Outliers / Malcolm Gladwell / 309 pages

In Malcom Gladwell's book, the "Outliers," he talks about understanding successful people. Instead of focusing on their intelligence, ambition and personality traits, he looks more at the world that surrounds them. Their culture, their family, their generation, and the experiences of their upbringing. Outliers is about those people whose achievements fall outside what we would consider the normal experience.

There is alot of information throughout this book and at first seemed a little far fetched. There is definitely some interesting ideas presented and get you thinking about how and why some people have succeeded and why others have not. The one thing I noticed the most in reading this book, is the number of conversations with people that had read it and the interest in the book for those that have not read it... yet.

Library Wars, Love and War by Kiiro Yumi/184 pages

This manga is based on an original novel, but has been reorganized into a traditional Japanese manga novel. If you have never tried reading a manga novel, this one is a great place to start! Library Wars is set in the near future when the Media Betterment Society seeks to exercise censorship over all media , including offensive books.  Libraries are the only institutions that can oppose the society's censorship.  Corporal Iku Kasahara is the first female ever selected to the elite "Library Forces", a group of individuals trained to fight the censorship. Iku finally has her dream job, but has a hard time with her hard-hearted drill instructor. A little action and adventure and a little romance. I think this will be a fun series.

"The library is the one place that has to treat books fairly!" Iku Kasahara.

Killing the Blue/Michael Brandman/194 pages

Jesse Stone is the Chief of Police of Paradise. He has demons in his past, and one of them has been released from jail and is now in Paradise to settle the score. Jesse handles all the problems of a small town with ease, and when big town problems invade this little town, he handles those easily as well. He's a man of few words even with his therapist.

This is an installment in Robert Parker's Jesse Stone series, and my first taste of the character. Not having read any of the previous books, I can't speak to how authentic Michael Brandman's treatment is of this character. I did enjoy it, so on that level, it was a good book.

Nightshade / Andrea Cremer / 454 pages

Another werewolf book?  Yes!  But much more!  The wolves, in this first in a trilogy, are shapeshifting Guardians, originally created by a Keeper to prolong his life and protect him.  Today the wolves live simultaneously as humans and wolves and are not dependent on the moon for shape-shifting.  Calla is an alpha female in the Nightshade pack and is destined to mate with Ren, the alpha male in the Bane pack, uniting the two packs and creating an new, smaller, younger pack.  Ren is a playboy and Calla is a warrior.  Destiny may be thwarted as Calla has broken an important rule.  She has saved the life of a human who ventured into forbidden territory.  This human, Shay, however, is different from any Calla has yet encountered.  He will change her life forever.  Great YA read!!!

Teens Top 10 2011

Liesl and Po / Lauren Oliver/ 307 pages

This is Lauren Oliver's first novel for younger readers...and it is awesome!!  "It is like being everything all at once, and holding the universe inside you and being held inside the universe."  So says Po, explaining to Liesl what its like to be on the Other Side.  Po is a ghost who appears in shadow with her pet companion, Bundle, in Liesl's attic bedroom.  Liesl had been locked in the attic by her stepmother.  Her father died just 3 days ago and her sadness has caused her to stop drawing.  Po has come to see why her light has been extinguished  and why she has stopped drawing.  An alchemist's assistant wonders the same thing and has somehow mixed up the box containing the girl's father's ashes with a box of great magic.  Po helps Liesl run away and they attempt to return the wrong box to her mother's burial place by the willow tree.  This is a great adventure story about friendship and life after death with awesome illustrations by Kei Acedera.

The Big Nothing / Adrian Fogelin / 235 pages

Middle-schooler Justin has a lot on his plate.  He is overweight and has a bad complexion.  His father has a girlfriend in Atlanta and he and Justin's mom have just separated.  His older brother, Duane, is in training in the army and the president is about to start the war in Iraq.  His best friend, Ben, has gotten a girlfriend and Justin is often at loose ends...Oh!...and his mom has depression and his attempts to care for her are sad, but humorous.  This story is a realistic look at life among many American middle schoolers.

