HIGH NOON

This book is for What's in A Name, 100+ and 52 Books in 52 Weeks reading challenge. You can go to my sidebar, they are in my Book Challenge Links.

FROM THE BACK OF THE BOOK:





Phoebe MacNamara found her calling early, when a violently unstable man broke into her family's home, terrorizing them for hours. Now she's Savannah's top hostage negotiator. Phoebe also deals with her agoraphobic mother and her precocious daughter, Carly. Phoebe's steely courage and sensitivity attracted Duncan Swift. When she's grabbed by a man who throws a hood over her head and brutally assaults her, Phoebe is deepley shaken. And when threatening messages appear on her doorstep, she's alarmed and frustrated. With Duncan backing her, she must establish contact with the faceless tormentor.

Great book! The trouble that plague's Phoebe is more than most normal people could take. But she keeps on going and discovers who is tormenting her with all kinds of messages. She also finds love in all this tragedy!

My Rating: 5

SATURDAY REVIEW

Sherry over at Semi Colon Blog is hosting Saturday Review of Books. If you want to take a look, just click on the title of this post or go to my sidebar, it's in My Blog List.

My Review this week is:

The Body in The Library - Agatha Christie
What would you do if you woke up to a body in your library? Call Miss Marple of course.
Well, what can I say about Agatha Christie and Miss Marple?? Not much, true classic! As always, she keeps you guessing until the very end and if you think you have it all figured out, your wrong!! I was wrong as usual, it wasn't who I thought it was. My Rating: 5

FRIDAY FILL-IN'S

Over at Janet's place, Friday Fill-Ins is going on. If you would like to join in, just click on the title of this post or go to my sidebar, it's in My Blog List.


1. I'd really like A STRAWBERRY MILK SHAKE FROM STEAK N' SHAKE right now.

2. D@M OR SH** is the word you'd most often hear me say if I stubbed my toe.

3. Possession is 9/10TH'S OF THE LAW.

4. HANDSOME Captain Jack Sparrow.

5. Marshmallows and fire go together like HAMBURGERS AND HOT DOGS.

6. WINTER JUST KEEPS GOING on and on.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to RELAXING, tomorrow my plans include A CPR AND FIRST AID RE-CERTIFICATION CLASS and Sunday, I want to READ MY BOOKS!

THREE BOOKS DONE TODAY!!!

Well, to start off, I had the day off due to the snow we got. 8 inches of the stuff fell here. So school was canceled today, which is good kind of, now we have to go to school until June 9th. Anyway I finished up 3 books I had been reading. Yes, I read more than one book at a time. Don't ask!! They are all for reading challenges I am doing.

This book is for 3 reading challenges.
100+ Challenge
Agatha Christie Challenge
Dewey's Books Challenge




"The Body in The Library" by Agatha Christie

Well, what can I say about Agatha Christie and Miss Marple?? Not much, true classic! As always, she keeps you guessing until the very end and if you think you have it all figured out, your wrong!! I was wrong as usual, it wasn't who I thought it was.



"Organic Foods" by Debra A. Miller

This was a very informative book! If you are into organic foods you need to read this book. It gives you all the things you will need to know. It gives you the in's and out's of organic foods that you purchase and the standards required of those foods.




"The Golden Compass" by Phillip Pullman

This was a hard book for me to read. But I finally got it done. It was a pretty interesting book.

MY RATING FOR ALL THESE BOOKS: 5

LIBRARY LOOT!

I was surfing around to some other book bloggers and found this new book meme. It sounds perfect for me. It's called Library Loot! It's about listing what you found at the library. Since 99% of my books come from the library, I thought I would jump in. If you want to check it out, just click on the title of this post or go to my sidebar, it's in My Blog List.

My last trip to the library I got these:



From left to right:
Mister Sandman - Barbara Gowdy(2nd Canadian Reading Challenge)
Little Women - Louisa May Alcott(Childhood Favorites Reading Challenge)
Southern Storm - Terri Blackstock(Series Reading Challenge)DONE
The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold(Winter Reading Challenge)DONE
High Noon - Nora Roberts(What's In A Name Challenge)
The Body in The Library - Agatha Christie(Decades '09 Challenge)
The Golden Compass - Phillip Pullman(Dewey's Books Challenge)DONE
Sons - Pearl S. Buck(My Book Club)
Organic Foods - Debra A. Miller(Books about Food Challenge)DONE

WHAT ARE YOU READING?

