songha feels that she must protect her Kingdom and goes after the Coyote. She keeps the Coyote busy all night until morning, when the animal patrol comes along and picks up the Coyote and takes him away. Very good book. I really enjoyed this book lots.

MY RATING: 5

WRAP UP FOR WHAT AN ANIMAL 2

1. Read at least 6 books that have any of the following requirements:

a. there is an animal in the title of the book

b. there is an animal on the cover of the book

c. an animal plays a major role in the book

d. a main character is (or turns into) an animal (define that however you'd like ;o)

Here are my 6 books:

1. Dewey – Vicki Myron
2. Only the Cat Knows – Marian Babson
3. The Adventures of Songha – Linda R. Caterine
4. The Story of Edgar Sawtelle - David Wroblewski
5. Good Dog. Stay. - Anna Quindlen
6. Dog Years: A Memoir - Mark Doty

BOOKING THROUGH THURSDAY

What's the question this week at Booking Through Thursday.............

Which do you prefer? Biographies written about someone? Or Autobiographies written by the actual person (and/or ghost-writer)?

I can read either one. But I really prefer the Autobiographies. They have the personal touch of the author. I have read two great Autobiographies that I really enjoyed very much. One is The Measure of A Man by Sidney Poitier. I have had a secret crush on him since I was a girl. I've also seen everyone of his movies. This book of his life was different, as it wasn't actually about his life in movies, but about his life and where he came from and how he got to where he is.



The second Autobiography that I recently read is Moon River and Me by Andy Williams. This was about his life from childhood all the way to now. He includes private things that you wouldn't think anyone would want to talk about. This was a very good book to read.

PAGES READ CHALLENGE

Kathrin over at Secret World of a Bookaholic is the host for this challenge.

The rules for this challenge are simple: First, you choose on a certain number of pages you want to read in 2009. And then you must read! And you must keep track of how many pages you are reading. Update your journal entry every week, every month or whatever works for you. Don't forget to tell us how many pages you hope to read and we'll all keep our fingers crossed that you reach that goal.

When?
The challenge will start January 1, 2009 and end December 31, 2009.

How?
List all the books and other stuff you read with the pages and add up the pages as you go. If it's an e-book, please check Amazon or B&N for the page number. To get the number of pages for each book, just check out the last page with text from the book and take the number written on there. Just ignore all the blank pages throughout the book. This is, after all, for fun, not to stress about counting pages.

I finished this challenge today with the book The Recipe Club by Andrea Israel & Nancy Garfinkel. I had originally set my challenge of pages at 20,000 but later changed it to 50,000. I was getting a little worried there, didn't think I was going to make it. My total is 50,075 pages read since January 1, 2009. If you would like to see the books I read and the pages of each book just click here. It will take you to my journal page that I have been keeping track of all the books.

REVIEW - THE RECIPE CLUB - REVIEW COPY

This book is for 2 of my challenges.
Spice of Life Challenge
Fall Into Reading 2009 Challenge

"The Recipe Club" by Andrea Israel & Nancy Garfinkel
Amazon. com
# Hardcover: 368 pages
# Publisher: Harper (November 24, 2009)
# Language: English
# ISBN-10: 0061992194
# ISBN-13: 978-0061992193

Product Description
Amazon.com
Loyalty, loss, and the ties that bind. These are the ingredients of The Recipe Club, a "novel cookbook" that combines an authentic story of friendship with more than 80 delicious recipes.
Lilly and Val are lifelong friends, united as much by their differences as by their similarities. Lilly, dramatic and confident, lives in the shadow of her beautiful, wayward mother and craves the attention of her distant, disapproving father. Val, shy and idealistic—and surprisingly ambitious— struggles with her desire to break free from her demanding housebound mother and a father whose dreams never seem to come true.
In childhood, "LillyPad" and "ValPal" form an exclusive two-person club, writing intimate letters in which they share hopes, fears, deepest secrets—and recipes, from Lilly's "Lovelorn Lasagna" to Valerie's "Forgiveness Tapenade." Readers can cook along as the friends travel through time facing the challenges of independence, the joys and heartbreaks of first love, and the emotional complexities of family relationships, identity, mortality, and goals deferred.
The Recipe Club sustains Lilly and Val's bond through the decades, regardless of what different paths they take or what misunderstandings threaten to break them apart . . . until the fateful day when an act of kindness becomes an unforgivable betrayal.
Now, years later, while trying to recapture the trust they've lost, Lilly and Val reunite once more—only to uncover a shocking secret. Will it destroy their friendship, or bring them ever closer?

