83 Books Later...

My friend Elisa and I have a goal to read 50 books every year. I don't think either one of us has ever reached this goal until this year when I ended up reading 83. How crazy is that?! I never could have done it if I hadn't gotten let go from my job and had it taken so long to find a new one.
Here are my picks for the best books I read this year...
P.S. I Love You: Cecelia Ahern~> This is the first book that I read from this author, and I love her. Her books have so much feeling in them. They make you laugh and cry. The movie sucked, but the book is awesome.
Love Walked In: Marisa De Los Santos~> I'm not really sure what it was about this book that capitavated me into liking it. The main character finds that man of her dreams, but falls in love with more than just him. It's a touching novel about finding love in someone that you never expected to find it in.
Slightly Single: Wendy Markham~> I liked this book because I felt like the character was like any other average girl, trying to improve her life. I know that over this past year I said that I wanted to improve my life a million times and never did. She does. It was kind of motivating. (Sidenote: While there are other books in this series, this is the best, the others just come off as unrealistic).
Water For Elephants: Sara Gruen~> My mom read this for book club and said I should read it. So I finally did, and it was super good. I hate the circus and that's why it took me so long to read it, but it's more than just about life at the circus. It's about how it changed one man's life when he wasn't expecting it.
I read lots of good books this year, but these are probably the most noteworthy. Hope you got to read lots of good books this year.

Killer Blonde

I like this author's books. They are funny and real. And the main character reminds me of myself a little. This was just your typical mystery novel, but a funny one. A fast read. Sorry I can't think of a better review for it, but it was a pretty simple story. The best part are the emails from the parents. I hope mine never go crazy like that. Although it would be pretty humorous.

Rosie Dunne

This book is written by the author of P.S. I Love You, and since I loved that book, I decided to give her next book a try. It was just as fabulous. Her writing feels real, it has heart in it, it's packed full of feeling. I'm super jealous of her writing talent, even more so because we are the same age.

Rosie Dunne follows 45 years of the lives of Rosie and her best friend Alex. They have been best friends since they were 5, and the book documents all the ups and downs that we all go through. Whats different about this book than others is that it's written completely different from any other book I've read. It's written in the form of the character's letters, emails, cards, and IMs. I thought it would be hard to follow, but it wasn't. It actually made me want to start sending more emails and IMing more. Of course IMing is hard when no one is ever online. Texting just seems to impersonal.

Loved the book, seemed a big long, but it was a great read, so check it out. Didn't really like the ending. Kind of felt like the author was just leaving it up to the reader to decide what happens. Maybe she did it that way so that there could be a sequel. Don't know why there would be since the characters are 50. But life doesn't end at 50, so maybe there could be a whole nether story.

Cherry Cheesecake Murder

So, I don't know if I was wiped out from reading the last book, or if this book was just really bad, but I could not get into it. I've liked some of other stuff by this author, but actually, I think her work is getting worse as time goes by. The mystery in this one doesn't even start until about 200 pages into the book. I forgot I was even reading a mystery until some action finally happened. And the main character has 3 guys who are smitten with her. Two of which asked her to marry him. Does that really happen in real life? They only guy smitten with me is my slightly creepy married friend who just doesn't understand the word NO. Maybe I should learn to cook. Seems to work for Hannah.

Twilight

I finally allowed myself to become part of the Twilight cult. Or at least for a few hours while I read this over popular novel. You probably shouldn't read this entry if you are so in love with this novel, that a little or a lot of criticism will make you mad. Let's get started shall we?

Lets start with the cover. When I look at the cover, it makes me think of Snow White. Eat the poison apple Snow White. Or in this case, it could be more like, eat the poison apple Bella and you will fall in love with a vampire who will put you and your family in danger. Yum, poison apple.

So, for all 2 of you who haven't read this book, here's how it goes. Bella, is a dark and confusing teenager, as most teenagers are, who moves to Washington to live with her dad while her mom goes and has fun with a baseball (or maybe its basketball) player. Frankly, I don't blame her. I'd gladly go off with a cute athlete. Forks is the perfect place for someone who hates the rain and cold to move to. It just makes sense. So she moves there, goes to school, and like in most books and movies, but never in actual real life, she has like three guys in love with her straight from start. Which I don't understand, because she's a pale, brown haired, weirdo and I'm the same, and never get any guys to want to ask me to the school dance. And she turns them all down. That's not a normal thing for a teenager to do.

