Taking the Lead:Lessons From a Life in Motion/ Derek Hough/ 189 pages

Taking the Lead: Lessons From a Life in Motion is part biography, part life lessons, written by Derek Hough.  The book follows Derek from childhood in Utah, to ballroom dance competition in Europe, to his success on Dancing With the Stars.  This book is an easy read that skims brief segments of Hough's life.  At the end of each chapter the author shares the life lesson he learned from the events in that chapter.  This book does not deal with technical aspects of dance and as such would be interesting to almost anyone looking for a lesson in self improvement.

BADASS: THE BIRTH OF A LEGEND / Ben Thompson / 384 pages

The actual full title of this book is: BADASS: THE BIRTH OF A LEGEND: SPINE-CRUSHING TALES OF THE MOST MERCILESS GODS, MONSTERS, HEROES, VILLAINS, AND MYTHICAL CREATURES EVER ENVISIONED. Don't you just love a book with a really L--O--N--G subtitle ... :-)

Picked this one up on a whim -- it not only reminded me of my teenage interest in mythology but it just looked like fun. I was right, it is fun plus easy to read due to the arrangement - there are individual chapters for each 'mythological' entity and occasional sidebars for shorter entries on related subject matter. The author stretches the definition of mythology just a bit by including characters from film and television but that just makes the reading even more entertaining. The book is broken up into four main sections with headings such as: 'Gods, Goddesses, and Other Kickass Celestial Beings', 'Heroes, Heroines, and Over-the-Top Do-Gooders', 'Villains, Sorcerers, Antiheroes, and Psychotic Merciless Bastards', and 'Monsters, Fiends, Hellspawn, and Worse'.

Thompson has a rather snarky (and sometimes crude) sense of humor but also appears to have a genuine fondness for his topic. And readers may actually learn a bit (I did say "a bit") about actual figures from mythology or literature by perusing this title but DO beware of the snark! My only complaint is that while 'Dirty' Harry Callahan and Captain Kirk both got their own chapters in the book, there is no mention of similar FEMALE icons such as Xena: Warrior Princess or Buffy the Vampire Slayer. These strong, badass women, using Thompson's own terminology, deserve to be included!! :-)

Want even more snark, check out Ben Thompson's website at: http://badassoftheweek.com/

The Next Best Thing/Jennifer Weiner/386 pages

Ruth Sanders is a writer on a television series. She's also writing a script that she is hoping to pitch as a series to network executives. The name of the series is The Next Best Thing and is loosely based on her life with her grandmother. She imagines it as an homage to The Golden Girls which she watched over and over again while she recovered from her many surgeries in the hospital. Seriously injured in a car accident that killed both of her parents, Ruth is cared for and raised by her grandmother from the age of 3 on. Now in her late twenties, the two of them have moved to Los Angeles so that Ruth can pursue her dream of being a writer. Nana jumps right into the industry making a living as an extra. Ruth spends six long years before she realizes her dream of getting a show "picked up." She thinks the hard part is behind her, but dealing with the network, the studio, the stars (the actors she didn't want) and the rewrites makes her realize that the show she wanted to do bears little resemblance to the show she ends up making. 

This was my first Jennifer Weiner book, and I enjoyed it very much. It was fun trying to decide which star she was describing even though "the names have been changed to protect the innocent." She does a fair amount of name dropping as well.

Heat Rises/Richard Castle/305 pgs

This is the third Nikki Heat title written by Richard Castle - based on the ABC series "Castle". This one is the best one yet I think. Nikki is suspended from the force in the middle of the investigation into a murder of a priest at a New York bondage club. She knows that there is a cover up and knows she can only trust one person - Jameson Rook - the investigative reporter that she is in love with but who has been gone for a month. If you enjoy the TV show like I do, you will enjoy the books.

Flash and Bones/Kathy Reichs/278 pgs

This is the fourteenth book in the "Temperance Brennan" series - this is the series that the TV show "Bones" is based on. This title takes place completely in Tempe's home state of North Carolina. She is called to the Charlotte Speedway because a dead body has been found in a metal drum. This leads her on a chase to find out what happened to a couple 12 years earlier. There is a group of ringht wing extremists involved and bio-weapons. This was a very good book - probably one of my favorites of this series.

Lucy & Desi / Warren G. Harris 641 p.

Lucy and Desi. One of Hollywood’s most famous couples. So popular that they are known by their first names. Harris tells their story with candor. Lucy is the Queen of the ‘B’ movies until 1940 when she teams up with a young Cuban singer, Desi, in the film Too Many Girls. Lucy and Desi began a romance that led to marriage. Harris tells of their pre “I Love Lucy” lives and romances. He describes their live together; the ups and downs, and their careers, Lucy’s radio show and Desi’s band show. He continues the insider view of their marriage and the flaws and its eventual breakup. Desi is the behind-the-scenes powerhouse that took care of production for their show as well as the force behind Desilu Productions. It was nostalgic to read about the most popular of all TV with the series still running today.