Powers, Ursula K. Le Guin / 502 pages / Nebula Award Nominee 2011

"Marsh people have powers, and the city people are afraid of them.  So we never talk about anything we can do that they can't.  It would be dangerous.  Really dangerous."  So says Sallo to her brother, Gavir.  Gavir remembers things that are going to happen.  He and his sister are slaves - property, and Gavir accepts his lot in life and plans to be a teacher.  He has a second gift of remarkable memory.  When Etra is beseiged and Gavir is on his second civic work assignment, he is exposed to modern writers and begins to question the statis quo.  Why should one man have power and another none?  Gavir runs away when his sister drowns under tragic circumstances.  Searching for love, learning, and liberty, Gavir learns to importance of trust, determination, and family.  This is an awesome book, well-written, and covering numerous important themes.  I found the reading to be a little slow, however.

"Loyalty misplaces is troublesome and dangerous."
"Freedom is largely, a matter of seeing that there are alternatives."

Nebula Award Nominee 2011

Chocolate Magic / Karen Sandler / 264 pages / Food

Romance, chocolate, witty, funny language...and steamy (perhaps too?) sex make this book a tempting, enjoyable read.  Kat and Mark are heirs to two chocolate companies.  Once married, now divorced, they are now competitors.  Roth Chocolates is not doing nearly so well as Denham Chocolates and this, of course, irks Kat, Roth's new CEO.  She vehemently fights her attraction to Mark.  Her bumbling cousin, Fritz, masterminds an elaborate scheme to rekindle their love and relationship.

Food - Chocolate, Chocolate, Chocolate!!!

Mama Does Time (Mace Bauer Series #1) Deborah Sharp / 266 pages / Food

Mama says everything started at the Dairy Queen.  She'd already had a butterscotch dip and wanted to get a second one, but a pretty young girl in a red sports car hit her car - the car whose trunk would not close because a man's hand was hanging out of it - a dead man's hand!  Rosalee Deveraux, 62, 4 times married, is arrested for murder.  Her daughters - Maddie, a middle school principal; Marty - a librarian; and Mace - an animal tracker - are called to offer support, and assist in the investigation to clear their mother's name.  This book is a quirky romance and a good time read.

Food - Rosalee is known for making Lemon Squares with icing.  The jail smells like spaghetti and meatballs.

"Never leave mad.  You never know which breath is your last."
"Multi-taking has meant the end of good manners."

Apple Turnover Murder / Joanne Fluke 292 p.

Hannah Swensen makes her 13th appearance in this cozy mystery. The Mayor and his wife commission Hannah to bake 1100 cookies for a three day charity fundraiser. Lisa, her partner at the Cookie Jar, volunteers them to bake Apple Turnovers too. Hannah's very former love interest will be the MC from her grad school days. Hannah is dating dentist Norman Rhodes and local sheriff Mike Kingston. So she's not interested-- she hopes he has forgotten her. She warns off her former graduate school advisor when he turns his attention towards her sister. Naturally she stumbles over him backstage dead -- holding her apple turnover (recipe included). Hannah narrows down the suspects hopefully before anyone else turns up dead. A delightful mixture of murder and scrumptious recipes include mocha nut butterballs and chocolate marshmallow cookie bars. I'm hoping to make the turnovers.

Readers of Fluke's culinary mysteries may like Diane Mott Davidson works (lots of good recipes with Davidson too).

Check the library catalog

Treasury of Christmas Crafts & Foods / 384 p.

Everything Christmas is featured in this work. I loved all the ways to make creches at least a dozen plus. Everything needed to develop lovely Christmas traditions is here. There seems to be something for everyone. Food for the holidays along with the table decorations, ornaments, Christmas trees, it's here. And here's a secret the source for the treats to winners of the Show Your True Colors is this.

New York to Dallas/J.D. Robb/402 pgs.

J.D. Robb does it again! Lieutenant Eve Dallas must test wits with a former enemy, Isaac McQueen. He has escaped from prison and wants revenge against Eve, who brought him down years ago. The reader is given more insight into Eve's troubled past, while Eve tries to stop McQueen from striking again. I thoroughly enjoy this series.

Key of Valor/Nora Roberts/340 pgs

This is the final title in the Key trilogy and is Zoe McCourt & Bradley Vane IV's story. Zoe is a single mother and now must find the final key to release the Daughters of Glass - three goddesses who have been trapped in coffins of glass. She is also a partner of Mallory and Dana in Indulgence - she is the owner of the spa. Years ago Brad had found a painting of the 3 daughters in their coffins and one of them fascinated him - the one who looked like Zoe. He wants to get to know Zoe better but she wants nothing to do with him - he scares her due to the fact that he comes from money and she doesn't. Finding the final key is not going to be easy though - and Bradley is going to help her whether she likes it or not.

Key of Knowledge/Nora Roberts/327 pgs

This is the second title in the Key trilogy and is Dana Steele & Jordan Hawke's story. Dana is the second one who must find her key to save the 3 goddesses from their curse. She is fired from her job at the library and is working on her part of Indulgence - the bookstore. She also finds out that Jordan must be part of her quest for the key. Unfortunately they have a past and Dana says that she hates him but soon realizes that she doesn't. Meanwhile, she must finish her quest in the 4 weeks and is having problem trying to figure out where to start. Another good story.

A Year on Ladybug Farm / Donna Ball / 374 pages

My sister recommended this one to me and I'm glad she did. Yeah, it's chick lit. Yeah, it's all about strong friendships and women who hang together and survive whatever life throws into their path. Sure, there's a tear jerker, uplifting ending. But, a good read nonetheless. By the way, one character in the book really, really reminds me of someone who works at the library. Read it and let me know if you can guess who it is! PS There are two more in the series: At Home on Ladybug Farm and Love Letters from Ladybug Farm. Got my reserve on those to find out what happens next.

Sidekicks / Dan Santat / 218 pages

Dan Santat is a very talented illustrator and a seriously funny man. In this story, Captain Amazing is getting a bit older and needs to take on some superhero assistants. His own pets, a hamster, dog, chameleon and cat want to fill the bill. Funny and endearing. Recommend for grades 3 & up! (Worth it just for the illustration of the hippo butt!)

Brava Valentine / Adriana Trigiani / 328 pages

Second title in Trigiani's series about Valentine Roncalli. I just love the characters and the strong and humorous family relationships. Trigiani is very skillful at creating lush settings and she is a a great storyteller. It's interesting to read about creating custom-made shoes..who knew! In this story, Valentine opens herself to love and trust and finds her soul-mate (or should I say sole-mate), Gianluca. The author takes us to New York rooftops, Italy, and Buenos Aires. Great read.

The Emperor of Nihon-Ja / John Flanagan / 435 pages

Ahh...the 10th and final volume in John Flanagan's Ranger's Apprentice series. Great read. Lots of adventure, courage, loyalty, friendship, ingenuity, battle scenes and even a little love. Horace, Will, Evanlyn and Alyss are growing up. This adventure takes place in Japan and the friends must save the benevolent emperor from being deposed and killed. If you ever have a 5th-7th grade boy who hates reading, just hand them Volume 1 of Ranger's Apprentice. Voila! They will gobble them up and ask for more. Girls love them too because the female characters are very strong, independent, smart and wiser than the guys.

Explosive Eighteen/Janet Evanovich/305 pgs

Stephanie has just returned from Hawaii a day early sporting a tan line on her wedding ring finger but is not telling anyone what happened. When Morelli return, he looks like he was beat up and Ranger isn't saying much of anything. On the trip home, Stephanie is seated next to some guy who is sick and gets off the plane in CA but never returns. He shows up dead the next day and Stephanie finds a mysterious picture in her bag. And now the FBI, some hit men (they said they are the FBI too) and the guy's fiance(?) are looking for the picture. There is love potions involved and Lulu falls for the WRONG guy. Very funny story and your typical Stephanie Plum - can't wait for the movie to come out of "One For the Money".

The Hoarders / Jean Stringam/ 200 pages / Food

When Cheyenne Walker's mom forgot that he was a growing boy and needed a lot more food, he began his food hoard.  He'd take boxes of crackers and cans of food from the cupboard and hide them in his room.  Hoarding food was one plan he knew he could make work.  His mother, Coco, has had many boyfriends, jobs, and residences.  She spent her inheritance on a year living in Las Vegas.  Cheyenne and Joachim, his younger brother, learned to care for each other and to look forward to Aunt Amy's visits.  Coco abandons her sons, giving custody to Amy.  Amy attempts to pay Coco's hospital bills (She had been hospitalized for pneumonia.), care for the boys, and run her dress shop.  When her lease is cancelled, Amy loses her shop, and Amy and the boys move to the family cabin and look after her senile mother.  Great suspense marks this tale of familial love, heartache, and gutsy determination.  Who is Dead Uncle Rick?

