REVIEW - ROOM ONE

This book is for 2 of my reading challenges.
Outdo Yourself Challenge(148/200)
The 50 States Challenge(Nebraska)

"Room One" by Andrew Clements
Product Description(Amazon.com)
Ted Hammond loves a good mystery, and in the spring of his fifth-grade year, he's working on a big one. How can his school in the little town of Plattsford stay open next year if there are going to be only five students? Out here on the Great Plains in western Nebraska, everyone understands that if you lose the school, you lose the town.
But the mystery that has Ted's full attention at the moment is about that face, the face he sees in the upper window of the Andersons' house as he rides past on his paper route. The Andersons moved away two years ago, and their old farmhouse is empty, boarded up tight. At least it's supposed to be.
A shrinking school in a dying town. A face in the window of an empty house. At first these facts don't seem to be related. But Ted Hammond learns that in a very small town, there's no such thing as an isolated event. And the solution of one mystery is often the beginning of another.
Reading level: Ages 9-12
Paperback: 192 pages
Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers; Reprint edition (May 20, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0689866879
ISBN-13: 978-0689866876

MY THOUGHTS: A really good mystery that Ted is bound and determined to solve. How to solve it comes in pieces that flow together. Mr. Clements has a great ending to this book. He also added an Epilogue. I love when authors do this! Lets you know what happened to the characters in the book. When Ted finds this family in an abandoned farm house, he starts putting clues together so he can help them. Then the problem of his school closing comes into the picture when he asks for help from his teacher. This all leads to a trickle down effect and Ted gets his mystery solved. Well, kind of. What happens to the family in the farm house? What happens to Ted's school closing? What happens to this tiny rural town? You'll have to read the book to find out.

RATING: 5

REVIEW - CATRIONA

This book is for 1 of my reading challenges.
Outdo Yourself Challenge(147/200)

"Catriona" by Jeanette Baker
Product Description(Amazon.com)
Rita Award–winning author Jeanette Baker has enthralled readers the world over with her thrilling tale of love, danger, and a passion that endures across the boundaries of time.
Kate Sutherland's arrival in the misty moors of her ancestral home in the Shetland Islands was supposed to cure her visions of danger, intrigue...and a sexy powerful Scottish border lord. Instead, she discovers that she's been living the tormented memories of Catriona Wells, a beautiful young woman of royal blood who lived five centuries before.
Shielding a dark secret from her past, Catriona was willing to do anything to save her young brother from the deadly politics of her royal family-even agree to an arranged marriage with the formidable Patrick MacKendrick. But would daring to love the hardened warrior who desired her so fiercely destroy her family... or finally allow her to heal?
Meanwhile, Kate is battling her own attraction to Niall MacCormack, an alluring Scottish historian. As the pull of history beckons, Kate has her own decision to make: choose the life and love of her present, or risk everything in Catriona's world of passion and peril.
"Catriona is an outstanding blend of past and present that makes for inspiring and irresistible reading."
-RT Book Reviews
Paperback: 400 pages
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca; Reprint edition (August 1, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1402255861
ISBN-13: 978-1402255861

MY THOUGHTS: First off, this is a review book. I've bumped it up on my list because of a book tour. This book blends history, mystery, love and danger. It's like you have 2 books but they are so finely written they just blend together. Kate needs to attend to her past before she can be at peace from the disturbing visions she has of Catriona Wells, an ancestor. I loved reading this book! Historical fiction is one of my favorite genres. Romance, dashing knight, and some mystery thrown in. What's not to like? If you like Historical fiction you should pick this book up. It's really good! Does Kate get the mystery solved and her life back? You'll have to read the book to find out.

MY RATING: 5

[This is a free review book.]