Well, it's Wednesday. Thought I would post What Are You Reading? again. If you want to join in, just leave me a comment to let me know what your reading!

I am reading:

The Body in The Library by Agatha Christie





Mr. and Mrs. Bantry wake to find a body in their library. No one know the victim, don't know where she came from. Mrs. Bantry calls her good friend Miss Marple. Who has a few thoughts on where the pretty blonde on the library floor came from.


High Noon by Nora Roberts




Phoebe MacNamara is top hostage negotiator for the city of Savannah. When Phoebe is grabbed by a man who throws a hood over her head and is brutally assaulted, she is deeply shaken. Then threatening messages appear on her doorstep. Phoebe is alarmed and frustrated. With a friend backing her, she must establish contace with the faceless tormentor.

SOUTHERN STORM - Book 2 of 4

This book is for 2 of my reading challenges. Series Challenge and 100+ Reading Challenge. If you want to check them out, just go to my sidebar, they are listed in My Reading Challenges Links.




Product Description(From Amazon.com)
Police Chief Cade disappears after hitting and killing a man with his car. Without a trace, without a note, without taking clothes or his car or money, he is gone. When a witness says she saw Cade getting into a blue Buick with a woman before his disappearance, the newspapers report that Cade left town to be with her. Blair knows it doesn’t make sense for Cade to leave without word for any reason. The dead man is identified, and it soon becomes clear that the woman Cade was seen with was the wife of the dead man. Newspapers begin to ask hard questions. Was the Cape Refuge Chief of Police having an affair with this woman? Did he deliberately kill her husband, then make it look like an accident? When the police department receives a handwritten note from Cade that he has run off to get married to a woman he’s kept secret, everyone breathes a sigh of relief. But Blair notices his unusual signature: Matt Cade. Cade never goes by his first name, and he especially never calls himself "Matt." She thinks it’s a signal from him that the contents of the note are false. Meanwhile, around the south, there are news reports about babies being kidnapped from area hospitals. When a ransom call comes to Hanover House from the baby’s kidnapper, they are all shocked to see that the phone it is traced to is Cade’s cell phone. Is he involved in the babies’ disappearance? Is that why he’s disappeared?

This was the 2 book of 4 in this series. I love the way Miss Blackstock writes. I is very intense, mysterious, and keeps you involved through the whole book. She also usually has 2 story lines going at the same time and they always seem to work out together. This one had me very anxious to see if they were going to find Cade. Can't tell if they did or didn't as that will ruin the ending if you haven't read it. But it was a very good book.

My Rating: 5

TEASUER TUESDAYS

Over at Should Be Reading it's Teaser Tuesday, if you want to take a peek at the teaser's just click on the title of this post or go to my sidebar, It's in My Blog List.

My Teaser today:

Across a chair in the middle of the room was the foamy pink dance frock Ruby had worn early in the evening, with a pair of satin high-heeled shoes kicked off carelessly on the floor. Two sheer silk stockings were rolled into a ball and flung down.

P. 100 - "The Body in The Library" by Agatha Christie

MUSING MONDAYS

Over at Rebecca's place, Just One More Page, it's Musing Monday. If you want to take a look, just click on the title of this post or go to my sidebar, it's in My Blog List.

The question this week:
LENDING BOOKS

A few weeks back we had a question about borrowing books, this week I was wondering what your policy was on lending books. Do you lend books to anyone? Just friends? Only big readers? How long are they allowed to have them?

At this point I don't have anyone around me that reads that much. But if someone asks about a book I have I would lend it to them. And how long would I let them have them? I would probably go with the same amount of time the library gives you, 2 weeks. But if they needed it longer I would go with that also.

BOOKING THROUGH THURSDAY

It's time for Booking through Thursday. If you want to join in, just click on the title of this post or go to my sidebar, it's in My Blog List.