Food - In addition to stashing and maintaining his food hoard, Amy taught Cheyenne to make apple pancakes, scrambled eggs and toast, hamburger patties, and potatoes in the microwave.

Mark Twain Award Preliminary Nominee 2012-13

My Chocolate Year, a Novel with 12 Recipes / Charlotte Herman / 163 pages / Food

It is 1945 and Dorrie Meyers is beginning 5th grade, the year of the Sweet Semester.  She in is Miss Fitzgerald's class and she always has her students make a dessert and write an essay about their choice.  The best dessert and best essay winners will be featured in the newspaper.  Guests will be invited to the judging and encouraged to make donations to the European Children's Fund - to help war orphans.  Dorrie and her best friend, Sunny, experiment with various desserts - sometimes with disastrous results.  Dorrie's cousin, Victor - the sole surviving member of his family (The rest were killed by the Germans.), comes to live with them and gives Dorrie a great suggestion for the contest.  This is a great heartwarming children's story of the period following World War II.  Great survey of Jewish holidays and great recipes & period-appropriate illustrations.

Food - great descriptions of desserts made by Dorrie & Sunny

Chocolate Dreams / Helen Perelman / 109 pages / Food

Chocolate Dreams, part of the Candy Fairies series, is a really sweet book.  The cover is sparkly, features chocolate candies & a cute-as-a-button fairy named Cocoa, and is sure to please early chapter book readers.  Landmarks mentioned in the story include Chocolate River and Chocolate Falls.  Even the villains - except for the troll - are endearing.  Although the book is fun, important themes prevail - friendship, responsibility, clever mindedness, courage, etc.

Food - Chocolate everywhere!!

The Chocolate Castle Clue / Joanna Carl / 230 pages / Food

This is one of Joanna Carl's Chocoholic Mysteries.  You might want to have a box of chocolates close by as you read this one.  Lee McKinney-Woodyard works for her Aunt Nellie at TenHuis Chocolate and solves crimes as necessary.  Her aunt's friends have come to town for a high school reunion and her singing group, the Pier-O-Ettes, will perform.  They become involved in the investigation of a recent death believed to be murder and secrets from the past are revealed.  Tasty Chocolate Trivia pages greatly enhance this fun read!!

Food - Chocolate mentioned on almost every page - decadent!

The Hanging Tree: a Starvation Lake Mystery / Bryan Gruley / Anthony Award Nominee 2011

The Hanging Tree is the eagerly awaited follow up to Edgar Award nominee Salvation Lake and is nominated for the Anthony Award.  The Hanging Tree tells of newspaper editor Gus Carpenter's investigation into a supposed suicide.  Gracie McBride has been found hanging in the Shoe Tree - a tradition which she herself started when she was a wild 18 year old.  (Hanging shoes not people.)  Gracie's truck is not found at the scene and her refrigerator is filled with recent purchases indicating that she had not planned on suicide, and had help arriving at the scene of her death.  Gus is also investigating an expensive new hockey rink proposed for the community which seems too good to be true.  Gracie drove the zamboni for old hockey rink which is now falling into disrepair as the town eagerly awaits the new rink.  The two investigations dovetail.  This book has it all...suspense, mystery, romance, hometown nostalgia...and, unfortunately...bad language.  I do not recommend this book in audio.

Food - Audrey's is famous for her coffee and gooey cinnamon buns.
Anthony Award Nominee 2011

A Flickering Light / Jane Kirkpatrick / 387 pages / Christy Award Nominee 2011

This inspiring Christy Award Nominee is highly recommended.  Numerous references are made to the 1904 World's Fair held here in St. Louis.  Jessie Ann Gaebele would love to be a photographer.  In 1907 she accepts a position, without pay, to study under F. J. Bauer in his studio.  After six months training, he will assess her abilities and decide if they merit her hire on a full-time paid basis as assistant photographer.  Fate intervenes and Jessie must run the studio in Mr. Bauer's absence.  He is out due to poisoning caused by the explosives and dark room chemicals.  Ms. Kirkpatrick's excellent descriptive narrative and well-formed characters bring this coming of age story to life.

Christy Award Nominee 2011

The Man in the Rockefeller Suit/Mark Seal/320 pages

The secondary title says it all: The astonishing rise and spectacular fall of a serial impostor. How could a smart, driven professional woman be so totally hoodwinked by a man, marry him and have a child with him? She wasn't the only one. He arrived in the U.S. when he was 17 and proceeded to con every person he met. Developing many different identities over the years and living the life of an aristocrat, he was able to fool everyone. It is an amazing story.

I saw the movie "Who is Clark Rockefeller?" on a cable channel a while ago and thought it was quite interesting. I was stunned when I saw a documentary about the same subject. I had assumed that the movie, while "based on the true story," had been exaggerated. But no... I was afraid this book would be boring or a slow read, but it moved through the story quickly.

Movie

Miracle Cure/Harlan Coben/390 pages

Miracle Cure is Harlan Coben's second book, published back in 1991. Apparently, we were ordering some new copies and they showed up in the catalog with a date of 2011. I added my name to the reserve list, happily expecting a new Coben book. Instead, I got an oldie but goodie (and a very ugly book.) So, I read it (it sounded very familiar, so I may have read it before.) The book is about an AIDS clinic and a conspiracy to discredit it and the work it is doing. (Remember, the book was published in 1991.) Good story, as always from Coben.

But MY may want to retire this copy. It's in very bad shape. I suspect the 40 people still on the reserve list will be disappointed when they realize it's not a newly published book.

Kill Alex Cross/James Patterson/364 pgs

The president's children have been kidnapped and there has also been terrorist attacks. The FBI is in charge of the search for the kids but they don't seem to be making any head way and have pretty much frozen Alex out. Until Alex receives a phone call - from the First Lady. She is requesting his assistance in finding the children and will get him anything and anyone he needs. This is your typical James Patterson book and I loved it. Not too many gory murders and reads fast.

Falling Leaves / Adeline Yen Mah / 274 pages

Okay, Chinese Cinderella wasn't tragic enough. I had to read the adult version of the biography which included her adult life. The childhood didn't include quite as much detail as her children's biography and isn't as powerful.

She continues the story of her education in England where she became a medical student in the early '60's when not only Chinese weren't that accepted; women in medicine weren't accepted. She persevered.

Eventually she came to the U.S. and predictably made a disastrous marriage (how could she make any other?) She divorced and got on with her life. Throughout all the years she still tried to get that love and approval from her father and stepmother that just wasn't there. It was still like watching a car accident that you can't turn away from. Even to her death bed, the step mother still plotted to cause division in the family. Adeline Yen Mah has endured like no other. She now writes books and offers free Chinese lessons on her website. This a worthwhile book to read as is Chinese Cinderella.

Chinese Cinderella / Adeline Yen Mah / 205 pages

This is one of the saddest childhoods I have ever read. Adeline's mother died soon after she was born. She was the youngest of one sister and three brothers. They lived in China and she was blamed for her mother's death and considered bad luck. The real bad luck was that the father remarried in a year to a 17 year old half French woman who was quite beautiful and also quite cruel and manipulative. She had no use for the five step children and only used them to set them against each other. She had two children of her own who were treated quite differently from their step-siblings.

They were not allowed friends, money, modern clothes, or even a breakfast other than rice cereal. The duck chapter was really tragic. I couldn't quit reading this tragedy.

Fortunately, it ends when she escapes to boarding school in England to hopefully make a better life for herself.

Habibi/ Craig Thompson/ 665 pages

I loved Craig Thompson's Blankets and I was so excited for this book to come out. It's a completely different story, but just as awesome. This is the story of two slaves in the middle east during modern times. Dodola and Zam manage to escape their captors, but not a trying fate of hiding and hard times. It's terrible to realize that this tale is from such modern times. I didn't even realize it, until I saw the vehicles in the modern city. It's heartbreaking and endearing to watch these two people grow together and apart for 15+ years. Fantastic book.

Thunder dog: the true story of a blind man, his guide dog, and the triumph of trust at Ground Zero/Michael Hingson/232 pgs

In this book, Michael Hingson, who has been blind from birth, explains how he and his guide dog, Roselle, survived the horrors of the September 11 attacks. Trapped on the 78th floor of Tower One in the World Trade Center, the duo and one of Michael's co-workers managed to find their way to safety, counting stairs on his way down (all 1,463 of them). The parts regarding 9/11, his life as a blind person and how he deals with it were interesting but the story does get a little preachy at times. Not as good a book as I thought it would be but does give you an insight into what those who were in the World Trade towers were feeling about what happened on 9/11.