REVIEW - HOW I FOUND THE STRONG

This book is for 3 of my reading challenges.
Outdo Yourself Challenge(146/200)
War Through the Generations(Civil War)
50 States Challenge(Mississippi)

"How I Found the Strong" by Margaret McMullan
Product Description(Amazon.com)
In 1861 Frank “Shanks” Russell wishes he was old enough to fight for the South alongside his pa and big brother. But Frank is too young, skinny, and weak, and is left behind with his mother and grandparents. Life in Mississippi was simple before the war between North and South. Now Frank’s boyhood is gone forever, along with his dreams of heroic battles. The shortages and horrors of war reach his home as he scrounges for food and water, and sees both Confederate and enemy soldiers at their worst. As time goes by and Frank’s friendship with Buck, the family slave, grows, he questions more and more who is the enemy and why the terrible war is being fought.
Reading level: Young Adult
Mass Market Paperback: 144 pages
Publisher: Laurel Leaf (April 11, 2006)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0553494929
ISBN-13: 978-0553494921

MY THOUGHTS: This book was really fast read. It is set up like a diary. Shanks(Frank) is telling the story. He's 10 years old when he starts the story. His father and brother have enlisted in the war. Shanks wants to go but they won't let 10 year olds go. So he has to stay home with his mother and Buck, the family slave. The book covers the years 1861 to 1863. Shank sees and hears a lot about the war through friends. He doesn't much like what he's hearing. His father comes home, but his brother doesn't. And one night Shanks and his father take Buck and go to the Strong river. They set Buck free. Seeing the war through a child's eyes was a moving experience. You get a different perspective on it.

MY RATING: 8-12

NEEDLEWORK TUESDAY

Heather over at Books and Quilts is the host for Needlework Tuesday. Heather shares her quilting and knitting.

Needlework Tuesday is open to all readers looking for inspiration, encouragement or who want to share their recent needlework project. Introduce yourself in the comments and be sure to leave a link to your current post. If you need help on your project, we can possibly answer your question or direct you to someone who can.

First off, I'm so glad I've kind of finished the lavender doily. I just didn't like that pattern. I didn't like it from the start, which should have told me to not start it. But live and learn I guess.

On to better. I'm now working on a traditional pineapple doily. I love doing pineapple doilies. They go so fast. I started this one yesterday while I was watching my t.v. programs on line at CBS.com This is still out of the booklet from Leisure Arts Book 5 A Year of Doilies.

This is called Sunburst Doily. I've changed the color. I'm using a very light yellow. The thread is Royale Classic Crochet Thread, size 10. The color is Maize. It says to use a size 6 needle, but I don't have that size so went up one to size 7. The finished size is 18"(35.5cm) diameter. I'm pretty sure it will be a little bigger because I'm using a larger needle. We'll see. This is the one I'm working on. This is the May doily.

Here's what I've gotten done so far. Click on the picture to get a closer look.

Now I'm off to the library for some new books.

REVEIW - SPROUT

This book is for 3 of my reading challenges.
Outdo Yourself Challenge(145/200)
The 50 States Challenge(Kansas)
52 Books in 52 Weeks(Wk.39)

"Sprout" by Dale Peck
Product Description(Amazon.com)
How many secrets can you hide in plain sight?
Sprout Bradford has a secret. It’s not what you think—he’ll tell you he’s gay. He’ll tell you about his dad’s drinking and his mother’s death. The green fingerprints everywhere tell you when he last dyed his hair. But neither the reader nor Sprout are prepared for what happens when Sprout suddenly finds he’s had a more profound effect on the lives around him than he ever thought possible. Sprout is both hilarious and gripping; a story of one boy at odds with the expected.
Reading level: Young Adult
Hardcover: 288 pages
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens (May 26, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1599901609
ISBN-13: 978-1599901602

MY THOUGHTS: Daniel (a.k.a. Sprout) is a talented writer with green hair. He loves to play around with words. He most usually has a dictionary with him. Sprout's father has moved them to Kansas from Long Island. Sprout has to adjust and find his place in the new school. On top of that his father is drunk most of the time. His father is morning the loss of his wife. He also does some strange landscaping. What makes this book interesting is the way Sprout handles the everyday things. But the book is also about Sprout handling his mother's death. This book definitely held my interest and took several twists and turns I didn't think about. Sprout learns more about himself. And finishes with some more questions. The ending just makes you ask more questions. Really great book.