Since “Inspiration” is (or should) the theme this week … what is your reading inspired by?

What inspires me to read:

I would love to be able to travel. But money (not enough) and health keep me from it. So I travel through books. As I've said numerous times, I can travel all over the world and never leave my comfy chair.

I also like to find new authors to read since I am mostly a Mystery reader. So I travel the book blogs looking for any new books. I quite a TBR list. But I also have a problem reading small print. So I usually try to get large print books when possible. If not large print it just takes a little longer to read.

WHAT ARE YOU READING?

As part of my involvement in the Blog Improvement Project, I have decided to start a regular feature here at my blog. This will be called, WHAT ARE YOU READING? I have also put up a poll to get some input on this feature. Could you please vote, that way I can figure out if I need to change anything. Thanks lots!!

I will be listing the current book(s) I am reading and a little synopsis about that book. I hope you all will join in or just pop by to say hi!

Here we go:

The Golden Compass - Philip Pullman





Lyra Belacqua is content to run wild among the scholars of Jordan College, with her daemon familiar, Pantalaimon, by her side. But when her uncle, Lord Asriel, returns form the North with tales of mystery and danger, his visit sets off a chain of events that draws Lyra into the heart of a terrible struggle...........

Organic Foods - Debra A. Miller





Once confined to health food stores and favored mostly by hippies or health fanatics, organic food in recent years has experienced rapid growth. Although the organic market still represents only about 2.5 percent of the total retail food sales in the United States, the organic market has grown at the rate of about 15 to 20 percent each year into a $15 billion industry.

TEASER TUESDAYS

Over at Should Be Reading it's Teaser Tuesday, if you want to check it out, just click on the title of this post or go to my sidebar, it's in My Blog List.

# Grab your current read.
# Let the book fall open to a random page.
# Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
# You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!

My Two Teasers:

The little green serpent daemon raised her head from the consul's collar and wishpered tongue-flickeringly in his ear.
The consul siad, "I have heard the phrase the Maystadt process in connection with this matter. I think they use that in order to avoid calling what they do by its proper name. I have also heard the word intercision, what what it refers to I could not say."
P. 250 - 252 The Golden Compass - Philip Pullman

BLOG IMPROVEMENT PROJECT -WEEK 2(BRAINSTORMING)

Over at Sophisticated Dorkiness it's Brainstorming. If you want to check it out, just click on the title of this post or go to my sidebar, it's in My Blog List.

This is week 2 of this project. It is all about brainstorming. It is also a 2 part question. Brainstorming and Blogging your Ideas. I have been working on some of my goals I listed in my first week.

Book Reviews - I'm getting better at this. I still need to do some work on those.

Design of Blog - I've finally found something I really like. I hope everyone else likes it!

Comments - I have been doing better on getting back to everyone who has commented on a book review.

Clean up my Sidebar - I did some work on this last week. I finally got it pared down quite a bit. I'm still working on that. I have some ideas, but have to work on that one.

As for Brainstorming Content: That one's pretty easy. This blog is for my books, well books I read. Most of my books, 99%, come from my library. I buy a book when I can't find it at the library. Or I really, really want it. So this blog is about the books I read.

As for a Blogging Idea: A new regular feature for my blog, I have no idea. I'll have to work on that one. Although I have toyed with the idea of doing a weekly recipe. I don't know about anyone else but when I read I like to nibble on food for some reason. So have thought about doing a recipe that's easy and can be nibbled on while reading a book. I'll have to think about that one. Another idea I have is a weekly What are you Reading question. Just haven't worked that one out yet.

THE LOVELY BONES

This is for 3 of my reading challenges. The Winter Reading Challenge, 100+ Reading Challenge and 52 Books in 52 Weeks. If you want to check them out, just go to my sidebar, they are in My Reading Challenge Links.






