Club Dead (book #3 in the Sookie Stackhouse series) by Charlaine Harris

I admit it. I've been reading total fluff lately. It must be because I needed it!

So Sookie is devastated when Bill, her vampire boyfriend, leaves unexpectedly to go do some business for the Queen vampire. Sookie goes on a mission to find him with the help from Alcede (a werewolf of course) and Eric (the other hot vampire that Sookie occasionally lusts after). In the end she finds Bill but she doesn't reconcile with him. So we're left wondering what's a girl to do?

Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin and Something Blue by Emily Giffin

These two books were really fun. I liked the characters and was instantly sucked in. I will say that the plot is relatively predictable, but you kind of know that going in. At least with many of the chick-lit books you can guess where they end up. That said, I still enjoyed both of them. They have the same characters--Something Borrowed is written from Rachel's perspective and Something Blue is told from Darcy's perspective. In Something Borrowed, Rachel begins an affair with her best friend, Darcy's fiance. I'll just leave it at that. :)

Little Heathens by Mildred Armstrong Kalish

This is the next book for the book club that I'm part of. This was such a fun book. Mildred Kalish is in her 80s and this book is the memoirs from her childhood. She grew up in Iowa. She was on a farm for the summer months and then lived at her grandparents house the remainder of the year. It was a different time in the 30s, and you made due with what you had. The kids didn't really want for more. They were content. I get the impression that in many ways life was easier. Although I think when you're a child a lot of things come easier.

This book brought back so many memories of stories from my Grandma and Grandpa. Especially the food chapter--I was thinking of all of the yummy recipes that my Grandma makes. The book reminded me to ask my Grandma and Mamo about their childhoods and stories that they remember. I am also going to encourage them to write them down so I can pass along to the next generations in our family.

Looking forward to the book club discussion. Definitely one to put on your list.

The Pagan Stone by Nora Roberts

Book 3 of the Pagan Stone series. It was predictable, but an enjoyable series. It was fun if you need something light to take your mind off everyday life.

The Hollow by Nora Roberts

Book 2 in the Pagan Stone series by Nora Roberts. These are quick reads and like you Michele, not typically what I'm interested in. The story continues exploring the relationships of the people that are tied together not only through family trees, but through events that happened in their past. I'm anxious to find out what happens next so my next book will be book 3: The Pagan Stone.

On another note: What are you reading? Anything that's worth passing on to the gals in my book club? :) We're always looking for good suggestions.

Roots by Alex Haley

I must admit that when Nancy picked this for book club I was a bit overwhelmed by the length--almost 900 pages. However, I found it to be very easy to read and a fascinating story. If you haven't read it or seen the mini-series, it's worth checking out of the library. The story starts with Kunta Kinte in Africa and talks about his life and his becoming a man. He is captured by white men and taken to the "newnited" states. The parts on the boat are the most graphic and difficult to read. Kunta tells his story to his daughter and she passes it down to her son and so forth. Very interesting and makes you wonder why people thought that they could take other people and force them to do their manual labor. That part was mind-boggling to me. Check out the book club blog for more details as I'm sure Nancy will have done a great write-up on it.

Blood Brothers by Nora Roberts

I've never read anything by Nora Roberts including her books that she's written as JD Robb. She is a great story-teller. Blood Brothers is the first book of a trilogy where three kids are connected by an occurence at the Pagan Stone in Hollow Gulch (ok, you have to be into fantasy a little bit with this book). Every seven years weird things start happening because a demon comes back. It's very entertaining and not something I normally would have picked up but a friend loaned me the three books. Of course there is a love interest which makes things well interesting. It's also been entertaining to read and I will finish the series after finishing some others on my pile.

Finger Lickin' Fifteen by Janet Evanovich

This one had me laughing. A lot. I thought that Evanovich did a better job with Fifteen than with Fourteen. Lula has you crackin' up and poor Stephanie is just a mess because she's broken it off with Joe Morelli (WHAT???). But all is well she's at staying at Ranger's and working for him. So you see there is just a lot that can happen when Stephanie is with Ranger. There's a lot of fun with Grandma Mazur and Lula trying to come up with a bbq recipe to win a competition. It's hilarious.

The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs

Warning: if you don't knit, this book will make you want to learn. The story is about a group of ladies who all get together at Georgia's yarn shop to knit together. We learn a little bit about each woman and how their lives are intertwined. It was so good, I couldn't put it down. It takes place in NYC and I happened to be in NYC while I was reading this which made it more real. I grew to love the different women in the book like they were my own friends. I would recommend this for women who want to be reminded of how special it is to have girl friends.