Born In Shame/Nora Roberts/357 pgs

This is the third title in the Concannon Sisters trilogy and is the story of Shannon Bodine - Maggie & Brianna's American half sister. Shannon's mother on her deathbed informs Shannon that the man she thought was her father was not but her father was really Thomas Concannon in Ireland. Maggie & Brianna have been trying to locate her and shortly after her mother's death they do and she is invited to visit them. She decides to go for a short visit but while there meets Murphy - Brianna & Maggie's neighbor and also takes back up painting. A very good story and I love the accent of the reader on the spoken version (he is Irish).

Blue / Lou Aronica / 273 pages / Food

Chris Astor and his daughter, Becky, created the world of Tamarisk while Becky was undergoing treatment for Leukemia.  They would add new dimensions to the story and the world just before bedtime.  Becky is now 14 and in remission, but has recently begun manifesting symptoms of the disease's return.  She spends Saturdays and Tuesday nights with her Dad, and the rest of the week with her Mom and her new husband, Al.  As unlikely as it may seem Becky is able to travel to Tamarisk where she meets Queen Miea and discovers that a blight is destroying this beautiful world.  Just as Becky is dying of cancer, Tamarisk is dying.  Is there any connection between the two?  Is there any reason for hope?  Great descriptions of the animals, insects, games, plants, foods, etc. make this imagination-inspired and created world come to life. 
Food - Chris still has Becky's "Still Life with Smeared Pureed Pears and Cheerios" on the tray table.  Al loves ice cream.  Mom and Becky play Scattergories while eating Girl Scout cookies.  Becky and her Mom make her great-great grandmother's Chicken Pot Pie and directions are included.  Tamarisk smells like chocolate and raspberries.  Yum!!

Stealing Jake / Pam Hillman / 240 pages / Food

In Chestnut, Illinois in November, 1874, Livy O'Brien foils a pick-pocket attempt.  Lucky for the pick-pocket, because the target is sheriff's deputy, Jake Russell.  Livy helps out at the orphanage  and prays that her past as Light-Fingered Livy in Chicago will remain a secret.  Jake has his hands full as deputy as the town has recently had an influx of street kids from Chicago and the town blames them for a rash of burglaries.  Jake is also in charge of the family farm, his Mom and siblings, and a closed mine.  He stills finds time to court Livy.  This very satisfying tale features tidbits of early Illinois history, adventure, faith, friendship, and, of course, romance.  Scenes set in Miss Nellie's Cafe, the orphanage, and the Russell farm include a variety of mouth-watering foods:  vegetable soup, corn bread, chicken and dumplings, fried chicken, peach cobbler, brown sugar cake, beef stew, ham, chocolate cake, apple pie, biscuits and gravy...I need to stop and go get a snack!

Chocolate, Chocolate, The True Story of Two Sisters, Tons of Treats, and the Little Shop That Could / Frances Park and Ginger Park / 274 pages / Food

"There are times when only chocolate can make a bad day better."  "Dad would say with devout appreciation that his daughters were touched by the kindness of strangers who became their world."  Using an inheritance from their father, Frances and Ginger Park opened Chocolate, Chocolate in downtown Washington, D.C.  This book recounts their 25 years in the business and their proud Korean heritage.  Both sisters became authors, publishing numerous children's book which they displayed in their store...a perfect pairing...books and chocolate. (A perfect pairing especially for a children's librarian who just happens to have a chocolate room in her house.)  This inspiring tale filled with chapter headings featuring mouth-watering chocolates is sure to please chocoholics and book lovers alike.

Food

Bonnie/Iris Johansen/373 pgs.

This is the third entry in the Eve, Joe, Bonnie trilogy. After years of searching for her dead daughter's remains, forensic sculptor Eve Duncan is getting the answer to her questions. Eve's daughter, Bonnie, was kidnapped and murdered years ago. It was a defining moment in Eve's life in that it resulted in her meeting Joe Quinn (her significant other), and making her career choice as a forensic sculptor. I have followed this series for years, and have mixed feelings about Bonnie's story. I'll be very interested in seeing where Iris Johansen goes with the cast of characters, or if this is the end of the road for them.

The Emerald Atlas / John Stephens / 417 pages

I'm so happy this is the 1st book in a trilogy because now I can look forward to reading more! Three siblings, who sorely miss their parents, must take care of each other after being whisked away to safety on Christmas Eve and placed in a series of orphanages. After 10 years they end up in a wizard's home in Cambridge Falls & discover that they must save the world with the help of the wizard, dwarves, a sword-wielding giant and time travel. Kate, Michael & Emma encounter a terrible witch, wolves, zombie-like creatures called Screechers and other abominations. Their mission is to find the three hidden Books of the Beginnings that were written by magicians when humans and magicians lived together in the world. The first book is the Emerald Atlas that controls time. Wonderful story with characters that are brave, loyal, and true-hearted. Plenty of action and humor as well.

Beach Lane/Sherryl Woods/360 pgs

This is the seventh title of the Chesapeake Shores series and the next to the last. This is Susie O'Brien and Mack Franklin's story. They have been telling everyone for years that they are not dating but they are always together and unknown to the other have fallen in love with the other person. Mack has finally decided to take his chance and ask Susie to marry him but he is let go from his newspaper job.

Meanwhile Susie gets some life changing news and they are both pulling away from each other. Another very good story.

Dead to Rights/J.A. Jance/373 pgs

This is the fourth title in the Joanna Brady series. Joanna is now sheriff of Cochise County and they seen to be having a rash of serious crimes. The local vet is found dead in his barn during a fire. There is also another person found unconscious who had threatened the vet's life - the vet had killed his wife in a drunk driving accident.

The Search/Nora Roberts/13cds

This book was recommended to me by fellow staff member Darol Belman. It is also
a stand alone book for Nora Roberts which seems to be rare. Fiona Bristow owns a dog training school and also trains search and rescue dogs. She is also the only survivor of a serial killer. She is finding peace on a small island off the Seattle coast when she meets Simon Doyle who brings his rambunctious puppy for her to train.
Simon has almost given up on Jaws when he finds Fiona and the two begin
to hit it off almost immediately. In the meantime a copy cat serial killer has
surfaced and his main target happens to be Fiona. I found this a great listen
and really enjoyed the narrator, Tanya Eby. The only thing is I thought it was a little long and could have been wrapped up a little sooner. I also loved the information she shared as far as dog training and the techniques that are used to train search and rescue dogs.

Sorta Like a Rockstar / Matthew Quick / 355 pages / Food

Amber Appleton lives in a school bus.  She is 17 and a Catholic.  She plans to attend Bryn Mawr College and law school, just like Donna, her idol.  What she really wants to do with her life is help people who need it, just like JC told us to do.  Before her father abandoned her and her mother, he gave her a 12-volume set of books called Jesus Was a Rock Star.  She is a key member of Franks Freak Force Federation of misfits and teaches English by singing and moving to Supreme's songs with the KDFC - Korean Divas For Christ.  She stopped attending the Catholic Church because the priests made Jesus seem like a prissy old woman.  Amber believes He is magic like Santa Claus.  She strikes up a Haiku writing friendship with a reclusive Viet Nam vet.  When tragedy strikes twice, Amber rallies, knowing that she has to move people - get them pumped up.  She has to be a rock star. You will need Kleenex for the Variety Show scenes at the end of this book. It is definitely a Teen Best of the Best and despite some rough language, I very highly recommend this book.

"We should consider every day lost on which we have not danced once."
"If God doesn't exist, is there really any reason to be hopeful at all?"
"Praying keeps me sane."

Gateway Award Preliminary Nominee 2012-13

Food - Two Thanksgivings ago, Amber's mom stopped eating...Amber decides that she was going to make this killer traditional Thanksgiving dinner with real turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, gravy, wine, and candles, and everything.  Amber fixes breakfast and dinner for Donna, Ricky, and herself and all entries are listed and well as some preps.  Amber bribes Triple B's entry to the Methodist Retirement Home by Giving DWL - Door Woman Lucy, a hot chocolate and Snickers bar.  Here she engages in a weekly competition with a Nietzche-quoting Joan of Old.

Nuts / Kacy Cook / 155 pages / Food

"You never know where some little, unexpected thing might take you."  You need to pay more attention to what's going on around you.  This lesson was learned by eleven year old Nell when she investigates a squeaking sound and rescues a baby squirrel.  She and her brothers rescue and raise Mantha and Jess, orphaned siblings.  Nell researches online for facts and care instructions and fails to heed the advice to turn the squirrels over to an animal rehabilitator.  Nell discovers that one lie leads to others and can seriously undermine trust.  There are many interesting facts about squirrels, moths, and other wildlife in this great fall read aloud.  During her grounding for dishonesty, Nell and her family have a cookout and cake and ice cream to celebrate her twelfth birthday.