RATING: 5

REVIEW - THE DAUGHTER OF TIME

This book is for 1 of my reading challenges.
Outdo Yourself Challenge(144/200)

"The Daughter of Time" by Josephine Tey
Product Description(Amazon.com)
Josephine Tey re-creates one of history's most famous -- and vicious -- crimes in her classic bestselling novel, a must read for connoisseurs of fiction, now with a new introduction by Robert Barnard
Inspector Alan Grant of Scotland Yard, recuperating from a broken leg, becomes fascinated with a contemporary portrait of Richard III that bears no resemblance to the Wicked Uncle of history. Could such a sensitive, noble face actually belong to one of the world's most heinous villains -- a venomous hunchback who may have killed his brother's children to make his crown secure? Or could Richard have been the victim, turned into a monster by the usurpers of England's throne? Grant determines to find out once and for all, with the help of the British Museum and an American scholar, what kind of man Richard Plantagenet really was and who killed the Little Princes in the Tower.
The Daughter of Time is an ingeniously plotted, beautifully written, and suspenseful tale, a supreme achievement from one of mystery writing's most gifted masters.
Paperback: 206 pages
Publisher: Scribner; 1ST edition (November 29, 1995)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0684803860
ISBN-13: 978-0684803869

MY THOUGHTS: I won this book from Bev over at My Reader's Block. Bev is hosting the Vintage Mystery Reading Challenge. This a new author for me and it won't be the last book from this author that I read. Loved this book!
You are literally taken back in time to examine the accusations, testimonies and material relating to the death of Richard's brother, King Edward IV in 1483. This is a riveting piece of detective history. If you like a mystery and history, you'll love this book. Very enjoyable mystery.

MY RATING: 5

REVIEW - GIRL IN TRANSLATION

This book is for 1 of my reading challenges.
Outdo Yourself Challenge(143/200)

"Girl in Translation" by Jean Kwok
Product Description(Amazon.com)
When Kimberly Chang and her mother emigrate from Hong Kong to Brooklyn squalor, she begins a secret double life: exceptional schoolgirl during the day, Chinatown sweatshop worker in the evenings. Disguising the more difficult truths of her life-like the staggering degree of her poverty, the weight of her family's future resting on her shoulders, or her secret love for a factory boy who shares none of her talent or ambition-Kimberly learns to constantly translate not just her language but also herself back and forth between the worlds she straddles.
Paperback: 320 pages
Publisher: Riverhead Trade; Reprint edition (May 3, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1594485151
ASIN: B005IUH24O

MY THOUGHTS: This book is a story that intertwines what it means to be an immigrant coming from Hong Kong to the U.S. Kimberly and her mother find themselves in New York looking for a better future than the life they'd known in Hong Kong. The author did a wonderful job of making you feel what she was saying without spending your reading time in misery. The Chinese sayings interspersed throughout the book are really interesting. The story flows smoothly and Kimberly ages as you read on, waiting to see what will happen to her. Great book to read!

MY RATING: 5

[This is a free review book.]

REVIEW - SHADOWED SUMMER

This book is for 3 of my reading challenges.
Outdo Yourself Challenge(142/200)
The 50 States Challenge(Louisiana)
52 Books in 52 Weeks(Wk.38)

"Shadowed Summer" by Saundra Mitchell
Product Description(Amazon.com)
Iris is ready for another hot, routine summer in her small Louisiana town, hanging around the Red Stripe grocery with her best friend, Collette, and traipsing through the cemetery telling each other spooky stories and pretending to cast spells. Except this summer, Iris doesn't have to make up a story. This summer, one falls right in her lap.
Years ago, before Iris was born, a local boy named Elijah Landry disappeared. All that remained of him were whispers and hushed gossip in the church pews. Until this summer. A ghost begins to haunt Iris, and she's certain it's the ghost of Elijah. What really happened to him? And why, of all people, has he chosen Iris to come back to?
Reading level: Young Adult
Paperback: 192 pages
Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers; 1 Reprint edition (June 8, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0440422574
ISBN-13: 978-0440422570

MY THOUGHTS: Like to read scary books? This one is pretty good. It had me sitting on the edge of my seat. I wanted find out the big secret behind Elijah's disappearance. It was sometimes kind of scary. A few spots in the book had me getting goose bumps. Iris, Camille and Ben are trying to find something to do for the summer. They decide to look into the disappearance of Elijah. What happened and why doesn't anyone want to talk about it? They start asking questions and go to the library for information, but don't get too much. Elijah keeps talking to Iris and leaving messages for her. Then one day Elijah gets really mean and leaves a bunch of rocks on Iris's bed and tears her room apart. Iris gets fed up with all this and heads to the cemetery. Does Iris find out the secret? Does Elijah get to rest in peace? You'll have to read the book to find out. It's really good!