Anyway, on her first day she sees the Cullen clan and is fascinated by them. Apparently they are the most beautiful people in the whole town. This, I might understand, if I hadn't already seen the not so beautiful people who play them in the movie. Did I miss something? Cedric is not that cute. He wasn't that cute in Harry Potter, and because he wasn't very cute in Harry Potter, he decided to turn into a vampire. This is obviously going to confuse anyone who has not seen the 4th Harry Potter movie.

Bella falls in love with Edward, even though he is a vampire. But a vegetarian vampire (inside joke). Apparently his family doesn't eat people, but eat animals. I agree, a nice bear has got to be far more tasty than a homeless person. But, the world is way over populated so I think they should start eating people. At least the bad people like killers and Hitler.

One night Bella goes with Edward to watch his family play baseball when the visitors show up. The visitors being vampires as well but not friendly ones. Since Bella is human, one of them (James) decides that he's going to eat her. This is where the book went all wrong. The Cullens know that James wants to eat Bella, so instead of calling up Buffy to slay him, or Edward being a real man and protecting his girlfriend and killing James himself, they run away. Isn't there a saying about how running away from your problems isn't going to fix them? This book proves that. Lets run away and put Bella's family in danger. What a great idea. So they take her to Phoenix where her family lives and eventually Bella comes face to face with James, unarmed with a stake to stab and kill him with, and almost gets herself killed. Good thing the Cullens figured out that she had run away and were there in time to save her.In the end, everything is a good and jolly. Bella and Edward get to be together.

This is suppose to be a love story. Now, maybe I have a cold heart or something, but just how many high school relationships last? So I had a hard time convincing myself that these two were really in love. I'm sure as hell not in love with the guy(s) I thought I was in love with in high school. I do not understand how 3 other books were made off this storyline. Am I going to read them? Maybe someday, but not anytime soon. Am I going to see the movie? Yeah, probably. I'm kind of curious how they brought it all to life.

There was a lesson to this story. Stay away from vampires! They might come in handy when someone is trying to kill you, but they also kind of put you in danger. And break your heart. It happened to Buffy, it'll happen to Bella too.

St. Patrick's Day Murder

I should stop reading mysteries late at night. At least creepy ones like this one. As I was reading it, I realized that a lot of her books are a little creepy. Of course it really doesn't take much to creep me out. In this one, an Irish family comes to town and the mom is crazy and kidnaps Lucy's daughter, while her own daughter rambles on about how fairies and leprechauns are evil, and the dad possibly murdered his own brother. I'm not Irish so I don't know if the Irish stories that are in this book are true or not, but it might be something interesting to read if you are Irish. It wasn't bad, but I wouldn't read it again.

This Pen For Hire

I'm starting to like this author. I first read her stuff in the last book I read, and enjoyed it so I checked out the first book in her mystery series, and it was good. It was short, funny, and a fast read. I've read a lot of mysteries this year, and most of them are slow and long with not much humor, so this was a refreshing read. I might have picked up her stuff earlier if she used more interesting titles. They don't really jump out at me, but oh well. I think most women can relate to Jaine, as she's always saying that she's going to stop eating so much, but then turns around and eats a bunch. That's me everyday. It's funny. Even if you don't really like mysteries, you should check this out.

Candy Cane Murder

Nothing says Merry Christmas like murder. This book contains a short story mystery by 3 different authors. The first two stories were pretty good, the third one (by Leslie Meier) was not as good as some of her other work. I had never read anything by Laura Levine, so it was kind of fun to discover a new author. At first I didn't like her story (who names their cat Prozac?! Crazy), but then I found myself laughing every so often, so it was good. And of course there's Joanne Fluke, who's character makes cookies all the time and made me want some. So make sure you've got some goodies handy when you read this book, because if you get cravings like me, you'll need them.

The Boy I Loved Before

What would you do if you had the chance to go back to when you were 16 years old? At the age of 32, Flora runs into the boy she loved when she was a teen at her best friends wedding. Without realizing it, she makes a wish that she's 16 again. Waking up the next day she finds out that it came true. Only, she's 16 now instead of when she was actually 16 (the 80s?), which was not what I was expected. I thought that she would go back in time along with everyone else that she knew and get to make changes and stuff. Nope. She's stuck being 16 while her best friend and high school love are in the 30s. Oddly enough they seem to take it pretty well. So here she is a teenager again, but with the mind of a 30 year old, and yet she still lets herself get bullied at school. I was wanting for her to stand up for herself and her strange new best friend, but she doesn't until the end of the book. If being a teen was so horrible the first time, wouldn't you try to make it better the second time? As for the boy she loved before, she falls in love with his brother who is now her age. The whole book is pretty much her trying to figure out why she was sent to her teenage years and making sure she gets it done before she turns back into an adult. It was a pretty good book, kind of slow in the start, but work past that and it gets better.