Mark Twain Award Nominee 2012-13

The Other Side of Dark / Sarah Smith / 312 pages / Food

Katie sees ghosts.  She visits with her father's ghost almost every night.  She is a talented artist and often draws the ghosts she sees.  She has become an outcast at school.  Kids say she's crazy.  She hasn't learned how to deal with her mother's death...or her father's abandonment.  Law Walker has always admired Katie and would have asked her to the seventh grade dance if he hadn't feared his Harvard professor father's displeasure.  His father is black and believes whites have reparations yet to make for slavery. His mother is white and a well-respected landscape architect.  She is trying to save a historic Boston home - Pinebank, the first use of terra-cotta brick in the United States. Law's father wants the house leveled as the owner, Perkins, was a slaver.  The house holds secrets which Katie is determined to reveal.

"Our lives are but feathers in the wind."
 "I wonder if that's what art is for.  Making things not so awful."

Food - Katie tries to make a pumpkin pie from scratch for Christmas dinner.  She discovers that the insides of a pumpkin are gross, have to be baked, mashed, baked again...and she doesn't even want to discuss the pie crust.  Her finished product is gray and black and unappetizing.  She resorts to frozen pie shells and canned pumpkin.  Her stepfather's girlfriend's idea of Christmas dinner is frozen string beans, frozen squash, microwaved mashed potatoes, and turkey.  Hopefully, we all have much better Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners than Katie and her family!

Gateway Award Preliminary Nominee 2012-13

Though Waters Roar / Lynn N. Austin / 430 pages / Christy Award Nominee 2011

This multi-generational story spanning the years 1848 - 1920 is thought-provoking, inspiring, and entertaining.  Twenty year old Harriet Sherwood, finding herself in jail on a moonshine rap, has time to examine the legacy which has brought her here.  She reflects on her great-grandmother's fight against slavery, her grandmother's crusade against demon rum, and her mother's struggle for women's suffrage.  She admires the faith, forbearance, and independence of her female precedents and determines to make her own mark in the world.

"Life has no guarantees.  "Live each day as if it were a gift from God."

Christy Award

Moonlight Cove/Sherryl Woods/378 pgs

This is the seventh title in the Chesapeake Shores series and is Jess's story. Jess is the youngest of the O'Brien siblings and is the owner of the Inn at Eagle Point. She was one of the main characters in the first book. Will Lincoln, a psychologist, is a childhood friend and has been in love with Jess since they were kids. Jess has issues with abandonment and has suffered with ADD since childhood. She is afraid that Will sees her as a case study and that any change to their relationship will ruin it. Also Connie and Thomas O'Brien decide to go forward with their romance even though they think it may cause another rift in the family. Very good story.

The Lost City of Z/David Grann/339 pgs.

This was our November book club read, and weighed in with mixed reviews. It's the non-fiction account of the author's search to discover what happened to British explorer Percy Fawcett who disappeared when he searched for the Amazon's kingdom of El Dorado; Fawcett referred to it as "Z." I found the book interesting, but a difficult read. The ending leaves the reader with more questions than answers.

Silent Mercy / Linda Fairstein / 384 pages

Manhattan Assistant District Attorney of the Sex Crimes Unit Alexandra Cooper, Homicide Detective Mike Chapman and various other characters solve the mystery of some grisly murders that target pariahs of various religions. It takes awhile for the action to heat up and some of the plot lines are left hanging. What you do experience is the awful, sleepless, grueling, depressing, violent, and political pressures that detectives must sustain in order to solve crimes and you wonder how they maintain any balance in their lives. I can say this is the only suspense novel that took me on board a circus train...

When God was a Rabbit/ Sarah Winman/ 296 pages

I read this whole book so it wasn't terrible, but I don't know that it's one I would recommend either. It's mostly the story of a brother and a sister and 9/11 is involved. I don't know how to say much more without giving the book away. The sister has a terrible secret only the brother knows and the family is dysfunctional.

Along the River/ Adeline Yen Mah/ 182 pages

Adeline Yen Mah has written a biography of her life called "Chinese Cinderella". This book is not it, but it takes place in China during World War II. It is somewhat confusing. It seems to be a continuation of a story at the beginning with the author more just "telling" the story rather than really writing a fiction novel. Then, she gets into the real story which is a historical novel set back in an old dynasty. There, the characters and story come alive. The rest of the story was really just a frame to get into that part. The idea is that there are past lives and some people inherit past memories like other people inherit musical ability, etc. This inner story is fairly interesting and includes a great look into what it was like to live in China.

She also includes many Chinese words and characters in the back of the book. She has free Chinese lessons on her website.

Glitter Baby / Susan Elizabeth Phillips 438 p.

Fleur Savager becomes a top model--the most beautiful woman, except to herself, after growing up in a convent apart from her family. She lives a life filled with secrets that began before she was born...starting with her gorgeous mother's fascination with movie stars like James Dean and meets Errol Flynn instead. Jake Koranda is both a fabulous playwright and a hot actor. Her father finally takes an interest in her life. Jake with his haunted past and Fleur with her low self-opinion make a love connection that will survive all kinds of difficulties. This contemporary romance has a complex plot with strong characters and many twists. This is different from Phillips' other stories...humor and saucy dialogue downplayed. Several characters from this story make brief appearances in Phillips' other books like Call Me Irresistible and What I Did for Love.

Check the library catalog

Heaven, Texas / Susan Elizabeth Phillips 358 p.

Second in the Chicago Stars series. Sheltered Grace Snow lands a job as a production assistant for the movie starring ex-Chicago Star wide receiver Bobby Tom Denton. Charmer BT is to due in front of the cameras in Heaven, Texas, his home town like yesterday. Grace has the job of getting him there ASAP. Wily BT agrees to fly from O'Hare the next day. Brainy Grace has his number. She blocks in his car. Brawny BT plucks her car keys from her and take off down the drive. Grace makes a run for it and dives head first into his car. BT's bows defeat and takes Grace on a scenic route to Telarosa, Texas via Memphis. Secondary characters are just as fun to watch.

Check out the library catalog

The Keepsake/Tess Gerritsen/349 pgs

"The Keepsake" is the seventh title in the Rizzoli and Isles series and was probably one of my favorites. Maura Isles goes to watch the CT scan of a mummy that was discovered in a local museum and they find out that it really is a murder victim. The archaeologist from the museum, Josephine Pulcillo is hiding a secret and she is afraid that it might be the reason for the murder. Soon another body is found in her car and then she is taken. Rizzoli and Frost must locate her before she becomes another mummy. This was a very good story.

Darkness Under the Sun/Dean Koontz/60 pgs

This is a novella which we have in either eBook or Spoken and is the background story on Alton Turner Blackwood, the murderer in the title "What the Night Knows". It tells you what Blackwood says started him on his murdering of families. It was a very short read and gave you some insight into the very twisted mind of Blackwood.

Sea / Heidi R. Kling / 327 pages / Food

It's Sienna Jones's 15th birthday.  Her Godfather, Big Doctor Tom, is home from Africa.  "Imagine Hagrid from Harry Potter with read hair.  Now add an MD and faded Hawaiian clothes and you get [Sienna's] Dad's best friend."  Her Mom has disappeared and her Dad has stopped working abroad competely to say home with her.  His Mom came 3 years ago and is staying in the granny unit to help care for Sienna.  Croissants, bagels, blueberries, pancakes, and fair trade Indonesian coffee are present for the birthday celebration.  Sienna's birthday present is a plane ticket to Yogyakarta, Indonesia.  Her Dad, her Godfather, and Vera, another psychiatrist, want Sienna to join them for 2 weeks at the Indonesian orphanage which houses many victims of the recent tsunami.  Sienna is frightened of the plane ride,  (Her Mom disappeared on one.)  and her best friend from childhood, Spider, comforts and encourages her.  Sienna helps one of the orphans, Deni, look for his Dad in Aceh.  Unfortunately, his fathers is dead, but his fiancee is not.

Gateway Award Preliminary Nominee 2012-13
Food - Birthday Celebration (see above) & Minte Sasi Bungkus = packed meal to go = ayam goring - fried chicken, gulai - coconut curry, tempe - soybean cake, & white rice in banana leaves

Like Pickle Juice on a Cookie / Julie Sternberg / 120 pages / Food

Eight year old Eleanor loves her babysitter, Bibi, a "million trillion'.   Unfortunately, Bibi has to leave New York to go to Florida to care for her ill father.  Everyone misses her terribly.  Suddenly the things Eleanor used to do with Bibi like eating pizza and riding her bike aren't fun any more.  Her mother tries to make her feel better by baking cookies and making grilled cheese sandwiches.  She offers something special for breakfast - chocolate chip pancakes, cinnamon toast with extra cinnamon...or pickle juice on a cookie.  This would be an excellent read-aloud for the beginning of 3rd grade or a letter-writing unit.

"There's nothing better than reading."