"The Lovely Bones" by Alice Sebold
Product Description(From Amazon.Com)
On her way home from school on a snowy December day in 1973, 14-year-old Susie Salmon ("like the fish") is lured into a makeshift underground den in a cornfield and brutally raped and murdered, the latest victim of a serial killer--the man she knew as her neighbor, Mr. Harvey. Alice Sebold's haunting and heartbreaking debut novel, The Lovely Bones, unfolds from heaven, where "life is a perpetual yesterday" and where Susie narrates and keeps watch over her grieving family and friends, as well as her brazen killer and the sad detective working on her case. As Sebold fashions it, everyone has his or her own version of heaven. Susie's resembles the athletic fields and landscape of a suburban high school: a heaven of her "simplest dreams," where "there were no teachers.... We never had to go inside except for art class.... The boys did not pinch our backsides or tell us we smelled; our textbooks were Seventeen and Glamour and Vogue." The Lovely Bones works as an odd yet affecting coming-of-age story. Susie struggles to accept her death while still clinging to the lost world of the living, following her family's dramas over the years like an episode of My So-Called Afterlife.Her family disintegrates in their grief: her father becomes determined to find her killer, her mother withdraws, her little brother Buckley attempts to make sense of the new hole in his family, and her younger sister Lindsey moves through the milestone events of her teenage and young adult years with Susie riding spiritual shotgun. Random acts and missed opportunities run throughout the book--Susie recalls her sole kiss with a boy on Earth as "like an accident--a beautiful gasoline rainbow." Though sentimental at times, The Lovely Bones is a moving exploration of loss and mourning that ultimately puts its faith in the living and that is made even more powerful by a cast of convincing characters.

This was a wonderful book! I was so looking forward to a happy ending, but to find out, you'll have to read the book as I don't want to spoil the ending if you haven't read it. I so hope that heaven is this lovely, I have lots of people there I want to see again!

My Rating:

WEEKLY GEEKS

The New Weekly Geeks is up and running. If you want to check it out, just click on the title of this post or go to my sidebar, it's in My Blog List.

The question this week at Weekly Geeks:

For those who have been with the group, either from the start or joined within recent months, what does being a member mean to you? What do you enjoy about the group? What are some of your more memorable Weekly Geeks that we might could do again? What could be improved as we continue the legacy that Dewey gave us?

For those just joining us, why did you sign up for Weekly Geeks? What would you like to see here?

I wasn't a weekly geek on a regular basis. I did a couple of them, but I mostly lurked! I would go to read Dewey's book reviews and check out what everyone was reading. That's mostly why I decided to join in Weekly Geeks. As I read between 5 to 8 books a week, I am always looking for something to read. 99% of my books come my library. They have their book listings on the internet so I can check out if the book I'm looking for is in their listings. I am also looking for other folks that read so I can check out their blogs and see what they are doing book wise. So that's my answer to the question. I am looking forward to seeing how this all works out.

BONES

This book is for 4 of my reading challenges. If you want to check any of them out just go to my sidebar, they are listed in My Reading Challenges Links.

"Bones" by Johnathan Kellerman
Product Description(From Amazon.com)
The anonymous caller has an ominous tone and an unnerving message about something “real dead . . . buried in your marsh.” The eco-volunteer on the other end of the phone thinks it’s a prank, but when a young woman’s body turns up in L.A.’s Bird Marsh preserve no one’s laughing. And when the bones of more victims surface, homicide detective Milo Sturgis realizes the city’s under siege to an insidious killer. Milo’s first move: calling in psychologist Alex Delaware.

The murdered women are prostitutes–except the most recent victim; a brilliant young musician from the East Coast, employed by a wealthy family to tutor a musical prodigy, Selena Bass seems out of place in the marsh’s grim tableau.

Conveniently–perhaps ominously–Selena’s blueblood employers are nowhere to be found, and their estate’s jittery caretaker raises hackles. But Milo’s instincts and Alex’s insight are too well-honed to settle for easy answers, even given the dark secrets in this troubled man’s past. Their investigation unearths disturbing layers–about victims, potential victims, and suspects alike–plunging even deeper into the murky marsh’s enigmatic depths.

Bizarre details of the crimes suggest a devilish serial killer prowling L.A.’s gritty streets. But when a new murder deviates from the pattern, derailing a possible profile, Alex and Milo must look beyond the suspicion of madness and consider an even more sinister mind at work. Answers don’t come easy, but the darkest of drives and desires may fuel the most devious of foes.