Cryer's Cross / Lisa McMann / 232 pages

"Everything changes when Tiffany Quin disappears."  The small town of Cryer's Cross is overwhelmed by her disappearance.  Although Kendall Fletcher wasn't friends with the freshman, her OCD makes it difficult for her to cope.  When Kendall's best friend, Nico, goes missing, Kendall is caught in a "downward spiral of fear and anxiety."  Even one of her necessary outlets - the soccer team - is disbanded for lack of players.  Kendall battles Nico's loss, her new relationship with Jacian, and her obsession with Nico's desk.  Could it have had something to do with Nico's disappearance?  Is it calling to Kendall?  Great YA read filled with suspense.

Love In A Nutshell/Janet Evanovich/310 pgs

This is the latest title from Janet Evanovich. Well not as enjoyable as the Stephanie Plum series, this is a good book. Kate Appleton has been left by her husband - who also got custody of her poodle, Stella and lost her job. She is trying to turn her parents' summer home into a B&B but the place is falling down around her and someone has purchased the mortgage to the home. So she is needing money quickly. She goes to the local microbrewery and talks the owner Matt Culhane into a job. He is needing someone to find out who is sabotaging the brewery and offers her $20000 to find the person responsible. Of course there is also a little attraction between them too.

The Chick Palace/Leslie Davis Guccione/194 pages

The Chick Palace represents the first book I purchased for my brand new Nook Tablet. I wanted to experiment with all types of downloads, so I looked for a reasonably priced (aka cheap) book to purchase. I wasn't expecting much for $3.99, but I was pleasantly surprised.

Johanna and Lilly became best friends as soon as they became college roommates years ago. Lilly and her husband (Ex-ex, the man she married and divorced twice) own the small cottage next door to Johanna's family's much larger spread. Johanna is still recovering from the loss of her mother and is trying to fill her shoes in the extended family even though she really doesn't want to. Lilly's youngest is moving away for graduate school, leaving Lilly with an empty nest. Lilly also has to work out a workable schedule for using the vacation home with Ex-ex and his new main squeeze. The women find refuge in the tree house that their boys built years ago to get away from the "grils." "No grils allowed!" They rename it The Chick Palace.

Devil Came to St. Louis / Troy Taylor / 165 pages

This seemed like a good choice to start the new year. That movie "The Exorcist" scared me to death when I saw it in the theater in the 1970's. This book is the story behind the movie. It is an actual case of demon possession that happened here in St. Louis in 1949.

It involved a boy and priests from St. Louis University. Troy Taylor has used many sources including a diary, interviews and other written sources to write this chronicle of what actually happened. It is quite interesting. I am not a skeptic so I didn't read this at bedtime.

He has also done his homework and had the first chapter on the history of exorcisms. Then he writes about several historical exorcisms in Germany and the U.S. Particularly interesting to me was the 1877 Watseka, Illinois case of a 13 year old girl named Lurancy. She kept going into a trance and later seemed to be channeling another Watseka girl that she didn't even know. She actually went to the home of the other girl (who had died) and lived there for a time. She knew all sorts of things about that family of strangers while her own family seemed like strangers to her. I'm feeling chills.

Troy Taylor has also written many other books about haunted places around Illinois and Missouri. Good daytime read.

Thanks for 2011!

Hey all!!!  Thanks for the Great 2011 year!  I have updated the Stats and added a Final Winners page for 2011.  I will let you know the Statewide results as soon as I get them. 

For now, I hope you will continue to participate in the 2012 competition.  A few more teams have been added so competition will be a bit tougher.