The Future of Love

It always feels good to finally finish reading a book that I started months ago. I really think I got this last Spring, read a few chapters than got distracted by something else. It wasn't a bad book, when I started reading it again I kept at it, mostly I think to see how it would end. Everyone in the book seems to be cheating on each other, and oddly enough, I actually didn't disapprove of them cheating, because the person who they were married to seemed like a bitch, and I was happy when one of them got what she deserved at the end (death).

The story follows the lives of about 6 or so people who are all interlocked with each other, and how the events of the September 11 attacks changed the way they looked at life and love for them. The attacks didn't affect me because I live no where near NYC, but everyone in this book seemed to take it as a sign that it was time to change their lives. Leave their wife and child for their mistress, leave their mistress for their wife. Try to work things out with the cheating husband. It really made me wonder if this is how people in New York thought about things when the event happened. Like it was a sign that they should start living a life that they want instead of the life that they currently had. There was really only one character that I really liked, the mom, and was happy when she got her happy ending. I felt like she deserved it.

So yeah, it wasn't bad, but it didn't touch me like I felt it would. There were sometimes when I would get a little confused because there are so many characters in it, and it seemed a bit wordy at parts, but I guess it does make you take another look at the relationship that you have with your partner.

So what is the future of love? I think it's whatever you make of it.

Body of Knowledge

I love Heidi Klum. How could you not? She's cute, and seems friendly and down to earth. I've been watching Project Runway a lot recently and decided to look up if she had a book out, and she did. It's part biography and part self help, but a fun read with lots of pictures. When a celeb writes a book about themselves, I love to see lots of photos, because one of the reasons why I like them is because I think they are attractive looking and want to see if they reveal any secrets on how they stay fit and cute. So if you like Heidi Klum or want a sneak peak inside the life of a model, then this would be a good book for you to read, so check it out.

Summer By The Sea

The cover of this book caught my eye and made me want to read it. It's soothing and romantic. I don't like romance novels, but the cover of a book will make the deal or break it. But this was actually a pretty good book, for a romance novel. Not cheesy and no sex scenes, so if that's what you are into, then this probably isn't for you. It tells the story of Rosa and Alex who met when they kids and follows their relationship throughout the years. He's rich, she's not. Neither one of their parents wanted them to be together, but true love doesn't listen to their parents. Or does it? It's a quick read and easy to follow. This is the first that I've read from this author and will probably read some more. Just as long as her romance novels aren't cheesy. I hate that.

Organize Your Corpses

For a professional organizer, Charlotte Adams is not very organized. She gets framed for murder because the real killer stashed some of her things around dead bodies. I thought that I would enjoy this series because I like to organize and I like mysteries, but this chick just annoys me. She's really not that bright and lets her friends push her around. No wonder her clients are always dieing. Or are they? This book had an interesting twist at the end. I sure has heck didn't see it coming, but I usually don't. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't super great. I read the second book already and didn't really like it, and if another one comes out, I might check it out, it will be better.

Water For Elephants

This book has always caught my eye whenever I saw it at the bookstore, and it's a bestseller, but I never wanted to read it because I don't like the circus and didn't think that reading about it would be exciting. Yes, this book does mostly take place during a circus, but it's about how it changes the life of a young man. Jacob's parents die, and he's lost and confused and one night jumps on a moving train which ends up being a circus train. Some guys take him in and show him the ropes and soon he gets a job being the vet for the animals. The story follows his adventures and heartaches during 3 months of being with the circus. There's tons of interesting people, those you love and those you hate. And of course these aren't all fiction as the author did her research and some of the stuff that happens in the book happened in real life. The chapters jump back and forth between the time Jacob was 23 and now when he's 93, but the author does it in a way so that you don't get confused. Sometimes when there are flashbacks I find them hard to follow, but not in this book. I still hate the circus, probably more so now, but love this book. It was just very entertaining and well written.

Weeping On Wednesday

I found this book to be very flat. It wasn't very long so I thought that i could read it pretty quickly, but it was just blah and couldn't keep my attention. The main character Lois was still a grouch and the author has been watching to many mystery shows. This book kind of felt like it should be turned into an episode of Murder She Wrote. Heck, maybe it was and the author stole the idea. Not really sure if I'll continue to read the series.