MY RATING: 5

BANNED BOOKS LIST

I was over at Heather's place, Books and Quilts. I was looking at some of her previous posts and ran across her post on Banned Books. She has a list of 110 books and I thought it should be shared.

List of the top 110 banned books (of all time). Bold the ones you’ve read. Italicize the ones you’ve read part of. Quotation Mark the ones you specifically want to read (at least some of). Read more. Convince others to read some.
#1 The Bible
"#2 Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain"
#3 Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes
#4 The Koran
#5 Arabian Nights
#6 Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
#7 Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift
#8 Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer
"#9 The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne"
#10 Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman
#11 The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli
"#12 Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe"
#13 Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
#14 Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert
#15 Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
#16 Les Miserables by Victor Hugo
#17 Dracula by Bram Stoker
#18 Autobiography by Benjamin Franklin
#19 Tom Jones by Henry Fielding
#20 Essays by Michel de Montaigne
#21 Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
#22 History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon
#23 Tess of the D’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy
#24 Origin of Species by Charles Darwin
#25 Ulysses by James Joyce
#26 Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio
#27 Animal Farm by George Orwell
#28 Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell
#29 Candide by Voltaire
#30 To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
#31 Analects by Confucius
#32 Dubliners by James Joyce
#33 Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
#34 Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway
#35 Red and the Black by Stendhal
#36 Das Capital by Karl Marx
#37 Flowers of Evil by Charles Baudelaire
#38 The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
#39 Lady Chatterley’s Lover by D. H. Lawrence
#40 Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
#41 Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser
#42 Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
#43 Jungle by Upton Sinclair
#44 All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque
#45 Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx
#46 Lord of the Flies by William Golding
#47 Diary by Samuel Pepys
#48 Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway
"#49 Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy"
#50 Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
#51 Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak
#52 Critique of Pure Reason by Immanuel Kant
#53 One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey
#54 Praise of Folly by Desiderius Erasmu
#55 Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
"#56 Autobiography of Malcolm X by Malcolm X"
#57 The Color Purple by Alice Walker
#59 Essay Concerning Human Understanding by John Locke
"#60 The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison"
#61 Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe
#62 One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
#63 East of Eden by John Steinbeck
"#64 Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison"
#65 I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
#66 Confessions by Jean Jacques Rousseau
#67 Gargantua and Pantagruel by Francois Rabelais
#68 Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes
#69 The Talmud
#70 Social Contract by Jean Jacques Rousseau
#71 Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
#72 Women in Love by D. H. Lawrence
#73 American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser
#74 Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler
#75 Separate Peace by John Knowles
#76 The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
#77 The Red Pony by John Steinbeck
#78 Popol Vuh
#79 Affluent Society by John Kenneth Galbraith
#80 Satyricon by Petronius
#81 James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
"#82 Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov"
#83 Black Boy by Richard Wright
#84 Spirit of the Laws by Charles de Secondat Baron de Montesquieu
#85 Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut
#86 Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George
#87 Metaphysics by Aristotle
#88 Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder
#89 Institutes of the Christian Religion by Jean Calvin
#90 Steppenwolf by Hermann Hesse
#91 The Power and the Glory by Graham Greene
#92 Sanctuary by William Faulkner
#93 As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner
#94 Black Like Me by John Howard Griffin
#95 Sylvester and the Magic Pebble by William Steig
#96 Sorrows of Young Werther by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
#97 General Introduction to Psychoanalysis by Sigmund Freud
"#98 The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood"
"#99 Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Alexander Brown"
#100 Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
#101 Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman by Ernest J. Gaines
#102 Emile Jean by Jacques Rousseau
#103 Nana by Emile Zola
#104 The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
#105 Go Tell It on the Mountain by James Baldwin
#106 Gulag Archipelago by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
#107 Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein
#108 The Day No Pigs Would Die by Robert Peck
"#109 Ox-Bow Incident by Walter Van Tilburg Clark"
#110 Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes

REVIEW - NIGHT OF THE HOWLING DOGS

This book is for 2 of my reading challenges.
Outdo Yourself Challenge(141/200)
The 50 States Challenge(Hawaii)

"The Night of the Howling Dogs" by Graham Salisbury
Product Description(Amazon.com)
DYLAN'S SCOUT TROOP goes camping in Halape, a remote spot below the volcano on the Big Island of Hawaii. The only thing wrong with the weekend on a beautiful, peaceful beach is Louie, a tough older boy. Louie and Dylan just can't get along.
That night an earthquake rocks the camp, and then a wave rushes in, sweeping everyone and everything before it. Dylan and Louie must team up on a dangerous rescue mission. The next hours are an amazing story of survival and the true meaning of leadership.
Reading level: Ages 9-12
Mass Market Paperback: 208 pages
Publisher: Laurel Leaf (March 24, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0440238390
ISBN-13: 978-0440238393

MY THOUGHTS: Have you ever looked in your libraries Junior Fiction section? You should give it try, there are lots of great books there. This is one I found and it's based on a true event that happened on November 29, 1975. The author's cousin was one of those boys camping at Halape, a remote beach campground on the southern flank of Kilauea volcano. This is an a piece taken from the book that the author added at the end of the book. It comes from a newspaper.

Wave heights from the Nov. 29 Tsunami ranged from as low as four feet off Waiakea Peninsula in Hilo to 20 feet at points in Ka'u...There were at least five waves in the series produced by the strong offshore quake, the most intense in Hawaii in more than a century.
--Honolulu Advertiser, Friday, December 12,1975

In this book no was killed, but the real boy scout troup that was there, one of the leaders was killed. I could feel the terror when the quake hit in the middle of the night. The boys were afraid and didn't know what was going on. Boulders and water was coming at them all around. Dylan and Louie started walking out, which was 11 miles over lava flows with no shoes. And did they all get out? You'll have to read the book to find out. Really good book!

MY RATING: 8-12

READ MY REVIEW

While I was hopping around the book blogs the other day I ran across this new meme. It's called Read My Review. It's hosted by Tasha over at A Trillan Books. What exactly is this? Here's some info:

What to do:
- Find one of your reviews that fits the current theme (you can be as creative as you like when choosing what fits). It can be a new or old review, good or bad.
- Leave the link to your review with Mr. Linky at the bottom of this post."Blog Name (Book Title)"
- Visit some of the other reviews and leave a 'quality' comment (a couple of sentences).
- Let people know about Read My Review. Grab the button, tweet it, Facebook it ... shout about it in the street ... whatever lol.

The theme this month is..........SCHOOL

My reivew for 13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher is what I'm using. This was a very moving book for me. I enjoyed it very much.

"Th1rteen R3asons Why" by Jay Asher
Product Description(Amazon.com)
Clay Jensen returns home from school to find a mysterious box with his name on it lying on his porch. Inside he discovers cassette tapes recorded by Hannah Baker--his classmate and crush--who committed suicide two weeks earlier.
On tape, Hannah explains that there are thirteen reasons why she decided to end her life. Clay is one of them. If he listens, he'll find out how he made the list.
Through Hannah and Clay's dual narratives, debut author Jay Asher weaves an intricate and heartrending story of confusion and desperation that will deeply affect teen readers.
# Reading level: Young Adult
# Hardcover: 304 pages
# Publisher: Razorbill; 1st edition (October 18, 2007)
# Language: English
# ISBN-10: 1595141715
# ISBN-13: 978-1595141712

MY THOUGHTS: I have been trying to get this book from the library for the longest time. Every time I went to get it, it was out. So I finally put it on hold. I started this book yesterday afternoon and finished it this afternoon. It is a very good book and keeps you locked on to what the author is writing. You want to find out why Clay is on the list of 13 people. Did he do something to Hannah? You also want to find out what the 13 reasons are for Hannah to take her own life. This is a very moving book. While I was reading this book I was so hoping that it was a mistake and someone helped Hannah. And the interesting thing is that while Clay was listening to the tapes he recognized all the signs of suicide. But by then it was too late. This book also made me very angry at all the people that added to the reasons for Hannah's suicide. The consequences of what they did took a life. If you haven't read this book, please do. It's very well written and moves along very fast. I highly recommend this book.