Bones is classic Kellerman–relentlessly peeling back the skin and psyches of its characters and revealing the shadows and sins of the souls beneath. With jolt after jolt of galvanizing suspense, it drives the reader through its twists and turns toward a climax as satisfying as it is shattering.

This was a new author for me. I have never read any of Jonathan Kellerman's books. This was a very good book. I thought I had the murderer all picked out, but no, Mr. Kellerman sent me on a different course. By the time I got to the end, it wasn't anyone I thought it was. He is very good a leaving a trail to follow and lots of suspects to consider. You can bet he will be on my TBR list of his other books.

My Rating: 5

FRIDAY FINDS

Decided to do Friday Finds today. If you want to check it out, just click on the title of this post or go to my sidebar, it's in My Blog List.

Cirgue Du Freak - Darren Shan
Totally new author for me. I didn't know this was a series of books, so now I have to get the rest of them!



I joined a book challenge last week and went looking for some books for it. I found one that sounds very interesting, can't wait to get it. Chosen: The Lost Diaries of Queen Esther by Ginger Garrett.

GOLDEN GIRL AND OTHER STORIES

This book is for the reading challenge, 2nd Canadian Book Challenge. If you want to check it out, just click on the title of this post or go to my sidebar, it's in my Reading Challenge Link List.


Product Description(From Amazon.com)
On first glance, they seem like just a regular bunch of kids. The school runt. The science nerd. The mouse. The tough new kid. Mr. Average. And the golden girl. At school, they all follow the same routine and play the popularity game. But things are very different at home and in their thoughts. There's more going on at Elmwood High than any teacher could ever imagine.

This was a very good book. As I work with kids, I always wonder what is going on at home. Because I only have them a few hours out of a day, I always wonder if they are alright and what's going on to make them angry, sad, happy or upset.

BOOKING THROUGH TURSDAY

It's Booking Through Thursday! If you want to check it out, just click on the title of this post or go to my sidebar, it's in My Blog List.

So, today’s question?

* What songs … either specific songs, or songs in general by a specific group or writer … have words that you love?
* Why?
* And … do the tunes that go with the fantastic lyrics live up to them?

The song by Brian Adams (Everything I Do) I Do It For You is one of my favorite songs. It is the theme song for the movie Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves with Kevin Costner,Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio and Morgan Freeman. This is also my all time favorite movie!

The words to this song speak of a love so great that it is worth dying for, stealing for and lying for.

And yes the tune does live up to the movie and the song. It's awesome!!

IN DEFENSE OF FOOD

This is for 3 of my reading challenges, Books About Food, 100+ Challenge and 52 Books in 52 Weeks. If you want to check any of these out, just go to my sidebar, they are in My Reading Challenge Links

"In Defense of Food" by Michael Pollan
Product Description(From Amazon.com)
What to eat, what not to eat, and how to think about health: a manifesto for our times




"Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants." These simple words go to the heart of Michael Pollan's In Defense of Food, the well-considered answers he provides to the questions posed in the bestselling The Omnivore's Dilemma. Humans used to know how to eat well, Pollan argues. But the balanced dietary lessons that were once passed down through generations have been confused, complicated, and distorted by food industry marketers, nutritional scientists, and journalists-all of whom have much to gain from our dietary confusion. As a result, we face today a complex culinary landscape dense with bad advice and foods that are not "real." These "edible foodlike substances" are often packaged with labels bearing health claims that are typically false or misleading. Indeed, real food is fast disappearing from the marketplace, to be replaced by "nutrients," and plain old eating by an obsession with nutrition that is, paradoxically, ruining our health, not to mention our meals. Michael Pollan's sensible and decidedly counterintuitive advice is: "Don't eat anything that your great-great grandmother would not recognize as food."

Writing In Defense of Food, and affirming the joy of eating, Pollan suggests that if we would pay more for better, well-grown food, but buy less of it, we'll benefit ourselves, our communities, and the environment at large. Taking a clear-eyed look at what science does and does not know about the links between diet and health, he proposes a new way to think about the question of what to eat that is informed by ecology and tradition rather than by the prevailing nutrient-by-nutrient approach.