Terror On Tuesday

I liked this one better than the first. It was much more exciting and fast paced. There was still to many characters to try and keep track of and it felt like you never had any idea who was good and who was bad. I didn't like how the main character seemed really rude to everyone. And no one stood up to her. So that bothered me. But other than that, it was a decent read. And seeing as how I have the next book in the series sitting here, I might as well read that.

Tippy Toe Murder

If this had been the first book that I had read in this series, I probably wouldn't have continued. It was a little dark and disturbing. I still love the main character, Lucy, and the writing makes me want to move to Maine and have a family. But this book was a little bit twisted, women getting beating up, children being molested. It's just not right. So, unless you are okay with reading about those things, I say skip this one and go read the Christmas Cookie Murder. That is so far my favorite in this series.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder

This was an okay book. I like the main character, but it annoys me when they decide that they are going to play detective and of course in the end almost get themselves killed. This is the first book in this series and I'll read more. I really liked The Sugar Cookie Murder that I read a few weeks ago. And this one wasn't so bad. It's a good series for people who like to cook, because it comes with recipes. I don't cook, so they are wasted on me, but they sound yummy.

Holidays On Ice

 I did not like this book at all. I thought it was suppose to be a collection of funny Christmas stories, but really, there was nothing funny in it. The first story was pretty interesting, his tale of being an Elf at Macy's. But that was about it. The other stories were blah and not very Christmasie. So yeah, I was disappointed. I do however want to find a shotglass with snowflakes on it like shown on the cover.

Roommates Wanted

 So I probably think that I picked up this book because I'm hunting for a roommate myself, and it just sounded interesting. Back in 1990 Toby's dad gives him a big house for a wedding gift. The marriage doesn't last and he's stuck with this giant house. So he posts an ad and gets some roommates. 15 years later, one of the people living in the house dies and leaves everything to Toby along with a note telling him to take the money he left him, fix up the house and start living life. So Toby decides to fix up the place and sell it. But how can he just kick out the people who live there. The cover blurb makes it sound like he's met a new girl and they can't live together until he gets rid of the roommates. Not true. Throughout the book Toby and Leah are friends who like each other, but don't even say so until the end. Mostly it's a book about different people growing up and realizing who they are and what they want to do with life. It was a good book. A bit long, but good enough that it doesn't feel that way.

Kissing Christmas Goodbye

 As I'm sure we all know by now, I love Christmas books, and was excited when I found this one at the library. But it's not about Christmas at all. The book mostly takes place in October. How very disappointing. It's part of a mystery series that I had never heard of, and I probably won't read again. The main character, Agatha, is just a cranky old bat, who is snippy to everyone then wonders why she's sitting at home alone on Christmas and New Years. Doesn't take a detective to figure that one out. It's a quick read, but had to many characters and I got confused who everyone was. There's weren't very many clues for the reader to go on with trying to figure out who the killer was. It was kind of like the author forgot that she needed to have one and just pulled a character's name out of a hat. In other words, I'm not going to keep reading this series.

Murder On Monday

This book was kind of hard to follow. The author is Scottish or something so the writing was kind of hard to follow. But I kept at it because the plot sounded good enough. Lois cleans houses and one day someone ends up dead, so the police ask Lois to have a look around the houses that she cleans to see if she can find any clues. But the person didn't get murdered until about halfway through the book, so there was just a lot of randomness that didn't really have anything to do with anything. And I felt like there were to many characters, I was often confused by who was who and such. And yet I still want to read the rest of the books in the series, so it couldn't have been that bad. Maybe it was because it was a bit different from all the other mystery books. There wasn't really a lot of sleuthing going on, no sneaking around trying to find out who did it. Mostly things were just figured out by everyday conversations. It was different which is kind of refreshing, and also a little bit boring.

Sugar Cookie Murder

 I'm a sucker for anything that has to do with the holidays. And I saw someone leave the library with one of this authors books so I looked her up and found some Christmas mysteries. I had never read anything by her before and her books (this one at least) wasn't too bad. It was a quick read and really kept me guessing who had done 'it' until the end. I'm really bad about trying to figure out who the murderer is. It was a good book, made me wish it was Christmas. Made me wish she had written a Halloween one, because that's coming up.

Something Good

 This was a book about the relationship between a mother, her teenage daughter, and how they grow. What interest me into reading this book was that the daughter was going through that teenage awkward stage and was turning into a rebel. I was not a rebel as a teen, so I kind of enjoy reading about what all the 'bad' kids where doing. It was a pretty simple story, but good enough that I wanted to keep reading. I didn't like the ended. I wanted the parents to get back together and have them be a family again. But the author wanted the adults to be able to move on with their lives without having to depend on each other. In the end, of course everyone was happy. How often do you read a book where it ends in sadness? It's a little bit long, but a quick read.