Super Chicken Nugget Boy and the Pizza Planet People / Josh Lewis / 173 pages / Food

Fernando Goldberg and Lester McGregor were out in Lester's backyard playing How Long Can You Walk Around in the Dark Before You Walk Into Something Like a Tree or a Shed or a Swing Set when a pizza fell out of the sky.  It was a 16 ", thick-crust pizza with a face!...black olive eyes and  anchovy eyebrows, mushroom ears, and a sausage nose...The pizza person is a representative form the Pizza Planet, endangered because they are running out of ingredients and children pizzas are having to go without ear, eyes, noses, etc.  Ketchup transforms Fern into Super Chicken Nugget Boy and he saves the day.  This is an entertaining, tongue-in-cheek satire that would would be a great, although silly, read-aloud...and sing along - especially for 2-3 grades.

Food - I think the title explains the food connection.

Face the Fire/Nora Roberts/358 pgs

This is the final title of the Three Sisters Island trilogy and is Mia's story. Mia is the owner of the local bookstore and also a witch. When her old flame, Sam Logan, returns to the island to take over the hotel, she must deal with her feelings for him as well as trying to save the island from the curse. A very good ending to the series even if predictable.

The Night Strangers/Chris Bohjalian/539pgs

The Night Strangers really kept me guessing until the very end. This is the first
book that I have read by Chris Bohjalian and I will be looking for more in the future. Chip Linton was the pilot on a plane that crashes after hitting a flock of geese. In the crash 39 people perish. Afterwards he lives with post traumatic stress disorder and has moved his family to a small northern New Hampshire town. The house they move into is an old victorian which Chip soon comes to believe is haunted.
He and his wife and twin teenage daughters find themselves befriended by a group of
herbalists who many of the villagers label as witches. As strange things start happening to the members of the Linton household the story gets more and more intrigueing. If you like paranormal stories I highly recommend this book. I give this book 4.5 out of 5 stars.

The Law of Love/Nora Roberts/586 pgs

"The Law of Love" is actually two stories - "Lawless" and "The Law is a Lady". "Lawless" is the novel that is mentioned in the book "Loving Jack" - it is the book that Jack was writing during the book, so of course I had to read it. It is a classic western - girl who went to school in the east goes out west to live with her dad who has supposedly made his fortune mining gold. Of course that is all a lie - Sarah Conway gets to Lone Bluff and finds out that her father is dead and that the house he said he had built is really just a one room cabin. She decides to stay and meets up with Jake Redman. It was your typical Nora Roberts romance and so is the other title - "The Law is a Lady". This is a modern day one though - Victoria Ashton is the sheriff of a very small town in New Mexico - Friendly. And one day, Phillip Kincaid, big shot movie director who is scouting movie locations, is caught speeding and decides he doesn't want to pay the fine so Tory throws him in jail. While in jail, Phillip decides that Friendly is his location and that he is going to have the sheriff.

The Dave Store Massacre/Ron Ebest/ 219 pages

In the small southern Missouri town of Jackson, Dave Store is pretty much the only employer left. With its slogan, Low Prices at Any Cost, the store has run every other viable business out of town. And then it started on its suppliers, demanding lower and lower costs every year. Paying low wages and offering little in the way of benefits also keeps costs down. The employees (mainly women) finally have had enough and walk out to start a wildcat strike.

Ebest, a local author, takes shots at Wal-Mart and the way the superstore hurts a town's economy and at the media with the way they decide to report news. Humorous in parts, it's a quick read.

Food: hey, I'm not proud: there's a picture of a jar of pickles on the front. There's also a discussion why poptarts are put with the pallets of hammer and nails in the aisle of the store. Who knew that Wal-Mart actually had a reason for their crazy (in my opinion) product placement.

Models Don't Eat Chocolate Cookies / Erin Dionne / 243 pages / Food

"Being a model sound like a pretty cool job.  Flying to all parts of the world to have my picture taken, hanging out with stars, never going to school, making lots and lots of money...that would be great."  Unfortunately, models don't eat chocolate cookies...or much of anything.  Celeste is not tempted to enter the Miss HuskyPeach contest, even though the prize is five thousand dollars in scholarship money. Unbeknownst to her, her aunt enters her in the contest.  She is a bit round and is often the butt of cruel jokes about her weight at school.  She loses her best friend, Kirsten, to a clique at school, and has to face the prospect of the contest by herself.  This is a fun read!  Ms. Dionne has fashioned a novel dealing with the pathos of bullying and cliques in school, difficulty of weight loss, and the importance of self-acceptance...and self-improvement.

Food - The cover of this book features a random fall of oreos and foods eaten...or avoided...by the protagonist are mentioned throughout.

The Journey Home / Michael Baron / 136 pages / Food

Two stories alternate in this book, dovetailing to a satisfying denouement.  Joseph wakens in a strange house with no memory of who he is, a stranger with ID.  He begins a journey to discover his identity in the company of an accommodating young man.  Antoinette is caught in the clutches of Alzheimer's and dreams of her late husband.  Her recently divorced, out-of-work son visits her daily in the assisted living facility and cooks many of her culinary creations which she named after friends, neighbors, family, and events.  This book is a most satisfying read.  The author based the relationship of the protagonists on his parents' bond.

Food - Many of the meals prepared by Antoinette's son are described in great detail, including ingredients and methodologies. 

The Glades / Clifton Campbell / 42 pages / Food

The cover of this book features a freshly picked orange with a large butcher knife sticking out of it and blood seeping out from the bottom.  Detective Jim Longworth's golf game is interrupted when a body is discovered in the 'glades missing its head, hands, and feet.  A young couple, asleep in a car nearby, discover the body and are suspects.  Jim solves the case - a surprise who done it - and completes his golf game.  The book was written as the pilot for a TV show.

Food - In addition to having an orange on the cover...the victim had capsicum in her stomach, evidence she had eaten spicy Southwestern food.

I Now Pronounce You Someone Else / Erin McCahan / 258 pages / Food

Bronwen Oliver often pretends that she must have been switched at birth.  She has even developed an alter ego name - Phoebe Lilywhite.  She orders magazines in the name and her best friend, Kirsten, calls her Pheebs.  She breaks up with her boyfriend on prom night because he had decided that this was the ideal time for them to lose their virginity.  Just before her senior year, she meets Jared Sondervan, an acquaintance of her brother's.  (She refers to her brother as Jesus, because her mother thinks he is perfect, unlike Bronwen.)  Jared and his family are everything she wants and everything her family is not...Or are they?

Gateway Award Preliminary Nominee 2012-13

Food - Bronwen is a vegetarian, a fact she forgets to share with her new boyfriend, Jared, when she is invited to the Sondervans for dinner.  She hides most of the pork tenderloin, but eats most of the grilled vegetables.  She hates ketchup and cheesecake, but loves java, diet coke, granola, and chocolate chip cookies. 

Lockdown / Walter Dean Myers / 247 pages / Food

Maurice Anderson made a mistake.  At the request of a local drug dealer, her broke into a doctors office and stole several prescription pads.  He is now serving time at Progress juvenile facility.  He has to stay out of trouble if he wants an early release, but is involved in several fights protecting his small friend, Toon.  He is chosen to participate in a work release program at a nursing home where he meets Pieter Hooft.  After learning of Mr. Hooft's experiences in the Dutch East Indies as a Japanese prisoner of war, Reese learns to focus on a goal - college for his sister, Icy, and trying to do what is right. 

Gateway Award Preliminary Nominee 2012-13

Food - Almost all meals served at the facility are described in the book - "The breakfast was the same old stuff.  Scrambled eggs, oatmeal, juice, and bologna.  Dinner was creamed corn, corned beef hash, rice, and lemonade."

Ninth Ward / Jewell Parker Rhodes / 217 pages / Food

Lanesha and her Mama YaYa await the dreaded arrival of Hurricane Katrina.  Lanesha was born with a caul, sees ghosts, and is an outcast at school.  Mama Ya-Ya is not her blood relative, but the midwife who assisted at her birth.  When her Momma died giving birth to her, Mama Ya-Ya took Lanesha in and raised her.  She has taught Lanesha that "Love is as love does."  The coming storm cause her great unrest, empties the local store, and causes Lanesha to work the hardest problems possible in her Algebra book.  Ninth ward is a story of survival, faith, friendship, Mathematics, and vocabulary.
Food - As the book begins, Lanesha and her Mama Ya-Ya  are celebrating her 12th birthday with jambalaya.  Lanesha has 3 pieces of chocolate cake.  Later Mama Ya-Ya gives Lanesha and Spot a bowl of "Hoppin' John."  "Orange juice, bacon, and eggs are the perfect study food."