MY THOUGHTS: This is a very well written book. I really enjoyed reading it. The whole book is written in the form of letters that Val and Lily write back and forth to each other. While they are writing they send recipes back and forth to each other. The recipes are included in the book. There are some really good ones I would like to try. They are childhood friends from an early age until their early to mid 20's. Then a misunderstanding and a long ago secret breaks them up as friends. After the death of a mother and a father the secret comes out and the girls must find some way of becoming friends again. Can they do it? And what is the "secret"? You'll have to read the book.

MY RATING: 5

This book came courtesy of Caitlin G. Price Senior Publicist for FSB Associates. Caitlin also sent me an article from the authors this is a Thanksgiving update. Thought I would put that article here as well.

Tales of Thanksgiving Food and Friendship
By Andrea Israel and Nancy Garfinkel,
Authors of The Recipe Club: A Tale of Food and Friendship

For some people, Thanksgiving evokes warm feelings triggered by memories of a close-knit family gathering, where relatives share traditions and a home-cooked meal.
For others . . . it's the beginning of a holiday season stuffed with lunatic relatives, family dysfunction, bitter recriminations, and heartburn.
We heard a wide range of Thanksgiving Tales this year while traveling around the country for our Recipe Clubs. Inspired by the plot and structure of our book, Recipe Clubs are storytelling and friendship circles in which women gather to share true-life food-related stories along with recipes. Recipe Clubs are not about cooking; they're about creating community and fostering friendship . . . they're about laughing and crying . . . they're about honoring our own lives and the lives of others. They show us how the simplest, sweetest, or funniest tales about food can turn into deep revelations about our lives.
Just about everybody has at least one quintessential Thanksgiving food memory that perfectly captures the complicated feelings surrounding the holiday. Here are some of our favorites:
GIVING THANKS
One Recipe Club friend recalls the first time she ever cooked a Thanksgiving meal on her own. Her mother, who traditionally did the meal, was recovering from surgery. Her father was working. And her sister was flying in just in time for the meal, but not early enough to help cook.
So our friend rose to the challenge, proclaiming that she would do the entire meal, on her own. No problem -- until reality set in. She woke at dawn, shopped, chopped, and soon realized her oven was half the size it needed to be. By the time the turkey wanted basting the chestnut stuffing required baking -- and the brussel sprouts were definitely not cleaning themselves!
But things really went south when it came time prepare her grandmother's famous pumpkin pie. This was the pie recipe that had been handed down through generations. If it didn't come out perfectly, our friend knew she'd feel like a failure.
Of course, nothing went right. The pie crust was too wet, then too dry. There was too much nutmeg, not enough ginger. With every crimp of the dough her head swam with the imagined voice of her southern grandmother: "A woman is judged not just by who she is, but by what she can bring to the table."
When the pie came out of the oven, the crust was too brown, and there was a giant crack running down the middle of the filling. Our friend fought back tears, took a deep breath, and set the pie out to cool, knowing more clearly than ever that neither it -- nor she -- was, or would ever be, perfect.
But when it came time for everyone to gather at the table, something shifted. Her parents and sister praised her hard work and loved the meal. And our friend realized she had somehow been carried on the wings of the generations of women who had cooked before her, without complaining, to serve a Thanksgiving meal to their family. She felt truly thankful for all the work that her mother, grandmother, aunts -- indeed all the women she'd known through her life -- had accomplished each holiday. Triumphant, connected, and happy, she understood that food cooked with love is its own kind of perfection.