Here If You Need Me

 I love the cover of this book, its what caught my eye. And the fact that it takes place in Maine, was another reason. Its a bit religious, and I think when I bought it I was looking for something along those lines. Its a true story about Kate who's husband dies and she becomes a minister, something her husband was going to do. She becomes a Maine Warden Service chaplain, which means that she goes with the police to find missing people, and if they show up dead, she prays to the dead body so that it leaves the world in peace. It was a good book. Short, kind of a fast read. There wasn't a whole lot of dialog, mostly it is just telling the story of how her husband died, why she became a minister, and some of the searches that she went on. Some of the stories about how the people were murdered where a little disturbing, but it was also a little bit comforting to know that someone is there to give them a good goodbye.

Shoe Addicts Anonymous

 This book has always caught my eye, but I avoided it because I thought it would be about a bunch of flakey girls who did nothing but buy shoes. But that wasn't the case. This is a story about 3 girls who love shoes, but don't let their whole world revolved around them. Shoes to them are like books to me. You buy them when you are happy because they make you even more happy, and you buy them when you are sad because they make you feel better. Each character has her own problems, which makes them seem more realistic. I like this book, and found out that there's a sequel, so I might check it out. I like shoes, and would probably buy more of them, but books are cheaper, so I'll stick with them for now.

Slightly Settled

 This is the second book in the 'Slightly' series. Its not often in the chick lit world that as the series continues, the books stay good. It wasn't as great as the first one, but was still pretty decent. The main character stayed the same, as did her friends. It takes place a few months after the first book ended, and Tracey meets a cute guy at the office Christmas party who turns out to be her boss's roommate. Her friend Buckley who she's had a bit of a crush on since the first book breaks up with his girlfriend the same time that Tracey gets a new boyfriend. So now she wonders if she should dump Jack and hook up with Buckley because everyone tells her that Jack is the rebound guy. I mostly kept reading this book because I was curious to see who she ends up with. It wasn't the person I wanted her to end up with. But oh well. There's still 3 more books to go so far in the series so we'll see what happens.

Slightly Single

 So I know that I've started reading this book before, I just can't remember if I ever finished it. So when I saw it at the library I thought that it seemed good and gave it another chance. It's a simple book, nothing to exciting, a quick read. Tracey is an overweight New Yorker who has a dreamy boyfriend and a crappy job. For the summer her actor boyfriend is going out of town to an actor's thing so Tracey get's the idea to reinvent herself. She get's organized, starts walking and eating less, and reads the classics. She transformers herself, on the outside, but is still the same on the inside. She deals with her loser boyfriend while a new cutie comes into her life. I liked this book because she wasn't sitting around pitying herself. It was refreshing. Most girls in chick lit books whine about their crappy life, Tracey did something about it. Makes me want to go change my life around. Maybe I'll meet some cutie guy.

Skinny Bitch

 I absolutely hated this book. I think it's the only book that I've ever read that I wanted to burn. Good thing I got it from the library. I might have taken it more seriously if they didn't keep using vulgar language and calling us fat pigs and morons. Just once I would like to read a health/diet book by someone who isn't a vegetarian. I don't approve of the way that animals are treated, and would like to think that if more people stopped eating meat, then it would make a difference, but I just don't see that happening. They make dairy sound like the most evil thing you could put in your body. No other animal eats milk from other animals. The milk industry tells us lies saying that milk is good for us when really it isn't, just so they can make money. Sounds about right, but I still believe that dairy is good for us. I like cheese. I'm eating a cheese pizza as I write. My favorite was when they said that coffee makes your breath smell like ass. Good thing I don't drink coffee. This book did have some helpful stuff, if you are interested in becoming a vegetarian, but its always very gross, how they have a whole chapter that tells all about slaughterhouses and stuff. Some good night time reading there. I'll sum up the book so you don't have to spend money on it. According to the authors, you can only drink water and 100% juice, you can only eat fruits, veggies, and whole grains. And exercise. There you go. In a few simple steps you to can become a Skinny Bitch. If you do read it, be prepared for some inappropriate language. I thought it was funny how at the end of the book the authors said that they weren't really bitches, but this book really makes them sound like it. Check out the video clip on the Barnes And Nobles web site. They seem to think it was ok to call us fat pigs.