In Defense of Food reminds us that, despite the daunting dietary landscape Americans confront in the modern supermarket, the solutions to the current omnivore's dilemma can be found all around us.

In looking toward traditional diets the world over, as well as the foods our families-and regions-historically enjoyed, we can recover a more balanced, reasonable, and pleasurable approach to food. Michael Pollan's bracing and eloquent manifesto shows us how we might start making thoughtful food choices that will enrich our lives and enlarge our sense of what it means to be healthy.

This book has lots of info about how and why we eat the foods we eat. Also the health of all people that eat too much processed foods. If you want to know what kinds of food to eat that are healthy you should read this book. It's a real eye opener to what we eat and why we eat the food!!

WEEKLY GEEKS

Welcome to the return of Weekly Geeks! We took a break for six weeks to give us time to honor Dewey, regroup and decide how to proceed. It takes a village to keep Dewey's projects going - and that's just what this blogging village (blogage?) is doing. Although there will be different facilitators every week, this is the place to come for the Weekly Geeks theme, Mr. Linky and comments, so add this page to your favs.

Another option: Reading goals for ’09 and wrap ups for ’08 have been pretty well covered by now on a lot of blogs and other memes. But if you haven’t done this, feel free to make that your first WG of the new year, in addition to or instead of the above.

All of these books listed were first time author reads for me. I am usually a mystery reader or historical romance reader. But the last couple of years I have been reading lots of different authors. Most of them I have found from other bloggers that read. I visit their places and see the books they have listed, look them up on Amazon.com to get a description, then go to my library to see if they have that book. 99% of my books come from my library. If I really, really want a book and the library doesn't have it, I'll buy it.

MY 20 FAVORITE BOOKS FROM 2008:

1. FAMILY TREE - BARBARA DELINSKY
2. GLASS CASTLE - JENNETTE WALLS
3. THE ROAD - CORMACK McCARTHY
4. SILENT TO THE BONE - E. L. KOINIGSBURG
5. PILLARS OF THE EARTH - KEN FOLLETT
6. THINGS I WANT MY DAUGHTERS TO KNOW - ELIZABETH NOBLE
7. I AM THE MESSENGER - MARKUS ZUSAK
8. DEEP DISH - MARY KAY ANDREWS
9. LITTLE HEATHENS - MILDRED KALISH
10. THE MEASURE OF A MAN - SYNDEY POITIER
11. FOUNDING MOTHERS - COKIE ROBERTS
12. THE CHOICE - NICHOLAS SPARKS
13. BLACK OUT - LISA UNGER
14. GENE KELLEY: A LIFE OF DANCE AND DREAMS - ALVIN YUDKOFF
15. THE WAY YOU WEAR YOUR HAT - BILL ZEHME
16. BLUBBER - JUDY BLUME
17. THE OUTSIDE OF AUGUST - JOANNA HERSHON
18. THE WISHING GARDEN - CHRISTY YORK
19. CANE RIVER - LALITA TADEMY
20. WEDDING RING - EMILIE RICHARDS

"A" IS FOR ALIBI

This book is for 4 of my reading challenges. Support Your Library, 100+ Challenge and A to Z Reading Challenges and Decades 09' Challenge. If you want to check them out, go to my sidebar, they are in My Reading Challenges.




"A is for Alibi" by Sue Grafton
(from back cover)
A tough-talking former cop, private investigator Kinsey Millhone has set up a modest detective agency in a quiet corner of Santa Teresa, California. A twice-divorced loner with few personal possessions and fewer personal attachments, she’s got a soft spot for underdogs and lost causes. Eight years ago, Nikki Fife was convicted of killing her philandering husband. Now she’s out on parole and needs Kinsey’s help to find the real killer. If there's one thing that makes Kinsey feel alive, it's playing on the edge. When her investigation turns up a second corpse, more suspects, and a new reason to kill, Kinsey discovers that the edge is closer—and sharper—than she imagined.

This is the first of the Alphabet Murders by Sue Grafton. They go through "T". This was a very interesting book. I thought I had the real killer all picked out, but it wasn't who I thought it was. That was a surprise to me! But of course I tell you, that would ruin the book for anyone who wants to read it.

MY RATING: 5