Tricky Business

By Dave Barry...okay, I laughed a lot while listening to this book. I guess among the funny stuff was the constant poking fun at news stations and their "breaking coverage" of things. If you are like me and roll your eyes every time the BREAKING NEWS comes on...well you will appreciate this! Okay, if you don't like language...maybe this isn't the book for you, but this is funny like Carl Hiaasen funny...and the characters are fun! Old men, washed up waitresses, mob guys, a man trying to make a buck...a man trying to not live with his mom...it has it all. A hurricane is coming in...but the casino boat still goes out...mostly because the mob who owns it needs to make an exchange...but there are tons of innocent bystanders who go out in the storm as well. Funny and a little bit of a mystery to boot!

Does My Head Look Big In This?

By Randa Abdel-Fattah...I have been anxiously waiting to read this book and FINALLY finished it today! I was not disappointed. TONS of issues, religion, being different, popularity, sex and dating, friendship, relationship with parents...just tons of great things addressed in a very non-threatening way! I loved it! I can't wait to read her other book! In many ways I remember growing up as a teen and feeling like the characters in the book...so I really liked that as well! I HIGHLY recommend this book!

The Chosen

By Chaim Potok..recommended reading for 10th grade AP class, and I was told to read it and THE PROMISE...so here I am finishing this book. All of my Judaic studies background helped prepare me for a lengthy discussion between Hasidic Jews and orthodox Jews...very fascinating. It is also about the friendship between two boys...and that has its ups and downs. It also addresses differences in people and how people cope with those differences, both in good ways and bad.

The Worst Hard Time

The Untold Story of those who survived the Great American Dust Bowl by Timothy Egan...what a book, what a story. At times this book made me feel like I had dust in my mouth and I needed to drink water...it was sad and frustrating and just horrifying at times...but I felt it definitely opened my eyes to the horrors of the Dust Bowl...it gave a back story about how it all happened...there were even pictures of what it looked like. This event effected the whole US...which I wasn't aware of. There are excerpts from personal journals, news stories, and personal accounts that make this nonfiction read a great read!!

When you are Engulfed in Flames

By David Sedaris...another hilarious, sad, thought provoking collection of short essays by David Sedaris...focusing on more recent events I think...but still some flashbacks about his family and childhood. I enjoy reading him...but must admit there is something even more hilarious about listening to him read...I have decided I may need to reread this book in audio sometime soon! But, if you love David, you will love this book!!

The Kingdom Keepers

By Ridley Pearson...I finished this awhile ago. It was recommended by SEVERAL of my young adult readers as a MUST READ! Anyway, it turns out that 5 kids have been hired by the Magic Kingdom to be holograms in the park, directing guests to different attractions. One of them finds out that when they go to sleep at night they can reappear in the park. There are evil forces at work and these 5 kids must stop the evil forces from taking over the park. Personally I loved reliving my experience at the Magic Kingdom, remembering rides and characters. There is a fabulously scary and twisted moment in Its a Small World...I can't wait to read book 2 in the series. Oh, and by the way it has my FAVE Disney Villain, Malificent (sp?) as well!!

Starvation Heights

A True Story of Murder and Malice in the Woods of the Pacific Northwest by Gregg Olsen. I came across this book while shelving about a week ago...and thought it looked interesting. And, since it had taken place here in the Pacific Northwest I thought I would give it a go... It was interesting...I have read about John Kellogg's place in Michigan...and of course many people go to doctors who tell them that fasting or certain diets will certainly cure them. Well, this book takes it a little further and a doctor near Seattle starved her patients to death...well, she strongly influenced them anyway. These two sisters from Great Britain come to the US and travel, hear about her cure and come to see her...and then stay with her...one dies. The other is finally rescued by a family nurse...and then charges are brought up on the doctor...what happens next is creepy, terrifying and just hard to believe...check it out! Definitely not for the weak of stomach!

The Surgeon

By Tess Gerritsen...full of mystery and suspense...this is a great read! Well, again I am listening to it...and it has definitely kept my interest. You follow the characters through these twists and turns wondering who done it and when will they figure it out...it was the final CD before things really started coming together...and I prefer it that way! A surgeon from Savannah has moved to Boston and apparently so has a killer...although she shot the one who tried to kill her in Savannah, so who is this person? He knows everything about her, he knows how to access her email and get into her office, but how could he know so much? The police officers helping her on the case are equally confused...and sometimes think it could be her...one of the police officers is getting a little too close to the surgeon....and the killer calls himself the surgeon as well...

Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim

By David Sedaris...okay, maybe listening to David Sedaris in the car can be dangerous. There were parts where I nearly drove off the road it was so funny. Something about the way he reads his books...I don't know. I have read his books and found them funny...but when listening, I find them HYSTERICAL. I have been fortunate enough to see him in person...also funny! If you haven't read or listened to him before...you should! Start with Holidays on Ice or Naked and go from there! I had never heard his imitation of his brother and in this book, he does it. I nearly peed my pants! Some of what he has to say is funny, but a lot of it is serious and reflective...and makes you think about your relationships.

The Penderwicks

A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits and a Very Interesting Boy by Jeanne Birdsall. So, believe it or not I HAVE been reading....so here will be a sequence of books I have been LISTENING to on my drive to and from classes! I don't normally drive much so I have missed the listening to books in the car. My husband and I do it on trips...but that is about it. So once I went back to school and had to be in the car for longer than 5 minutes...the books on CD have returned. So...I finished this one in May...probably mid May...it was a great story about four sisters who have lost their mother...their dad is raising them and they spend summers in a cottage. This year they didn't get their usual space and their dad found them a cottage close to a huge mansion with beautiful gardens. You have Rosalind the oldest at 12 who is more like a mother than a sister at times, Skye at 11 who loves sports and is very tomboyish, loud and opinionated sometimes at not especially good times, Jane at 10 who is an aspiring author, likes to write mysteries and the youngest is Batty, at 4 who enjoys wearing wings and talking to animals, people sometimes scare her..and then they have Hound, their dog...who is very wise as well! I immediately loved the characters and the story! I recommend it to anyone who loves a good read...or if you have daughters read it to them...it is fun!