Wake

 I found this book on B&N.com a few months ago when I just looking around, and read a few pages from it online and it sounded interesting. Then I forgot about it and remembered it about a week ago and checked it out at the library. I love the library. It has saved me lots of $ by letting me read books that I would have bought only to find out they suck. This book is for teens, and I've come to realize that teens just have bad taste in books (aka, Gossip Girl). Or maybe I've finally matured to better reading.

This is a story about Janie who can see what people are dreaming. She doesn't know why she can do this, and its more of a curse than a gift. It sounded interested, but after a while, you get bored with the dreams the people around her have. Aren't very exciting stuff. Mine are always messed up and make no sense. There's a sequel, but I think I will pass on it. If you are a teen, you might like it.

Second Helpings

 I really enjoyed the first book of this series and expected better things from this one. In the first one, it seemed like Jessica had a better sense in what she believed in, and this one, she was always changing her mind. Plus I don't think that the characters were written as well. They all seemed to act alike. It also had a Gossip Girl twist thrown in. I'm hoping that the third one is better.

Garden Spells

 This was such a magical book. Better than The Sugar Queen, and I loved that one. I just love the characters that the author comes up with. I don't think I could ever have the imagination that she has. This book reminded me of the movie Practical Magic, only the sisters in the book aren't witches, but kind of give you the feel like they could be. The apple tree alone is worth reading about. Loved it. Check it out.

Sloppy Firsts

 I wasn't sure if I would like this since it's a teenager novel, but I found it to be kind of funny. It was kind of like Mean Girls meets Juno (though no one gets pregnant) meets a John Hughs teenage 80's movie. Jessica's best friend moves away leaving Jessica stuck with friends she doesn't like, a secret crush she's embarrassed about, and all the fun of being  teenager. I liked it.

Twenty Wishes

 After reading the first chapter, I wasn't sure if I would like this book or not, but I kept reading and it turned out to be really cute and good. Kind of cheesy and predictable, but most of her books are. It's about four women who are widows and they decided to make a 20 Wishes list, kind of like the girl's version of The Bucket List. They write down all the things they want to do that they haven't done before, like go to Paris, or buy a fancy new car, or dance around barefoot in the rain. What really made the book readable was the cute girl Ellen, who ends up changing the life of one of the characters. She makes kids seem not so bad. It was a quick fast read, and introduced new characters. It's the 4th book in the Blossom Street series, and I was glad that the author made a new main character, because I was getting tired of always reading about Lydia who owns the yarn store, which is why I still have yet to read the 3rd book. This is a good book to help you remember why we have wishes in life.

Gorgeously Green

 All 'Green' books I read pretty much tell me the same thing, as did this one. But this one was a bit different than the others. It was a lot more detailed and gave lots of web sites to visit to learn more about how to keep yourself, your home, and the planet green. What I liked was how it mentioned beauty products. I have super sensitive skin, and after I read the beauty chapter and reading the list of toxins that are in the products we use, it's no wonder my skin looks like crap. There's a great web site www.safecosmetics.org where you can type in your products and it will tell you how harmful or not they are. That's a real eye opener. The book did get kind of boring towards the end, because I really felt like I was reading the same info over and over that I had read in other 'green' books. But it was still very helpful, and if I thought that anyone would actually read it, I'd give it as a gift. So get out there and be green.

The Sugar Queen

 What an amazing book. I love the cover, it's what got me to want to read it. The characters are vivid and likeable. They each have their own little story. There's a character who has books that follow her around. They just show up out of no where. I never would have even thought to come up with something like that. Magical is a good word for this book. It just grabs your attention and you can't put it down. Check it out, you'll love it.

Sammy's Hill

 I always saw this book at the bookstore, and always thought it looked really boring. Then a month or so ago I heard an interview with the author and found her amusing and decided to give the book a try. It follows the year in the life of Sammy who is working in DC with Senator Gary. It's full of politics, most of which flew over my head, and probably would be boring if the main character wasn't goofy and fun. It's smartly written with humor. I would really like to ask the author if some of the wacky things that Sammy does are things that she does. So check it out. I'm eager to read the sequel.

A Good Yarn

 I love these books. They are so sweet and innocent and even though you know that whatever troubles the characters go through during the book, things always work out in the, its still a good read.

This is the second book in the Blossom Street series. It continues to tell the tale of Lydia who opened up a yarn shop in Seattle. She has knitting classes, and meets 3 new people who are so different, but help each other out and become good friends.