The Last Summer of the Death Warriors / Francisco X. Stork / 344 pages / Food

Pancho's sister, Rosa, was a "little angel on loan to us from God," but Pancho believes that she was murdered.  He is determined to find her killer...and kill him.  The authorities have written off the cause of death as undetermined and have ceased investigations.  Because of an incident that occurred at the Morgan foster home, Pancho has been sent to St. Anthony's Home for Boys, where he meets DQ who has diffuse pontine glioma - brain cancer.  DQ is writing his "Death Warrior Manifesto" - a public declaration of how the Death Warrior is going to live his life.  Rule #1 is No Whining.  A Death Warrior chooses "to love life at all times and in all circumstances.  You choose to love life by loving."  You should live and die with truth and courage..."Life is too painful when you're wasteful with the time given to you."  Pancho accompanies DQ to Casa Esperanza for his intensive therapy for the cancer.  He is encouraged by Marisol and DQ to choose wisely his path in life, to leave his anger behind and "fight against all that seeks to diminish the value of life."

"It takes training to hear one's internal whine.  Whining is that little voice inside of us that always complains about what happens."
" God created the world because He was lonely."

Food - Marisol's mother, an excellent cook, serves guacamole and chips, Green Chili Enchiladas, and soup
Gateway Award Preliminary Nominee 2012-13

Beyond This Moment / Tamera Alexander / 396 pages / Christy Award Nominee 2011

Dr. Molly Whitcomb has accepted a position in the Colorado Territory as a children's teacher.  Her previous position was college professor of languages.  Unfortunately, her one night stand with a fellow professor left her disgraced, without a position, and pregnant.  The headmaster of the college helped secure the western position for her and then gave her position to the scoundrel who betrayed her.  She purchases a wedding ring and masquerades as a widow to maintain respectability.  She had not anticipated falling in love with the sheriff and he with her.  This is a heartwarming tale of life during the early years of Colorado statehood and will surely appeal to teachers.

Christy Award Nominee 2011

Town in a Lobster Stew/B.B. Haywood/358 pages

This is the second in the Candy Holliday series, and the first one I've read. Candy lives in Cape Willington, Maine. The Memorial Day weekend is coming and that means tourists and the famous lobster stew contest. The prize-winning secret and retired recipe is missing. The owner of the recipe was killed during the theft. Will Candy find the culprit before anyone else is hurt or killed?

Recipes in back.

Food book

The Body in the Gazebo - Katherine Hall Page - 259 pages

This a nice cozy Faith Fairchild Mystery. It actually combines story elements that appeal to me when I need a break from bloody thrillers: wife of a minister, caterer, mystery, and cozy. There are actually four plotlines to follow: Faith's husband is accused of embezzling $10,000 from his church, her friend Pix meets her son's soon-to-be inlaws and she discovers the bride's father is a figure from her past, Niki is struggling with being newly pregnant and doesn't want to tell her husband since he just lost his job, and finally Faith must solve the mystery of the murder of her good friend's brother 70 years ago. It all gets tied up neatly in the end and we get 4 recipes...Rum Cake sounds delish...Borscht not so sure about!

Fablehaven/ Brandon Mull/ 351 pages

Kendra and Seth are sent to visit their Grandparents, but little do they know that Grandma & Grandpa lead exciting lives as the caretakers of Fablehaven. A safe place for fairies and similar creatures who are in danger of extinction. Good, fun fantasy. I really enjoyed it.

Prey/Linda Howard/323 pgs.

Anyone who knows me knows that the thought of camping sends chills up and down my spine--and not in a good way! This newest by Linda Howard revolves around a camping trip gone wrong--very wrong. Angie Powell is hired to take two men camping; one man wants to hunt bear--the other has an entirely different agenda in mind. Add to this murder, suspense, and romance, and you have an entertaining read!

The Hypnotist / Lars Kepler / 503 pgs.

A family is found brutally murdered and their bodies are mutilated.  Amongst the carnage one survivor is found clinging to life.  In order to find and warn the one family member who was not at the house the night of the attack, Detective Joona Linna asks the once famous now disgraced hypnotist Erik Maria Bark to hypnotize and question the survivor.  This starts a chain of events that escalates to the action packed and bloody ending.

The Hypnotist's authors "Lars Kepler" has been marketed as the next Steig Larsson.  Well it is a lot like the Larsson's books as it is LONG, very long, with lots of setting detail, divergent plot lines, and LOTS of back story.  Even worse in the Hypnotist, scenes are told from different character viewpoints so you end up reading the same scene two or three times.  There is a lot of action, but you have to wade through many slow points to get to it.  So I did feel like this was very similar to "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" without the really cool Lisbeth character. 

  The violence in this book is graphic and some of the murder scenes and abuse described is not for the faint of heart.  I listened to this book on CD, which is the only way I would have been able to get through this book.  I did feel kind of bad eating my lunch while listening to the gory details.  ;)

Y: The Last Man - Kimono Dragons / Brian K. Vaughan / 144 pgs.

The gang is now in Japan.  Agent 355 and Yorick have to go against the Japanese Yakuza to get their stolen pet monkey back.  Dr. Mann is closing in on finding a cure to the plague that killed all of the males.  She returns to her mother's home and discovers that her family may have been the cause of the gendercide. 

Still a very cool series, but you have to start from the beginning to be able to follow the story.

23 Minutes in Hell / Bill Wiese / 135 pages

This book examines the "fire and brimstone, eternal damnation" hell.
Bill Wiese states that he had a 23 minute visit to hell and was called by God to tell others about it so that they can avoid such a fate. He is actually a realtor, but now speaks extensively. (See you tube)

His answer to how bad a sin needs to be is to look at sheep on a green hillside. They look white. See them again on a snowy day. They look dirty against the snow. Hence, any sin looks bad against the background of heavenly perfection.

He quotes a lot of scripture and names many famous names, but they are mostly historical such as Jonathan Edwards (not the psychic).
You have to either believe what he is saying or not. If you are still thinking about it, try "My Descent into Death" by Howard Storm. He was an art teacher on vacation in Paris when he had a heart event and a short stay in Hell. It changed his life. He is now a United Church of Christ minister living in Belize. or read "90 minutes in Heaven" by Don Piper, a Baptist minister who died in a horrific car accident, but came back. "Heaven is for Real" by Todd Burpo. "The boy who came back from Heaven" by Kevin Malarkey. There are lots of books.
The truth is out there.

The Witch's Ladder / Dana Donovan / 584 pages / Horror

The New England Institute for Research of Paranormal and Unexplained Phenomena holds workshops enabling participants to explore, practice, and expand unusual abilities.  Most unfortunately, someone or something is killing members of one of the workshops.  Detective Marcella, a skeptic - soon to be believer - is assigned with his partner, Carlos, to investigate the murders.  Why are the livers taken from the victims?  What happens when the workshop survivors decide to use their unique skills to solve the crimes?

"We are nothing more than specs in the greater scheme of things.  Some of us dare to ask what it all means.  Maybe it's not for us know."

Prisoners in the Palace... / Michaela MacColl/ 367 pages

Elizabeth Hastings' future is radically altered when her parents are killed in carriage accident.  She discovers that her father left her penniless and with debts unpaid.  She is forced to leave Claridge's and take a position as a lady's maid.  She is hired as maid to young Princess Victoria.  Victoria is virtually a prisoner at Kensington palace where her mother and Sir John Conroy conspire to be her Regent and keeper of her purse.  She is never allowed to be alone.  Her mother, the Duchess of Kent, and Sir John spread gossip suggesting that she is frivolous and scatter-brained and needs them to rule in her stead when she ascends the throne.  Liza's presence in the drafty, ill-kept castle gives Victoria her first friend, intrigue, and a way out of her horrible predicament.

Truman Award Preliminary Nominee 2012-13

The Conference of the Birds / Peter Sis / 150 pages

Peter Sis has adapted the classic twelfth century Persian epic poem "The Conference of the Birds' revealing its profound lessons.  Beautifully illustrated with rich textured pages, The Conference of the Birds tells the story of birds of all species following the hoopee bird in search of the true king, Simorgh.  Many do not complete the journey through the seven valleys.  Those who do realize that the king is, in fact, each and all of them.  "In this lyrical and richly illustrated story of love, faith, and the meaning of it all, Peter Sis shows the pain and the beauty of the human journey.

A Dog's Purpose, A Novel for Humans / W. Bruce Cameron / 319 pages / Food

This is an unusual book!  Told in first person, in the voice of a dog, it recounts various lives of a dedicated good dog who struggles to what is right and please his/her humans.  It was hard to accept that a dog was telling the story and harder yet to reconcile his reincarnations as he maintained all his memories from past lives.  It is a heartwarming story that shows us "that love never dies, that our true friends are always with us, and that every creature on earth is born with a purpose.

Bailey takes advantage when the cat opens the snack cupboard door.  He eats potato chips right through the bag, and enjoys many food items he would never have dreamed he could have.  One of his favorite humans is Ethan's grandfather.  He often slips him snacks from the table, but only when Grandma is not watching. Baily describes both dog food and human food from a dog's perspective.