MY RATING: 8-12

Originally posted on March 1, 2011

REVIEW - BURIED PREY

This book is for 2 of my reading challenges.
Outdo Yourself Challenge(140/200)
The 50 States Challenge(Minnesota)

"Buried Prey" by John Sandford
Product Description(Amazon.com)
A house demolition provides an unpleasant surprise for Minneapolis-the bodies of two girls, wrapped in plastic. It looks like they've been there a long time. Lucas Davenport knows exactly how long.
In 1985, Davenport was a young cop with a reputation for recklessness, and the girls' disappearance was a big deal. His bosses ultimately declared the case closed, but he never agreed with that. Now that he has a chance to investigate it all over again, one thing is becoming increasingly clear: It wasn't just the bodies that were buried. It was the truth.
Some secrets just can't stay buried, in the brilliant new Lucas Davenport thriller from the number-one New York Times-bestselling author.
Hardcover: 400 pages
Publisher: Putnam Adult; 1st edition (May 10, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0399157387
ISBN-13: 978-0399157387

MY THOUGHTS: This is the new John Sandford Prey series. You don't have to read them in order, they are stand alone books. This one has Lucas Devenprot and his crew at the BCA. Lucas is sure he knows who the guy is that killed the Jone's girls, but he can't find him. He starts digging around through old case files and gets his note from then. Lucas and Del start connecting the loose ends. They come up with one person and he fits the description given by a woman that survived an attack. Now all they have to do is find him. This book is full of info on the original case and what happened. It brings you up to date and what's going on now. Do they catch the guy? You'll have to read the book to find out.

MY RATING: 5

SATURDAY SNAPSHOTS

I was trying to get a picture of daybreak, but this is what I got instead.

The sun should be right behind those trees, but can't see it for the fog.

Want to join in Saturday Snapshots? Head over to Alyce's place, At Home With Books. Here are the rules for playing along.

To participate in the Saturday Snapshot meme post a photo that you (or a friend or family member) have taken then leave a direct link to your post in the Mister Linky below. Photos can be old or new, and be of any subject as long as they are clean and appropriate for all eyes to see. How much detail you give in the caption is entirely up to you. Please don’t post random photos that you find online.

THE FRIDAY 56

Freda over at Freda's Voice is the host for The Friday 56.

Rules:
*Grab a book, any book.
*Turn to page 56.
*Find any sentence that grabs you.
*Post it.
*Add your (url) post below in Linky. Add the post url, not your blog url.
It's that simple.

Buried Prey - John Sandford
Product Description(Amazon.com)
A house demolition provides an unpleasant surprise for Minneapolis-the bodies of two girls, wrapped in plastic. It looks like they've been there a long time. Lucas Davenport knows exactly how long.
In 1985, Davenport was a young cop with a reputation for recklessness, and the girls' disappearance was a big deal. His bosses ultimately declared the case closed, but he never agreed with that. Now that he has a chance to investigate it all over again, one thing is becoming increasingly clear: It wasn't just the bodies that were buried. It was the truth.

P. 56
"You're looking for him because he said something about a crazy guy, and other people know the crazy guy. Maybe the other people would be easier to find."