Living Dead in Dallas by Charlaine Harris

Book 2 of the Sookie Stackhouse series...more vampires! Yes! I am hooked on this series. It's very light, but fun. If you like the HBO series True Blood you should check out these books because the series are based on these books. I am intrigued as to why a woman would get involved with a vampire. It must be the mysteriousness and the sex appeal too. This time Sookie is doing work for Eric the head vampire in Dallas. She gets herself mixed up with some troublemakers and of course has to figure out how to get out of it. Fun and entertaining!

Same Kind of Different As Me by Ron Hall

This was my friend Sara's pick for the June book club book. It comes highly recommended by most in our book club. We all were hooked on this memoir about a special friendship between an upper middle class white Texan and a black homeless man named Denver. They had a very special bond and it opened our eyes to the prejudices most people have of homeless people. You can read more about this book at my book club's blog for more impressions: www.lovestoeatlovestoread.blogspot.com. I recommend this one.

"Always Looking Up" by Michael J. Fox

Loved this book. It was a quick read, but packed with lots of stuff. I will warn you that he goes on about politics for quite awhile, but to me it was fascinating all of the work he's done through his foundation and making people aware of stem cell research. It was interesting reading his thoughts on how he tries to control his PD and what his side affects he has from the medicine. It was inspiring. A perfect memoir to start out the summer with.

Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris

Ok, ok. I have to admit that I'm getting sucked into the recent obsession that American girls are having in vampires. This book is the first of the Sookie Stackhouse series. It takes place in Louisiana where vampires are living among humans surviving on synthetic blood.

Let me warn all you Twilight-addicts--this is much different from Twilight. First of all, this series is geared towards adults (i.e. lots of sex in this book, more than I was anticipating). Second, there's a mystery that is also happening as we get to know Sookie and the characters around her. I must say that I am intrigued by the series and want to know what happens to Sookie and Bill, the vampire. Will their love last? Will people around Sookie continue to die?

This is also the books that the HBO series, True Blood, is based on. Very popular right now, for good reason--they're entertaining!

The Undomestic Goddess by Sophia Kinsella

Total fluff, but I loved it! If you've read SK's books then you know that she has a basic formula too--nice girl gets herself into some kind of pickle, meets a great guy but covers real truth to the guy, pickle explodes, girl loses guy because of pickle exploding, then girl fixes everything and finds her true self in the end and then gets the guy. LOVE IT! :0) It was funny and entertaining as usual. I think I've now read all of the books she's published except for the ones under the other pseudonym.

Eragon by Christopher Paoni

I listened to this book about a boy dragon rider who doesn't know he's a dragon rider until he discovers a dragon egg. It's very sci-fi-ish, but I did enjoy the story and will listen to the next in the series. I do admit that I kind of got bored with the end and thought that maybe Paoni didn't need to put as much detail as he did. I understand why he did that (much in the same way JK Rowling had to create Harry's world through the Sorceror's Stone and Chamber of Secrets), I was distracted there towards the end. Very entertaining and well-written.

Borderline by Nevada Barr

Ok so I really do love the Anna Pigeon series as you might already know by reading this, if you do read this, anyone? anyone? ok sorry. This book took place in Big Bend NP on the Texas/Mexican border. The premise was ok--Anna and Paul go on a raft trip together with some people and then they find a woman that's washed up on the river who is almost dead. Well she dies (sorry to spoil it), but she's pregnant and Anna ends up delivering the baby via c-section with a pocket knife. Yea, I know kinda corny. This one was pretty corny the whole way through and I had figure it out who the bad guy was pretty soon into the book. I have to say it was ok. Not a horrible read, but not one of the greatest.

Three Weeks With My Brother by Nicholas Sparks

LOVED IT! I laughed so hard I almost peed my pants and I bawled like a baby at the end. Such an interesting family life that Nicholas and his brother Micah have had. They tell their story through this trip that they take together around the world. (Can we say, jealous???) They visited places like Machu Pichu, Ayers Rock in Australia, Easter Island, Norway, Cambodia, India. So cool. I won't say much more as you'll have to check out my book group's blog after May 16th to see if the others liked the book. :)

And Only to Deceive by Tasha Alexander

This was a fun read about a woman in Victorian England who marries a man to get away from her overbearing mother. Unfortunately her husband dies within the first year of their marraige. She comes to know him through his friends and his diaries. And she's off on a path to solve the mystery of all of this antiquities that have been delivered to their house in the country.