Call me bitter, and I know I am, but some of the things these people do for almost complete strangers seems pretty far fetched. Would you really give $500 to a teen in your wife's knitting class just so she can buy a dress for Homecoming? Not likely, but wouldn't that be nice?

The main character, Lydia is started to annoy me. In the last book she dumped her boyfriend because she thought that she had cancer again, and when she found out she didn't, she begged him to take her back. In this book, she suspects that he's getting back together with his ex wife, so she breaks it off without even listening to his side of the story, and of course when she found out it wasn't true, she begged him to take her back. Geez woman, insecure much?

But they are still good books and I'm eager to read the third one.

The Cluttered Corpse

 I hate stupid characters, and the chick in this mystery just annoyed me. This book caught my eye because Charlotte is a professional organizer who solves crimes. I love organizing, and each chapter gives a little tip. It was good up until she started sticking her nose where it didn't belong. Her client gets accused of murder so of course Charlotte decides to figure out who really did it, only to get herself into more trouble with each chapter. When will people learn that when your tires get slashed, your house gets broken into, your friend get run over, etc that you should back off. And the thing that really annoyed me is how she kept being nice to this girl who she used to be friends with. The whole time, the girl was a bitch to her and yet Charlotte goes off and risks her life to save her. The girl is a cop, a bitchy one, so I'm sure she would know what to do. I thought I might read the other book in this series, but now I'm not to sure. Something tells me she just as stupid in that one as she was in this one.

The Manual

 This book was a load of crap. All these tips he gives to give to get us to be able to weed out the bad guys and find the good guys, or just to get a guy to notice us just didn't make sense. He says that he often uses another girl to help him get the girl hes interested in. If I see a guy with a girl, I'm not going to hit on him. For all I know she's his girlfriend. No point in starting a cat fight. He also talked about playing games and following rules, which just sounds like a recipe for disaster. Yes, I believe that you should flirt and tease a guy a little, but I think that they like it, but don't do it to the point where the guy is just confused about who you are and what you want. Most of the advice he gave, I swear, if I did it in the real world, would just backfire.

I don't want to be all negative, some of it seemed helpful. He says that any time you are out in public there is always at least one guy checking you out. That kind of makes me feel exposed. I don't doubt that yeah, there probably is, because I often look around at people when I go to the store or whatever. But when he talks about it, he always makes it seem like the person is going to come over and start chatting with you. That has NEVER happened to me. I go to the store and library all the time, and never has a random guy come up to me and started a conversation.

Why would I want to take advice from a Player. Maybe if he had been a player, but then got married, it would be a little more believable. Like I said, this book was BS, but that doesn't mean that you won't take it a different way. So read it. Maybe you'll get more out of it than I did.

Back To School Murder

 I don't really have any thoughts on this book. It wasn't super exciting, but it wasn't super boring. Just kind of average. Not my favorite of hers, but also, not my least favorite. This is not a very good review, but really, it was just a average book. The apple on the cover is super creepy. This will probably be my last mystery for a while. At least until I start reading the books I own, but I need to get through the library books first.

Enter Whining

 I've been a Fran Drescher fan for years. I used to love The Nanny and would try to imitate her nasal laugh for some reason. I thought that she was funny and stylish. I few years ago I read her other book Cancer Schmancer, probably because the bookstore didn't have this one. A few weeks ago I found out that they replay episodes of her show at 4 am, which of course I'm awake, and was reminded of this book so I checked it out from the library.

It doesn't go through her whole life, mostly this book is just about her life as an actor, how she got started, and all the ups and downs it takes trying to make it in the showbiz world. It had lots of a pictures, which I loved. Most books about stars never have enough pics. She even put in ones from back when she was chubby. It was good. The chapters are short and it was funny enough that I read like half of it last night and the rest of it just now. If you are a fan of hers, I say read this.

Bake Sale Murder

 Ok, I promise that I only have one more of her books that I want to read, and then I will stop. But I like the character, so whatever. This book seemed darker than the other ones. And seeing as how I haven't been sleeping well due to unwanted movie scenes that keep popping up in my head when I do try to sleep, reading this was not such a good idea. But her books are quick reads and I'm trying to get through my giant stack of library books.

The story line for this one wasn't that great. When I found out how the person was murdered, I thought it was kind of lame. If you are going to kill someone, it better be for a darn good reason. But the cupcakes on the cover look yummy. I might have to go eat some now.