REVIEW - THE DSTANT HOURS

This book is for 2 of my reading challenges.
Outdo Yourself Challenge(139/200)
Romantic Suspense Challenge

"The Distant Hours" by Kate Morton
Product Description(Amazon.com)
It starts with a letter, lost for half a century and unexpectedly delivered to Edie’s mother on a Sunday afternoon. The letter leads Edie to Milderhurst Castle, where the eccentric Blythe spinsters live and where, she discovers, her mother was billeted during World War II. The elder Blythe sisters are twins and have spent most of their lives caring for their younger sister, Juniper, who hasn’t been the same since her fiancé jilted her in 1941. Inside the decaying castle, Edie searches for her mother’s past but soon learns there are other secrets hidden in its walls. The truth of what happened in “the distant hours” has been waiting a long time for someone to find it. In this enthralling romantic thriller, Morton pays homage to the classics of gothic fiction, spinning a rich and intricate web of mystery, suspense, and lost love.
Paperback: 576 pages
Publisher: Washington Square Press; Reprint edition (July 12, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1439152799
ISBN-13: 978-1439152799

MY THOUGHTS: This is my book clubs pick for this month. Although this is a pretty long book, it moves along rather fast. The characters are all memorable and trying to figure out the secret of the castle and the lost letter leads Edie on a fantastic trip through time. This is also the first book I've read from Kate Morton, but it won't be the last. I'll be looking for her other books. The House at Riverton and The Forgotten Garden. The book is set up so it is like 2 books in one. The parts that Edie is in and then the part that goes back to 1941. It just flows all together and isn't a bit distracting. And does Edie find out the secret of Milderhurst Castle? I'll give you a little hint. It's involves a love story. That's it, you'll have to read the book to find out.

MY RATING: 8-12

REVIEW - THE GUARDIAN ANGEL'S JOURNAL

This book is for 2 of my reading challenges.
Outdo Yourself Challenge(138/200)
52 Books in 52 Weeks(Wk.37)

"The Guardian Angels' Journal" by Carolyn Jess-Cooke
Product Description(Amazon.com)
After her death, a woman is sent back to life as her own guardian angel in this lyrical first novel that examines questions of fate, free will, regret, and hope.
Returned to earth as her own guardian angel, Margot Delacroix, now named Ruth, watches herself, through her own birth, a troubled childhood, her first love, her son's birth, and, ultimately, her own untimely death. As she passes through this second chance at life, she must re-experience and record her biggest mistakes and her deepest regrets. As she relives her life, Ruth tries to change it and, in the end, prevent her own death. Ruth also tries to prevent Margot from ever falling in love with her husband Toby -- and eventually falls back in love with him herself.
A love story that proves that love is stronger than death, The Guardian Angel's Journal is a rich, lyrical novel that examines the questions of fate, free will, faith, and hope. This story asks readers to consider what they would change about the life they've already lived.
Paperback: 320 pages
Publisher: GuidepostsBooks (April 1, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0824948793
ISBN-13: 978-0824948795

MY THOUGHTS: The book grabs your attention right away. Starting with Ruth's wakening to being an angel. The rules are explained to Ruth, which is her new name instead of Margot. I am wary of Christian lit. I don't like having a particular message shoved down my throat. But this book isn't like that. It's very well written with all the characters having their own personalities. Reading about Margot(Ruth) learning what God has intended for her is sometimes funny and sometimes very heart warming. If your into reading angel books or just want something different to read, this is the book for you. Very good book, I really enjoyed reading it.

MY RATING: 8-12

[This is a free review book.]

NEEDLEWORK TUESDAY

Heather over at Books and Quilts is the host for Needlework Tuesday. Do you do needlework of some kind? Want to share? Head over to Heather's place and check it out. Heather is sharing her trip to a Knitting show.

Yea, yea,I know it's Wednesday, but I just had to post about this doily I've been working on. It's driving me nuts. But yesterday was a busy day and didn't get around to posting. You may remember a couple months ago I was working on a doily. Well let me tell you, that was the doily from He@*. I don't know if it was the pattern or me, but I just couldn't get it to come out right. I ripped the darn thing out 4 times. And someway I got 9 pineapples and there is only suppose to be 8. Then it started puckering up. So I ripped out the pineapple all the way back to where it started. That's the doily I have now. It's a pretty little doily the way it is. It's on my desk and looks pretty good there.

It's supposed to look like the one on the lower left of this booklet. The lavender one.

Well it didn't turn out like that. This is what mine looks like now.