FINALIZING THE DIVORCE
One Recipe Club friend recalled her first Thanksgiving after her divorce.
Since carving the bird had always been her ex-husband's job, she delighted in finding a new, turkey-free recipe. She settled on an apricot-glazed ham, and went to work cooking a glaze of brown sugar, cloves, and apricot nectar (an ingredient that gave her extra pleasure knowing her ex-husband detested it.)
When her grown children came for dinner, they were childishly upset not to have their usual 12-pound bird. But it was delicious, and in the end each one complimented the chef. On her way out, the youngest daughter told her mother, "maybe we all need to learn how to gracefully accept change."
For this new divorcee, serving ham became a way of asserting her independence, showing her children there was life after marriage, and teaching the whole family to find new ways to be together.
IT'S ALL RELATIVE
The truth is, we don't pick our relatives. So if the Thanksgiving gathering of the clan is an annual emotional challenge, you aren't alone.
In a recent Recipe Club circle of old friends and new acquaintances, we met a woman who admitted that for most of her life she dreaded Thanksgiving; all it evoked for her were memories of family fights. The contrast of what she knew Thanksgiving was "supposed" to be, versus what it was in her home, always made her feel ashamed and disappointed. And yet every November she felt compelled go home for a family Thanksgiving meal.
But one year, that changed, when her parents and brother decided to have Thanksgiving away from home. They journeyed together to Nantucket, where they ate dinner at a seaside inn. The inn served a New England clam chowder, rich with cream and warm on a cold autumn night. And they discovered that a new location, with new foods, away from the house where memories were often more fiery than the jalepeno cornbread, turned out to be just what the family needed.
Now, every year, back at home, they have a new tradition: serving New England Clam Chowder at their Thanksgiving feasts, each spoonful bringing back fond memories of a peaceful and loving family holiday.
A FAMILY OF FRIENDS
Finally, a little tale of food and friendship.
A reader of our book told us that she had a choice this year. She could invite Uncle Tim and Aunt Zoe, the way she does every year, and spend the entire holiday worrying about whether or not the perpetually complaining couple were happy. She could include cousins Beth and Sean, knowing they would be competitive, putting down her choice of food, her way of cooking, her table setting. She could extend an invitation to her brother and dreaded sister-in-law, who would sit in silence the entire meal and pick at the food.
Or . . . she could shake things up and do something entirely different: invite only friends. True friends. People she enjoyed being with. Who made her laugh. Who spoke truthfully. Who shared her passions for good books, good wine, and good music.
She took the leap. She dumped the whiners, broke with tradition, irritated several family members -- and never looked back. The moral: good food and good friends are the perfect combination. Sometimes it's a good idea to trim the guest list before you serve the bird with all its trimmings.

WENDESDAY MEMES

There are 2 book memes I like to do on Wednesday. Wondrous Words Wednesday over at Bermudaonions and A - Z Wednesday over at Reading At the Beach.



WONDROUS WORDS WEDNESDAY
"Mercury Falls" by Robert Kroese
Spurious and Exegesis - Jonas Bitters was a former recreational vehicle salesman who had, through a combination of spurious scriptural exegesis, excessive reliance on Google's automated Hebrew-to-English translation service and mathematical errors that could have been caught by a bright third grader, happened upon a date for the End of Days that was within a hair of being accurate.

1. Spurious \Spu"ri*ous\ (sp[=u]"r[i^]*[u^]s), a. [L. spurius.]

1. Not proceeding from the true source, or from the source pretended; not genuine; counterfeit; false; adulterate.
2. Not legitimate; bastard; as, spurious issue.