An Imperfect Christmas / Myra Johnson / 223 pages / Winter Holiday Themed Book

Natalie Pierce loves Christmas so much she would gladly make it a year round celebration.  She is an artist like her mother and inherited her love of Christmas from her mother as well.  One Christmas, however, changes all the lives in the family.  Natalie's mother suffers a debilitating stroke while taking down the Christmas decorations.  She had called Natalie to help her with take down, but Natalie professed to be too busy.  She blames herself for her mother's stroke and her grief almost destroys her family.

Christmas Treasures / Thomas Kinkade & Katherine Spencer / 294 pages / Winter Holiday Themed Book

This is the newest Christmas book by Thomas Kinkade and Katherine Spencer. Once again, they have produced a must-read sotry about faith, friendship, love, and community.  Reverend Ben suffers a massive heart attack and wrestles with the decision to retire.  Regina and Richard Towan have just mvoed to Cape Light with their two children.  Regina has inherited a house from a distant relative.  The couple has suffered hard times recently losing their jobs, their house, and many of their possessions.  They have agreed to separate after renovating the house.

A Wallflower Christmas / Lisa Kleypas / 216 pages / Winter Holiday Themed Book

Wow!  This is one steamy Christmas story!  You do not want to listen to it on audio while you have children in the car!  Hannah is a companion to her cousin, Natalie.  Natalie is being courted by a well-to-do American, Rafe, Rafe's father wants him to marry Natalie to garner the respect and advantages afforded to a member of the peerage.  It doesn't matter that Rafe had fallen in love with Hannah instead.

Dance to the Piper/Nora Roberts/251 pgs

This is the second title in The O'Hurley's series and is Maddy O'Hurley's story. She is a professional dancer and has been chosen as the lead for a new Broadway play. She meets the head of Valentine Records who is backing the play and of course they fall in love and the play is a hit.

The Last Honest Woman/Nora Roberts/248 pgs

This is the first title in The O'Hurley's series and is the story of Abby. She is the middle triplet and is a widow raising 2 young sons on a horse farm in Virginia. She is contacted by journalist Dylan Crosby, who is writing a book on her late husband - a race car driver, to be interviewed. She decides to talk to him but only about things she wants and not want she doesn't want her children to find out about their father. Dylan has issues with women in his past and thinks that she is hiding things. Good typical Nora Roberts romance.

Shakespeare's Landlord

This book takes place in Shakespeare, Arkansas.  The main character is a local cleaning lady who has a past that she would rather noone know about.  She is out taking a walk late one evening when she sees someone pushing her lawn cart with something in it and then putting it back where they found it.  When she follows this person secretly, she discovers that the cart was used to dump the body of the man who is the landlord to many people in Shakespeare.  During the course of her working and being interviewed by the police, she figures out who the killer is and helps the local police arrest the killer.

I enjoyed this book.  Charlaine Harris' books are very easy to read and I enjoy her witty sense of humor.

Ostrich Boys / Keith Gray / 297 pages

Blake, Dim, and Kenny are upset at the death of their 15-year-old friend, Ross.  The 3 are furious at the hypocrisy of the people who made Ross's life difficult expressing their grief at his funeral.  While vandalizing the homes of these guilty parties, the boys decide to steal Ross's ashes and take them to Ross, Scotland - a place to which Ross had express a desire to go.  The boys set off on their journey, discovering that Ross had, in fact, committed suicide.  Great adventure, humor, and much bad language mark this tale of friendship and the devastating ramifications and causes of teenage suicide.

On Christmas Eve / Thomas Kinkade & Katherine Spencer / 295 pages / Winter Holiday Themed Book

"Christmas is a time for looking back with love and forgiveness in our hearts, and looking forward with hope." 
"Do your best right now and deal with the future when you get there."

Once again, Thomas Kinkade and Katherine Spencer have teamed up to produce a heart-warming, thought-provoking story.  Betty meets the man of her dreams - Santa Claus.  Lucy takes in a runaway girl and her desire to keep her causes additional problems with her difficult husband, Charlie.