New Year's Eve Murder

 Once again, this book was titled wrong. New York Murder would have made more sense, since that's what happened. Lucy and her daughter win a mother-daughter make over in NYC and get to experience the behind the scenes at a magazine. But then someone drops dead from anthrax and Lucy daughter also got exposed, so Lucy wants to find out what happened. I was kind of surprised that the author used anthrax seeing as how I think this was written around the time there was the scare. The first half of this book was really interesting, but the second got kinda boring, but that might just be because I was getting sleepy. Elisa, you might like this one because it takes place in NYC and at a fashion magazine.

Valentine Murder

 This book really should have been called Library Murder since someone gets murdered at the library. And most of the book takes place at the library, but whatever. It wasn't as interesting as some of the other books that I've read, but it wasn't the worst. So I kind of feel so-so about this book.

The Shop On Blossom Street

 I'm starting to enjoy Debbie Macomber's books. This is the second one that I've read by her and am eager to read more. This book was super cute and makes me want to learn how to knit. Again. Lydia opens a yarn shop and starts a beginner class, where three different women sign up and become friends. Each has something going on in their life and this novel tells the story of all of them. Parts of the book made me a little mad because bad things kept happening to good people, but in the end, everything worked out well. Read it. You'll love it.

Trick Or Treat Murder

 This book was a little bit creepy. Halloween alone is creepy, add a crazy person setting fires all around town makes it even worse. Fires scare me. They can get out of hand a ruin everything. As usual, I had no idea who the fire starter was until Lucy figured it out. lol. I really suck at solving mysteries. Remind me to never become a dectective.

Friends, Lovers, Chocolate

 I really don't know why the library keeps putting these books in the mystery section. The first one in the series was a mystery, the second one-this one had very little mystery to it, and the third one should have been in the romance section. We'll see what the fourth one brings when I get to it. I like these books because they are full of philosophy and questions and ethics, and I actually kind of like that sort of thing. Its fun to have a conversation with someone about what is ethical and such. And this book stays true to that. It makes me feel smart.

The Money Book

 Reading this book was a good and bad mistake. Bad in the sense that it made me even more scared about money than I already was. Bottom line is, that I pretty much don't have any and that freaks me out, especially since my parents who are helping me out aren't getting any younger and won't always be there to help me. Good in the sense that someday when I do get money again, I can go back to this book and look up the things that I need to know. In the right hands, this book can be really helpful. It talks about credit cards, debt, buying a home, school, car, relationships. And it was easy to follow. Most finance books put me to sleep, but she set up a layout that kept the readers attention. And in each chapter she has questions that people have asked her and answers. I mostly just skimmed this, because not all of it applies to me. I would recommend it to people. So if you are having money issues, check out this book.

Where Angels Go

 I love Christmas books, and must have been feeling the need to read one when I saw this at the library. The story follows 3 angels who are on different missions to get done before Christmas. It was cute, and I almost cried at that end. Being an angel isn't as easy as people think it is.

Coming Out

 I've read a few books by Danielle Steel before, and never really liked them. When I was at the library yesterday stocking up on to many books, I decided to give her another try. So I picked out the shortest most interesting looking one there. As I was reading it, I remembered why I don't like her books. First, the chapters are so long. Ten pages is long enough for a chapter, her's are like thirty. Second, that there isn't a whole lot of excitement in her books. Or at least not in the one's I've read. It was a decent novel, about a mother dealing with her two twin girls who are 'coming out' meaning a debtante cotillion which apparently the rich people have. I don't really get the point of it, but there was an episode of The OC where they had one. So it was an okay book, glad I checked it out instead of bought it.

Turkey Day Murder

 I love turkey and this book made me crave some. To bad I ate my turkey and mashed potato frozen dinner yesterday when I was reading it, now I have none. Oh well. It's 5:30 am I shouldn't be eating turkey, and I should probably be asleep, but I wanted finish this because I was almost done and was awake. Now I'm sleepy and a Fergie song just started to play on my itunes and will get stuck in my head for the rest of the day. Dang it. I might have to go read something else to get my mind elsewhere.

Back to the book. It's Thanksgiving time in Tinker's Cove, but it wouldn't be a holiday without a murder. It's a small town, if she keeps killing people off, there isn't going to be anyone left. Typical Lucy Stone mystery, filled with her sticking her nose where it doesn't belong while taking care of 4 kids and a husband who had a beard in this one and needs to shave. There were a lot of Indians involved which makes sense since its Thanksgiving. They wanted people to respect them and their culture, and there was a plan to make a casino. Why do Indians always want to make casinos? Casinos are tacky in every place but Vegas. A casino in Maine? That just doesn't seem right.

In other words: Not my favorite, but decent.