Half Upon a Time / James Riley / 385 pages / Food

The cover art for this book, while appropriate to the story, is unfortunate.  Jack's beanstalk will probably not appeal to too many fourth - sixth graders.  Perhaps a picture of the Punk Princess would have been better.  That said, the book is an enjoyable read featuring many well-known fairy tales and interconnecting them into one slightly (?!) unbelievable adventure...and the story is not finished at the end of the book.  Is a sequel on the horizon?

Jack and May, the Punk Princess, are held captive by the witch from Hansel & Gretel.  "The walls, the ceiling, the furniture.  Everything was made of candy, peppermint chairs had gumdrop cushions, walls made of graham crackers were held in place by white frosting, the table Jack woke up upon was made of chocolate bars...."

"Wealth is fleeting, yet wisdom, knowledge - these are the true hallmarks of personal power."
"Do not be fooled by appearances.  Pleasant exteriors sometimes mask the worst interiors."

Mark Twain Award Preliminary Nominee 2012-13

Rules of Attraction / Simone Elkeles / 326 pages / Food

Carlos and his brother, Alex, have escaped the gangs and drug dealing in Mexico.  Carlos never fit in there and would very much like to return to Chicago.  Instead he is sent to live with his brother in Colorado.  Drugs are planted in his locker.  He is busted and he has to move in with Professor Wesford and his family.  Wesford's daughter, Kiera, loves to work on cars and has a gay best friend, Tucker.  Carlos and Kiera are drawn to each other, and agree to pretend to be a couple to discourage being hit on by others.  A local drug dealer, El Diablo, has Carlos beaten and  threatens his family in Mexico if he does not join his gang.  A considerable amount of bad language and some explicit sex mar this tale of the importance of family, true love based on mutual respect, and the terrible impact setting and peers can have on development and choices.  Carlos and Kiera make tacos, Salsa Verde, and tortillas from scratch.  Each ingredient is given as well as the process for preparing them.  A fight with the dough balls is not necessary, but certainly makes the job more fun.

Gateway Preliminary Nominee 2012-13

The Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook.../ Dinah Bucholz / 239 pages / Food

This New York Times bestseller has more than 150 recipes for foods mentioned in the Harry Potter books.  Each recipe is accompanied with paragraphs citing the book, circumstances, and characters involved with the food featured in the recipe.  Additionally, historic occurrences, usages, and alternate appellations are given.  Great, fun read!!  And great recipes!!

Food

Canyons of Night/Jayne Castle/355 pgs

This is the third title of the Looking Glass trilogy and the twelfth title in the Arcane Society series. This book takes place in the future on Harmony on the island of Rainshadow. Charlotte Enright has inherited her aunt's antiques business - specializing in paranormal antiques. The new police chief, Slade Attridge, is an old flame of Charlotte's. When a client of Charlotte's shows up dead in her business, they end up trying to find out what is happening on their island. Very good title and I do hope that there will be more to come in the Arcane series.

The Search/Iris Johansen/298 pgs

This title is part of the Eve Duncan series but does not feature Eve. Sarah Patrick, the search & rescue dog handler from "The Killing Game", is the main character in this book. One of Logan's labs has been bombed and a researcher is missing. Logan blackmails Sarah in order to get her to find the missing person. In doing so, Logan makes Sarah and Monty targets of a very vicious killer. Logan decides that he must protect Sarah and Monty. Very good book.

Only Time Will Tell / Jeffrey Archer 627 p.

First in the Clifton Chronicles, an series about Harry Clifton's life beginning in 1920. As he never knew his father, he learns about Bristol dock life in Bristol from his uncle. An unexpected scholarship to an exclusive boys school changes his life radically. Only as he enters adulthood does he learn how his father really died. Which brings him to the big question, who really was his father. The story follows his life from his family's humble beginnings, his best friend -- the son of the owner of the shipping yard to the beginning of World War II. This ends with a cliffhanger. I'll have to wait until Archer publishes book 2 The Sins of the Father to continue the story.

Check the library catalog

Y: The Last Man - Paper Dolls / Brian K. Vaughan / 142 pgs.

Yorick (the last man on earth) and his group have a quick stopover in Australia.  He only has a few hours to track down his fiancee Beth who had been studying there when the plague struck.   While looking for her Yorick runs into a news reporter who will do anything (including murder) to get a photographic proof of the last man.

Shoot-Don't Shoot/J.A. Jance/281 pgs

This is the third title in the Joanna Brady series. Joanna is now the sheriff of Cochise County and is attending the police academy in Peoria AZ. While she is there, she checks into a case where a woman was supposed to have been murdered by her husband. But when other woman are murdered under similar circumstances, she believes that they may have charged the wrong man and she may become a target.

Love You More / Lisa Gardner / 356 pages

Lisa Gardner is a fabulous storyteller, unpeeling layers of her story like an onion. This time we see Detective D D Warren trying to get in touch with her feminine side while searching for a missing child and trying to pin a murder on a female officer from the Massachusetts State Patrol. Chapters switch from the viewpoint of Detective D D and the gritty mother of the missing child and accused murderer Trooper Tessa Leoni. Recommend for the characters, story, suspense, and question of how far will a mother go to save her child.

The Next Always/Nora Roberts/341 pgs

This is the first title in the latest trilogy from Nora Roberts - The Inn BoonsBoro trilogy. It is Beckett Montgomery's story. He is the architect of the Montgomery Family Contractors. The family is rehabbing the Inn BoonsBoro, a historical hotel in BoonsBoro, Maryland. Beckett has had a crush on Clare since he was 15 but she married and moved away. Claire has returned to BoonsBoro with her 3 sons after her husband was killed in the Middle East and opened the local bookstore. This was a very good story and your typical Nora Roberts romance - including a ghost who plays a big part in the story.

The Mephisto Club/Tess Gerritsen/355 pgs

This is book 6 in the Rizzoli and Isles series. On Christmas Eve, Rizzoli and Isles are called to a murder site unlike any they have even seen. This ends up leading them to The Mephisto Club, a secretive group who says they are there to study and fight evil and to a young woman who may hold the answer to who the murderer is. Very good story but does deal in some things that some people may find disturbing.

Sisters Brothers / Patrick DeWitt / 325 pages

This is one quirky Western! It's a quick read that gives you a feeling of what it was like to live in the West in the mid 1800's. Two brothers, Charlie & Eli, are notorious hired gunmen and this is the story of their last contract from the Commodore who hires them to take out a "thief" Hermann Kermit Warm. We meet prospectors insane from their solitary lives, shady ladies, villains, traders, hotel keepers, trappers and others. It makes you think what it must be like to live in a basically lawless state with no long term life expectancy. Told from the viewpoint of Eli, the "sensitive" brother with a temper problem, we get a good feeling for the brothers, their viewpoint on their job as hired killers, and their relationship. Recommend

1225 Christmas Tree Lane/Debbie Macomber/283 pgs

"1225 Christmas Tree Lane" is the last title in the Cedar Cove series. This one focuses on Beth Morehouse, a new resident to Cedar Cove. She had moved there after her divorce and had bought the Christmas tree farm. She is also training dogs for therapy and has just had 10 puppies dropped off on her doorstep that she must now find homes for. Her daughters are coming to Cedar Cove for Christmas and have invited their father to join them. They are trying to get their parents back together without them knowing. This book also updates you on the other residents and ties up any loose ends. It was a very good story.

I heart You, You Haunt Me / Lisa Schroeder / 226 pages / Horror

Ava is visited by her dead boyfriend, Jackson.  He died after jumping from a bluff into their swimming hole.  When he failed to surface, his friends thought he was just fooling around.  Unfortunately, he wasn't.  Ava is terrified by the visitations and later comforted by them when she realizes that the presence haunting her is her boyfriend.  She refuses to move on until Jackson reassures her that it is okay to love again and that he will always be with her.

Cozy Horror

The Untouchable / Scott O'Connor / 231 pages / Horror

Whiteley Earl Darby is the untouchable.  To say he is bullied is to horribly minimize his treatment at the hands and his fellow 6th graders.  He is not even called by his name.  He is called The Kid - even by his father.  The Kid has made a covenant with God at his friend Matthew's urging.  He has decided not to talk until his mother returns.  (He refuses to accept that she is dead.)  He communicates with his notebook and through his artwork and comic books.  His father, also suffering from his wife's death, sleeps in his truck and is called at odd hours to his unusual job.  He works for Everclean, a company which reports to the scenes of great violence to cleanse the area of fluids, bio hazards, and carpets & furnishing, returning the scenes to their pre-violence sterility.  This is an engaging novel graphically depicting the awesome repercussions of intense grief.

