Booked for Breakfast

I joined an e-mail book club a couple of years ago. It's quite fun. They feature a new book each week and M-F you receive a small snippet of the book, along with funny stories by the host, Suzanne. If you don't like the book, you can delete it. Sometimes I do, but I always read Suzanne's column. She's very funny and she likes to give things away, like home-baked chocolate chip cookies and fuzzy socks. I belong to the Mystery and Thriller Book Club, but they offer others as well. Check it out here: http://www.randomhouse.com/bantamdell/bookedforbreakfast/

Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim by David Sedaris

For those of you who are regular readers, you know I'm not really into non-fiction. I actually chose this book for our Book Discussion Group at my library. They like to have books with lots of controversy so they have a lot to talk about.

Sedaris writes about his life and the lives of his family and friends. I laughed a lot at their antics, although there were many sad and poignant stories as well. He has admitted that he tends to exaggerate things at times, but I think that added to my enjoyment, rather than detracted from it. Some of my favorite stories in this book are about his baby brother. He is so crude and much larger than life. Even if you normally like fiction, you'll probably enjoy this too.

Play Dirty by Sandra Brown

Sandra Brown isn't always on my "must read" list, but she has had some good ones over the years, including this. I actually picked it up because my mother-in-law was telling me about it and I was intrigued.

Play Dirty features a former NFL star who has just been released from prison for betting on and throwing a major NFL game. He is approached by a paraplegic billionare to sire a child with the man's wife. And...there can be no doctors involved because someone might find out! So they have to do it the old fashioned way. Also involved in this whole scene is a man from the NFL star's dirty past who would like nothing better than for him to be dead. Soon someone else dies and all is in an uproar. This was quite the page turner.

Some of Sandra Brown's books are just lusty romances, but others are really good mysteries. My two favorites are Unspeakable and Standoff. Try them out.

Sorry for the delay...

For anyone who has been checking this blog hoping for updates, I apologize. On July 2nd, we welcomed our 2nd son, Qwilleran Robert, into our lives and I've been behind on this blog ever since. I will get back into the swing of things starting today. BTW, you get bonus points if you know where his name comes from. Hint: if you are reading this blog you're already in the right area.

The Rag and Bone Shop by Robert Cormier

I probably would have had an easier time with this book if I had read it instead of listening to it on audio. The book focuses on the murder of a 7 yr old girl, Alicia. The main character, a 12 yr. old boy named Jason, is under suspicion for her murder, although he doesn't know it. The bulk of the book is Jason being interrogated by a professional police interrogator named Mr. Trent. This made me so uncomfortable that I had to shut the tape off at least 5 times.

See, Jason's mother lets him go to the police station alone, thinking he is only there to give police some background information to help their investigation. Once there, they corner him in a small stuffy room with Mr. Trent and let him at Jason. Mr. Trent has been promised political favors if he secures a confession from Jason. I'll stop there, so I don't give everything away. A thought-provoking book, although the subject matter was uncomfortable.

Princess Mia by Meg Cabot

If you've read any of the Princess Diaries books so far, this book isn't anything different. Princess Mia's boyfriend has broken up with her while he's in Japan for the next year. Her best friend, Lily, isn't speaking to her. Her grand mere is being horrible and no one understands the depression she is going through. Her dad even makes her see a therapist.

I understand that teens like series books, and normally I do too, but I am ready for Mia to graduate high school and move on to something else. Probably a good book if you are under 15.

Plague Ship by Clive Cussler and Jack DuBrul

For those of you who have never tried Clive Cussler, you really don't know what you are missing. His books are adventure from beginning to end. They normally start out with something happening far in the past. In this book, a German pilot finds the Ark (yes, Noah's Ark) in the Arctic Circle during WWII. Then you fast-forward to a little into the future from today. Bad guys are always trying to do something horrible to affect the earth. In this case, there is a group called Responsivists who thinks that the human race is breeding itself into extinction. So, to join to cult-like group, you must get a vasectomy or tubal litigation.

At this point, the Oregon, a ship from many of Cussler's previous books, comes across a cruise ship on which everyone has been killed horribly by a mysterious disease (yes, I know, pretty far-fetched). There turns out to be one survivor, so they then go about figuring out what happened. Overall, an excellent book as long as you have a good "willing suspension of disbelief". Adventure from beginning to end.