2. Exegesis - ex·e·ge·sis (ĕk'sə-jē'sĭs)
an explanation or critical interpretation (especially of the Bible)




A - Z WEDNESDAY
THIS WEEKS LETTER IS: "M"



My book for "M" is
"Mercury Falls" by Robert Kroese
Product Description(Amazon.com)
Years of covering the antics of End Times cults for The Banner, a religious news magazine, have left Christine Temetri not only jaded but seriously questioning her career choice. That is, until she meets Mercury, an anti-establishment angel who's frittering his time away whipping up batches of Rice Krispy Treats and perfecting his ping-pong backhand instead of doing his job: helping to orchestrate Armageddon. With the end near and angels and demons debating the finer political points of the Apocalypse, Christine and Mercury accidentally foil an attempt to assassinate one Karl Grissom, a thirty-seven-year-old film school dropout about to make his big break as the Antichrist. Now, to save the world, she must negotiate the byzantine bureaucracies of Heaven and Hell and convince the apathetic Mercury to take a stand, all the while putting up with the obnoxious mouth-breathing Antichrist.

REVIEW - AESOP'S FABLES

This book is for 1 of my reading challenges.
Fall Into Reading 2009 Challenge



"Aesop's Fables"
[Illustrated by Arthur Rackham]


MY THOUGHTS: It's really hard to explain Aesop's Fables. It's lots of stories about animals, trees, flowers and the planets. So I went to Wikipedia for some info. This is one of the fables in the book.

THE FOX AND THE GRAPES

A Hungry Fox saw some fine bunches of Grapes hanging from a vine that was trained along a high trellis, and did his best to reach them by jumping as high as he could into the air. But it was all in vain, for they were just out of reach; so he gave up trying, and walked away with an air of dignity and unconcern, remarking, "I thought those Grapes were ripe, but I see now they are quite sour."

There are also some beautiful illustrations in this book.

MY RATING: 5

REVIEW - NIBBLE & KUHN - DAVID SCHMAHMANN

This book is for 2 of my reading challenges.
Countdown to 2010 Challenge(2009)
Fall Into Reading 2009 Challenge

"Nibble & Kuhn" by David Schmahmann
# Hardcover: 256 pages
# Publisher: Academy Chicago Publishers (November 2009)
# Language: English
# ISBN-10: 0897335929
# ISBN-13: 978-0897335928
Amazon.com
(from back cover)
Two likable newcomers learn the ropes of corporate law at Nibble & Kuhn--and fall in love--just as that most proper of Boston's venerable firms comically tries to "re-brand" itself for the Google era.
Pompous and arbitrary, the ruling junta of partners at N&K saddles Derek Dover with a high visibility lawsuit just weeks before trial. The diligent young attorney arranges things so that Maria Parma, his sassy aristocratic girl friend, also gets named to the case.
As Derek prepares his arguments on behalf of seven young victims of industrial polluters, his anxieties about his career and his torments over Maria's mixed messages only increase. Have his eccentric WASP superiors handed Derek a "toxic" case to ruin any shot at becoming a partner? How can he get his opponents to settle--the outcome the residing judge all but demands--unless his unorthodox "expert witnesses" perform with enough gravitas to match that of the other side with its Harvard Medical School scientist? Ultimately, Derek sets in motion a line of inquiry that spins events entirely out of the control of judge, jury, and any and all attorneys.

MY THOUGHTS: This book is sometimes funny and you also have some mystery going on here. With trying to find out the outcome of the trial and whether Maria and Derek will ever get together. Will the families of the seven boys who have cancer, get the settlement they want? Will Derek's "expert witnesses" stand up in court? Will Derek gets his partnership in Nibble & Kuhn? You will have to read the book to find out.

MY RATING: 5

TUESDAY BOOK MEMES

Raidergirl is the host for It's Tuesday, Where Are You?

At the moment we are at Harvard College and New York. We are sending letters and recipes back and forth to each other. Trying to figure out what to do with our lives.






MizB is the host for Teaser Tuesday.

Dear Val,
Do you know what happened? My father got furious at me and said he won't come to my graduation if I don't change my mind about not going to college. He said that I am "on a slippery slope ot ruining my lied." But it feels more like he thinks I'm ruining HIS. P. 234 The Recipe Club - Andrea Israel & Nancy Garfinkel



So where are you at today?