Horror

Nightmare House / Douglas Clegg / 207 pages / Horror

Twenty-nine year old Ethan Gravesend inherits Harrow House from his grandfather.  The locals believe the tremendous estate to be haunted and mysterious...but they really have no idea...  Ethan confronts the nightmare of  a missing woman, the endless crying of an unseen child, a madwoman trapped within the subterranean maze of corridors and rooms inhabited by psychic manifestations, poltergeists, hallucinations, and restless spirits of the dead.  The story is told in alternating voices - Ethan at 29 and Ethan as an old man.

Horror

The Red Umbrella / Christina Diaz Gonzalez / 284 pages / Food

Lucia hates her mother's red umbrella. It is too bright and attracts too much attention.  Attracting attention in 1961 Cuba is dangerous.  Prominent citizens who criticize Castro's revolution are shot, hung, or disappear.  Valuables are to be turned over to the government for the good of all.  Schools are closed and the young people are encouraged to join the junior guards.  Neighbors turn in neighbors and who knows who can be trusted.  Lucia's parents send her and her brother to the United States under a program sponsored by the Catholic Church.  They are first sent to a facility and then to the Baxter farm in Nebraska.  Their parents are able to join them and their father, who has been injured, uses the red umbrella as a cane.  Great descriptions of life in Cuba during the revolution, including what was eaten for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, what holiday meals consisted of, and what were Lucia's favorite foods & snacks can be found in The Red Umbrella.  Also included are descriptions of the different foods served in America and Mrs. Baxter's attempts to recreate Cuban favorites.

Teen Best of the Best
Truman Award Preliminary Nominee 2012-13
Food

Nov. Challenge

November's Challenge:

I am all set to pig out this Thanksgiving!!  Therefore, this month's challenge is to read books that feature food!  The book can be about food, or the book includes recipes, or food is just mentioned in the title.  Or maybe the main character just spends a lot of time cooking!  Whatever, be creative, I will give points for just about anything. 

And speaking of points:  I will award points to the person(s) who read the most number of books that mention food. 

1st Place = 10 points /  2nd Place = 5 points /  3rd Place = 3 points

Remember these Bonus Points add up.  There will be several winners at the end of this competition!

Y: The Last Man - Girl on Girl / Brian K. Vaughan / 126 pgs.

*ha!  I'm pretty sure our page hits are going to go up tonight after this posting with a title like that!

Ampersand, the only surviving male monkey, has been kidnapped and taken to Japan.  Yorick Brown, Dr. Mann, and Agent 355 find a way to stowaway on a transport ship headed across the Pacific.  However this transport ship is trafficking more than just food and medical supplies; and the Australian navy is in route to confront them. 

Another good volume, you get a little more development in the relationships between Yorick and Agent 355.  I found the long battle scenes to be a bit tedious. 

Flash and Bones/Kathy Reichs/278 pgs.

This Temperance Brennan novel centers around NASCAR. A body is found in a barrel of asphalt by the Charlotte Motor Speedway. And so the fun begins! In addition, there is the cold case of a missing couple, Cindi Gamble and her boyfriend, Cale Lovette. Throw in a right-wing extremist group, the Patriot Posse, and let the good times roll!

Y: The Last Man - Ring of Truth / Brian K. Vaughan / 189 pgs.

Yorick (the only surviving male on the planet) and his crew, Dr. Allison Mann, Agent 355, and their male pet monkey Ampersand have been travelling for about two years now and have finally made it to Dr. Mann's backup laboratory in San Francisco.  While Dr. Mann takes samples from Yorick and Ampersand and works on her research Yorick gets bored and ventures out into the city.  He hooks up with a woman named Beth who lives in an abandon church.  Trouble also finds him and Agent 355 when another secret group shows up looking for the Amulet of Helen (which Agent 355 stole earlier in the story).   

Simply Love / Mary Balogh 311 p.

The second of the series featuring the teachers at Miss Martin's School for Girls. Unwed mother Anne Jewel, crosses path with the aristocrat Sydnam Butler, war-scarred veteran, while on holiday with Bewcastle family clan at the estate where Sydnam is the steward. Both have secrets and deep seated pain. Sydnam, facially scarred and an amputee and Anne a victim of a rape. The two become friends and then lovers only to separate the day after. The Bewcastle family have matchmaking in mind. But the two go their separate ways. Anne returns to her teaching and her 9 yr. old son. Sydnam to his work. Both have such pain neither feels love is possible in their lives. Balogh portrays these two characters well as they move through their painful histories and wariness of personal relationships to romance.

Check the library catalog.

Hold Still / Nina LaCour / 229 pages

This book is a year in the life of Caitlin as she deals with the suicide of her best friend. It is from her 17 year old point of view and the reader becomes aware of others responses to the suicide as Caitlin does. She goes through a long journey as she deals with the death, the guilt, the abandonment, and the journal that Ingrid left behind for her. It is an okay book. It is annoying to me that they characters live in a million dollar subdivision. Of course, some people actually do. It's just more difficult to relate.

It is also a gateway readers award book for 2011-2012 so that means there has to be at least one other issue in the book. In this case, her new best friend is a lesbian so there are some details about sexuality and being gay. Some parents will object to this book, but the suicide is after the fact and Caitlin doesn't have suicidal thoughts herself so that is a plus. Not every teen will have a handy pile of lumber and the skill to build a tree house as therapy. I would have liked her to have seen a therapist, rather than reject that out of hand. Therapy can be very helpful and it would have been nice to see that portrayed.

Heaven and Earth/Nora Roberts/358 pgs

"Heaven and Earth" is the second title in the Three Sisters Island trilogy and is Ripley's story. Ripley is still wanting to have nothing to do with her witch side but unfortunately something evil is coming to the island and Ripley is going to need to do something to protect herself and those she loves. MacAllister Booke, a paranormal researcher has come to the island to talk to Nell and Mia but it is really Ripley who fascinates him. He is trying to get her to deal with her abilities and she is slowly coming around. But the curse of Three Sisters Island is coming to an end and Ripley must learn to handle her powers and protect her friends and family

Y: The Last Man - Safeword / Brian K. Vaughan / 142 pgs.

Yorick's pet monkey, Ampersand, gets an infection and needs antibiotics.  Agent 355 and Dr. Allison Mann go on a mission for the medicine and leave Yorick behind in the care of another Former Agent, Number 711.  Yorick's time with Agent 711 is quite bizarre and delves into some of Yorick's back story.

I am finding it hard to write reviews about a continuing story.  All I really have to say about this comic book series is that it's smart and funny, well drawn, and brings up some interesting topics and concepts.  If you don't mind nudity and violence; then you should read this series! 

The Boy Who Dared/ Susan Bartoletti/ 196 pages

Many German citizens did not support the Nazis, but were understandably afraid to speak out. This is the story of Helmuth, the boy who dared to speak out against the Nazis. The story is told in flashbacks to what Helmuth experienced during the late 1930s early 1940s. And as it is based on a true story there are photos and stories from those who knew Helmuth also in the back of the book. Fantastic story about a boy with courage.

Twenty Boy Summer/Sarah Ockler/290 pages

Anna and Frankie (short for Francesca) are best friends headed for a family vacation to California with Frankie's parents. This is the family's first time back to the annual vacation spot after a tragedy, and Anna's first vacation ever. The girls, mostly Frankie, decide to try to meet 20 boys on vacation to increase Anna's chance at a summer romance.

Lots of teenaged angst and hormones running wild. Ockler really remembers those teen emotions and puts them on paper well. It's well written and probably not that racy to the teen reader, although as a parent, it did make me wince a few times. I read this book because a small town in Missouri was trying to get it banned. Shame on them.

Y: The Last Man - One Small Step / Brian K. Vaughan / 167 pgs.

While traveling by train across the Midwest, the group (Yorick, Agent 355, and Dr. Mann) meets a Secret Russian Government Agent, Natalya, whose job is to meet up with the three astronauts who are descending from the International Space Station.  Two of the astronauts are male and its a race against time to reach them and get them to a decontamination unit before the virus gets to them.

The Killing Game/Iris Johansen/355 pgs

This is the second title in the Eve Duncan series and I liked this one more than the first. Eve is still obsessed with finding Bonnie's body but in this one it is getting better. Eve is still living on an island with Logan but Joe has called - there has been some bodies discovered and one is a young girl. But there is a complication - the skull has been stolen and the murderer is now calling Eve and telling her that it is Bonnie and he killed her. The murderer wants Eve to play his twisted little game and now save the life of another girl.

Spiral / Paul McEuen / 310 pages

Debut thriller made all the more chilling because it is written by a physicist. Be prepared to be on the edge of your seat as you find out whether the last of the WWII Japanese tokko's achieves his destiny of destroying America via a strain deadly fungus that is spiral shape. Raises many questions about how bio-terrorism and technology may bring us all to the brink of extinction. Thought-provoking descriptions of how small-minded people in government work with scientists who need research money. In the end it's all about who we are as human beings and how courage, love and relationships are powerful.