And here it is on my desk.

So now I'll be starting the pretty orange one in the upper right hand corner of the book. But for now I'm off to read John Sandford's new book Buried Prey.

WON BOOK ARRIVED

I participated in The Vintage Mystery Reading Challenge. I finished this reading challenge a couple weeks ago. I either didn't read the whole thing or forgot about it. But there was a prize for people who finished the challenge.

Bev, over at My Reader's Block is the host for this challenge. Bev sent me a list of books she was offering for the prize. I picked one and sent my response back. My book arrived yesterday. This is a new author for me and I've already started reading this book. So far I like it!

"The Daughter of Time" by Josephine Tey

Product Description(Amazon.com)
Josephine Tey re-creates one of history's most famous -- and vicious -- crimes in her classic bestselling novel, a must read for connoisseurs of fiction, now with a new introduction by Robert Barnard
Inspector Alan Grant of Scotland Yard, recuperating from a broken leg, becomes fascinated with a contemporary portrait of Richard III that bears no resemblance to the Wicked Uncle of history. Could such a sensitive, noble face actually belong to one of the world's most heinous villains -- a venomous hunchback who may have killed his brother's children to make his crown secure? Or could Richard have been the victim, turned into a monster by the usurpers of England's throne? Grant determines to find out once and for all, with the help of the British Museum and an American scholar, what kind of man Richard Plantagenet really was and who killed the Little Princes in the Tower.
The Daughter of Time is an ingeniously plotted, beautifully written, and suspenseful tale, a supreme achievement from one of mystery writing's most gifted masters.
Paperback: 206 pages
Publisher: Scribner; 1ST edition (November 29, 1995)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0684803860
ISBN-13: 978-0684803869

IT'S MONDAY, WHAT ARE YOU READING?

Sheila over at Book Journey is the host for It's Monday, What Are You Reading? Want to join in on the fun? Head over to Sheila's place and check it out. You might find your next book to read.

Had a good week last week for reading. Here's what I read. Click on the title for a look at my reviews.

Troubling A Star - Madeleine L'Engle

A Light in the Storm - Karen Hesse

My Fair Lazy - Jen Lancaster

Iron Trail - Tim Champlin


As for what I'm reading now. I'm still reading.......
The Distant Hours - Kate Morton

The Guardian Angel's Journal - Carolyn Jess-Cooke

That's it for now, I'm off to read for awhile. The twins have a doctor appointment today, so that will take up most of my afternoon. They will be getting shots today so they will be cranky as well.

SATURDAY SNAPSHOTS

Alyce over at At Home With Books is the host for Saturday Snapshot. What is this? Here is some info:

To participate in the Saturday Snapshot meme post a photo that you (or a friend or family member) have taken then leave a direct link to your post in the Mister Linky below. Photos can be old or new, and be of any subject as long as they are clean and appropriate for all eyes to see. How much detail you give in the caption is entirely up to you. Please don’t post random photos that you find online.

The Honeysuckle is blooming around here. I wish you could smell it. It's all over our yard in various places. The most interesting is the old t.v. tower out back. The Honeysuckle has mad it's home there. It looks like a giant Christmas Tree.

Click the picture to get an up close look. And don't forget to head over to Alyce's place to see what everyone is sharing.

BUSY READING

I've been busy reading for the last few days. I went to the library last week and got stocked up on books, plus my book club was last week. So that's what I've been doing, reading. This is what I've got done.

Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs - Judi Barrett
Troubling A Star - Madeleine L'Engle
A Light in the Storm - Karen Hesse
My Fair Lazy - Jen Lancaster
Iron Trail - Tim Champlin

As for my book club book, The Distant Hours by Kate Morton.

It's pretty interesting and all about a secret kept. The secret starts during WW2 and carries on until now. The person telling the story is trying to find out what the secret is that her mom has kept all these years. Really interesting story line and the characters are all interesting.

I'm also reading a review book that's pretty interesting. The Guardian Angel's Journal by Carolyn Jess-Cooke. Haven't gotten into it very far. It's about a woman that dies and she comes back as her own guardian angel.

So that's what I've been doing. What have you read this week?