I enjoyed this--the style is easily read and was it was an engaging plot line.

Deja Dead by Kathy Reichs

A new series that I wanted to try out. Reichs' Temperance Brennan books are the basis for the TV series Bones. I have not seen the TV show at all, but the premise of these books is that Brennan is a forensic pathologist in Montreal and she is working on cases for the various police departments. She starts piecing together that two of her cases may be linked together and may have been victims of a serial killer. She starts helping out in the investigation of each and finds her own self in danger. It's fast-paced and much like the Scarpetta series by Cornwell, but different and has it's own charms. I would read more of this series.

A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving

I loved this book. It took me awhile (I'd say 150 pages or so) to really get into it because almost immediately you know the ending. The fun part is reading the middle and trying to figure out how it will all fit together. I won't fool you--I was scared by the 600 pages that I had to read for my book club. I was a little put off by the use of CAPITAL LETTERS for everything OWEN SAID. You get used to it though--keep reading!

There is so many symbols in the book--the dummy, the red dress, the baseball, the armadillo. You wonder what they all mean. Each one plays a role as a result of Owen's death. I didn't see it coming, but Irving really set up different aspects of the story to all come together at the end. His storytelling is so rich and you know the characters inside and out by the end. You don't want it to end.

Highly recommend adding this to your MUST READ list!

Wow! I didn't realize it had been that long since I had last posted on my blog here. I'll have to get back on track here, but for now here are my thoughts on these books. I've read some books since Feb 1st:
"Bleeding Kansas" by Sara Paretsky--pretty good story, but sometimes dragged in the middle as well
"Scarpetta" by Patricia Cornwell--a little slow in the middle, but redeemed itself at the end.
"My Antonia" by Willa Cather--very good book, definitely read it if you haven't, Cather's writing was very good and the novel generated a lot of good discussion with my book group (see lovestoeatlovestoread.blogspot.com)
"Just One Look" by Harlan Coben--fun mystery that I listened to on the way to work

Code to Zero by Ken Follett

I am now a huge fan of Ken Follett. I listened to this book on CD. The narrorator was fantastic...I forget his name, but it's the version published by Recorded Books.

This was a great spy story. The main character, Luke, wakes up in a public restroom in DC not knowing who he is. The whole story is about him figuring out who he really is through the people around him. It's set against the backdrop of the launch of the first satellite/rocket into space in the early 60s. It kept me on the edge of my seat and was very entertaining. I recommend this one for anyone who likes good mysteries with a love story thrown in for extra good measure.

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

Ok. Now I've wanted to read Wuthering Heights for a long time now. I think I bought the copy I have over a year ago...maybe even two years ago now. It took me a little while to get going and once I did I was really enjoying it. I had to put it down in the middle to finish "Beside a Burning Sea" for book club which hurt my momentum. I did finish it this morning though.

I have to say, I didn't love this book. I know it's a classic, but I found the story to be really sad. Two people who love each other, but then marry other people. Hello? No happy ending for those two people. Then their children, who are cousins, end up together at the end after they say some hurtful things to each other and act stupid.

I'll say that the writing style takes getting used to and is just as difficult to read as Jane Austen is. I really loved "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Bronte (sister of Emily)--story was great and writing style was easy to read. WH was the opposite.

I will say that even though I wasn't thrilled with this one, I'm glad I can say that I've read it. Another crossed off my forever growing list of books to read.

I'm sure Nancy will post on "Beside A Burning Sea" at lovestoeatlovestoread.blogspot.com. I really enjoyed that one--fast paced read with love stories and a villian during WWII. It was fun...some of the gals in bookclub didn't think so. It was a fun discussion though.

"Whiteout" by Ken Follett

Hi Everyone! Happy New Year!

I just recently finished listening to "Whiteout" by Ken Follett. It was excellent--a real thriller. It takes place in Scotland starting on Christmas Eve. The main character Toni Gallo works for a lab that is trying to find the cure for cancer and other diseases. Her lab gets broken into and the deadly virus is stolen. It's a wild-goose chase that is entertaining and thrilling.

I'm in the middle of two other books: "Beside a Burning Sea" by John Shors for book club and "Wuthering Heights" by Emily Bronte. I had to put WH down so that I could get our book club book read by next week. They are both very good, but I'll write more about them later.

Hope you all are finding good books to read so far in 2009.